This is the first question I'll seek to explain as part of our "Got Questions?" series at LowCountry Community Church. You may agree or you may not agree with the answers I'll be sharing. I will try - to the best of my ability - to clearly explain what I believe the Bible teaches about the various topics. Here we go...
You might be considering cremation for yourself, or perhaps a loved one has informed you that he or she plans on being cremated. For many, this is a delicate subject. What does the Bible say?
On this issue it appears that the Bible is silent. There is mention of bones being burned in 2 Kings 23:16-20, and of people being burned to death (1 Kings 16:18 and 2 Kings 21:6). These are not, however, examples of cremation. I have been unable to find even one instance in Scripture where a person was cremated. (An interesting aside from the 2 Kings 23 passage is that when Josiah burned the bones on the altar "he defiled it.")
The biblical mode of dealing with a deceased body was burial. We read of burials all throughout the Old Testament and, of course, Jesus ' body was prepared for burial and laid to rest in a tomb. While burial was the common practice for the Israelites in the Old Testament and for Christians in the New Testament, nowhere does the Bible command burial in a cave, the ground, or a tomb as the only allowed method of disposal. It is important to remember that burial in the Old and New Testaments was a custom, not a commandment.
The question behind the question is, "Can, or should, a Christian be cremated?" The arguments I have heard and read against cremation seem to say that since there will be a bodily resurrection one day (1 Thessalonians 4:16), that cremation circumvents that occurrence. Others argue that is was, and is, a pagan practice.
God is all-powerful, and whatever shape our mortal body is in at the time, God will have no problem resurrecting it. The bodies of Christ-followers who have died long ago and were buried have turned to dust by now. Other believers were eaten by wild animals, burned at the stake, or used as human torches in Nero's gardens. God will have no problem in raising those who died in these manners exactly how and when He desires to do so. I believe He can do the same with a body which has been cremated. As far as cremation being a pagan practice, many false, or pagan, religions also bury their dead.
This is an area that I believe is a personal matter of conscience and falls under the umbrella of Christian freedom. Scripture is silent on the proper and respectful disposal of the deceased. Therefore, as the Christian community, we should allow one another latitude in this important decision.
The biggest concern and question for me is this: When the person was alive, did he or she submit his or her life to Jesus Christ? If you find yourself in a conversation about cremation versus burial, maybe it's God placing you in the middle of a divine appointment to ask that individual about their eternal destiny.
Personally, I'm hoping to be raptured!
