Question:
Dear Greg,
I
have recently lost a family member who asked to be cremated before she died.
Another family member later told me that it states in the Bible not to do
that. Is this a sin?
Thank
you for your ministry.
Billie
Answer: Dear Billie,
The
Bible does not insist on any one method of disposing of the body of the
deceased. Burial is a custom that
Christians have, based on biblical cultural practices—not the least of which,
of course, is the burial of Jesus.
However,
if we insisted on disposing of the bodies of our loved ones in the exact, same
way as Jesus’ body was, we would not bury them “six feet under”.
Instead, we would bury them in a tomb that was either above ground or
carved out of the side of a hill or mountain.
The person who told you
that the Bible condemns cremation is wrong.
The Bible says no such thing. That
person might be confusing what the Bible explicitly says, with the idea that
many non-Christians have burned the bodies of their deceased loved ones, and
that those cultures were pagan. That
is true, but the Bible does not say that we may not cremate the bodies of those
we love.
An
additional issue that must be considered is the financial ability of families.
It is a severe financial hardship for some families to pay for a funeral,
a plot, etc., while cremation is much more affordable.
There
is no biblical requirement for any one specific method of disposing of the
bodies of our loved ones—it is an individual decision.
We should learn to allow others the freedom to make this choice, given
the many factors they may deal with at such a time.
In
Christ,