Question:  Dear Greg,

            What does the Bible have to say about cremation?  Is it wrong if that is what the person wants?

            Thank you,

            Frank

Answer:  Dear Frank,

            The Bible does not condemn cremation.  The Bible teaches the practice of burial, both by example of what was done in that culture, and using burial as a metaphor of what happens to a Christian’s former life when he accepts Christ (see Romans 6).

            Jesus was, of course, buried in a tomb—but that does not mean that we must be buried in a tomb.  European countries have long practiced burial in the ground, “six feet under”, but for many years Christian countries also practiced burial in an above ground tomb-like structure.  Some cemeteries in low-lying areas such as New Orleans still practice this because floods have often resulted in floating coffins that were previously buried.

            Some Christians are afraid that cremation is burning the body, and that it is too close to pagan religious practices that burn the body.  I don’t think that this fear is biblically founded, but I understand that many Christians prefer burial.  What is important, of course, is that Christians also realize that there are not biblical commands against cremation.  Some Christians choose cremation because it is economically feasible.  Other Christians I know have chosen it because they feel it is a better environmental solution, as land is becoming scarce in many areas.

            Christians of course believe in the resurrection of the body at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  But we should realize that he doesn’t need for us to bury the body in a particular way that would enable him to resurrect it.  After all, a body that has been buried for many years will eventually resemble a body that has been cremated.  We are corruptible, and just as there is no way to preserve the decomposition of our physical bodies, there is nothing we can do to a body after death that renders it impossible for God to resurrect.  After all, with God all things are possible.

            Cremation or burial is a personal choice.  God is just as happy with either, as I understand the Bible.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht