Question

Do you have an opinion, or is there a common school of thought, in regards to cremation and the Christian.  As a funeral home owner I am frequently asked, and occasionally confronted, about the Bible's teaching on cremation. Being very familiar with the history of cremation and its alleged association with pagan culture, I find the common arguments among believers usually pertain to desecrating the body and/or the rapture of the saints. (the last comment I don't see as creating a difficulty for the sovereign God of the universe)

Answer

1.  In the Book of 1Samuel 31:11-12, we find the men of Jabesh collected the bodies of Saul and Jonathan and burned them, then buried the ashes under a tamarisk tree.

"When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them."

Thus God does not appear to be opposed to cremation.
 

2.  All cremation does is to accelerate the "returning to dust" process, for every body, given enough time in the grave returns to pure dust.  

3.  Many people die at sea and are eaten by fish and decompose into nothingness.  Some people die in an explosion, and some like in the 9-11 tragedy, are pulverized into dust.   It really doesn't matter where your body is or in what shape it is when the rapture comes since the Lord is going to create a new body and he is capable of bringing back every speck of our dust if he needs too.  

So, in summary, it is a matter of choice.  It doesn't matter to the dead person--obviously; it matters most to the living relatives who often feel better if they think the person is still intact and just somewhere where they can't see them.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Tony Capoccia's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
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Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986