CREMATION
First Word
- I must admit that
there is not much in scripture that supports cremation, but it’s a topic
of concern for those who cannot afford the $8,000 each in funeral expenses
which includes a plot, marker, services, transportation and burial in a
casket with a steel vault in the ground.
·
Although
cremation accounts can be found in the Bible, it was not common nor at all accepted
for Jews or early Christians to be cremated. - Traditional Jews are prohibited
under the law from practicing cremation and some Fundamentalist Christian
denominations do not allow it either.
·
The Roman Catholic Church condemned cremation with
severe penalties from 1886 to 1892, but then granted permission for it in 1963.
·
Most
of the concerns about cremation comes from the Christian’s view of the
resurrection of the BODY at the
return of Jesus Christ.
·
Flames
in the Bible “in general” are regarded as condemnation or judgment for Wickedness.
Josh 7:15 – Cremation is
destruction of Wickedness - OT
15 He who is caught with the devoted things (Idols) shall be destroyed by fire (Cremated), along with all that
belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done a disgraceful
thing in Israel
Josh 7:24 -25 – Cremated the whole family for Wickedness
24 And Joshua, and all Israel valley of Achor
25 And Joshua said, why hast thou
troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel
1 Sam 31:8-12 – Desecrated
- Decapitated bodies cremated
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the
Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons
fallen.
9 And they cut off his head, and
stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about,
to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the
people.
10 And they put his armour in the house
of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall
of Beth-shan.
11 And when the inhabitants
of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to
Saul;
12 All the valiant men arose, and went all
night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there (Cremated)
1 Cor 13:3 – Cremation not
accepted as anything - NT
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender
my body to the flames (Cremation), but have not love, I gain
nothing. NIV
Wikipedia
- Cremation; derived from the
Latin word "crematus" or "cremare"
meaning "to burn up."
- It is the use of
high-temperature burning, vaporization, and oxidation to reduce human
bodies to basic chemical compounds, such as gases and mineral
fragments retaining the appearance of dry bone.
- After the
incineration is completed, the dry bone fragments are swept out of
the retort and pulverized by a machine called a Cremulator to
process them into "ashes" or "cremated remains" - After final grinding, the ashes are
placed in a container, which can be anything from a simple cardboard box
to a decorative urn. - Cremated remains can be scattered or
buried. I have known of people dividing and sending ashes to
relatives around the
- The
arguments for Cremation are; A)
it will prevent the corruption of the soil - B) drinking water will be safeguarded against contamination
and - C) corruption of the air
will be avoided in localities bordering on cemeteries - D) a consequent lessening of the
danger of infection in times of epidemic.
Background
- History reveals no trace of incineration among
the Jewish people, except in extraordinary
circumstances of war and pestilence.
- The main objection to
cremation is that its roots are entrenched in the pagan cultures of those
that do not believe in the One God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - The Church has
opposed the practice of cremation from the beginning; cremation has been utilized
chiefly by the enemies of the Christian
Faith.
- The pagans in order to
destroy FAITH in the “Resurrection of the Body”, often cast the corpses of martyred Christians into the flames, believing this
would render it impossible for the resurrection
of the body.
- In
- Cremation is seen as the most
sacrilegious act towards Christians and God; not simply
blaspheming, but physically declaring a disbelief in the resurrection
of the body.
1 Thess 4:16 – The dead
in Christ will be Resurrected
16 For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first. NIV
John 11:25-26 – Jesus is the Resurrection
25 Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will
live, even though he dies; NIV
Death
- Saying
Grace
– Where did the expression of “Saying Grace” come from? It
is in recognition of the food on the table; a plant or animal's giving
their life, providing sustenance and that some day the Prayer Giver,
like every being, will return to earth to give sustenance and life to
others. – The Bible says that God made man from dust and to dust he
shall return.
- "Dust returning to Dust," raises
the question; Can God resurrect a box of cremated ashes just as easy
as He can resurrect a box of dust? SELAH –
ponder that
- Ashes to ashes is not
in the Bible, but Dust to dust is. – Just
saying
Gen 2:7 – God formed the
man from the dust of the ground
7 the LORD God formed the man from the DUST of
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man
became a living being. NIV
Gen 3:19 – You are made of dust and so you will return
19 For DUST you are, and to DUST you
shall return." NKJV
Old & New Covenant
- There
is NO direct scripture in the Bible forbidding cremation although
most of scripture indirectly supports making sure the bones are treated
with respect and dignity, transported and deposited back where the
family lives. – It is clear that the body is the
- When I read in the Old Covenant all the
indirect scripture about the practices of the heathen pagan nations, I absolutely
would not raise my hand in support of cremation. It is a practice born out of hell which
profanely desecrates the human body - Christian Martyrs were burned at
the stake for their Christian belief.
- The
Hindus
seeking to get to their next body ASAP through re-incarnation would
destroy the old one immediately after death by cremation.
- The New
Covenant
however is where I must hang my hat. – I desire to observe “the Lord
Supper” – I desire the same baptism as Jesus Christ - I desire to be
buried in the same manner as Jesus was buried. – I desire the same
resurrection.
- What I read indicates
that none of the promises of the OT or NT will be done away with, but
- It’s the decisions
you make with your body during your lifetime that makes a difference -When
your body has returned to room temperature; it’s all over – What happens
to your body does not affect your salvation – John the Baptist was
separated from his head, but he will get a whole new incorruptible and spiritual
body.
- The death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ paid for the forgiveness of
Let’s Reason
- Come
let us reason together. - It’s been some 6,000 Bible years since The
Creation and people have been buried at sea; bodies have been
decapitated, some have been consumed by animals, bones have been carried
off by dogs, others have been buried and decomposed back to dirt and even
spread about by erosion and hurricanes.
- The Bible teaches
that God is Omnipotent; all powerful and making people out of dust
is something that He has already done before; it’s His Specialty.
- We “Sort of”
have an example when Ezekiel had a vision of the Nation of Israel coming together;
like a vast number of dry bones in a valley. God knew where each bone should be
joined together and added the flesh and the breath of life to them.
- Fire – Just because a
loved one was burned up in a house fire doesn't mean God can't resurrect
it to newness of life and reunite it with the soul and spirit of the
believer. If God will not do this, then all believers who have ever died
in a fire are without hope of receiving their heavenly bodies.
- Our resurrected body
is not our old body of flesh and blood, but is a heavenly body; a new and spiritual
body.
Isa 1:18 – Come - Lets reason together
18 "Come now, let us reason together, "says
the LORD.
NIV
Rev 19:6 – GOD IS ALL POWERFUL -
OMNIPOTENT
6 And I heard as it were
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunderings, saying, alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
KJV
Ezek 37:7-10 – Ezekiel’s
vision of dry bones coming together
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was
prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came
together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on
them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath
entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast
army NIV
Good News
- FINANCES - Having a Christian burial was important to my
family and many years ago we
- Financially many
people are not in the position to have that option – On the issue of
cremation, I find no words of condemnation by Jesus Christ and maybe we
should not either.
- So, if you can
provide a Christian burial, I think by all means you should do so. - If your best option is cremation, then
do that.
- Running with the New
Covenant, I can’t see how it makes any difference of what happens to the
body after death whether your are a Christian or not. – The Die has
already been cast.
- The
Believer is not with the body anyway – When we leave our body, we are present
with the Lord.- At the resurrection, the Believer will be raised with
a new incorruptible body.
- If your hat is hung on
the LEGALISM of the Old Covenant, then you will not agree with this study
– If you are under the New Covenant; then you are
1 Cor 15:22-23 – We will be made alive
22 For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own
turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to
him. NIV
1 Cor 15:35-44 – Raised imperishable, in glory, power,
spiritual
35 But someone may ask,
"How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?"
36 How foolish! What you
sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37 When you sow, you do
not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat
or of something else.
38 But God gives it a
body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
NIV
42 So will it be with the
resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised
imperishable;
43 it is sown in dishonor,
it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body. NIV
13 The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, NIV
1 Thess 4:16 -17 – The
dead will rise and be caught up to heaven
16 For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first.
17 After that, we who are
still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. NIV
1 Cor 15:51-52 – The dead get a new incorruptible body
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not “all
sleep”, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
2 Cor 5:8 – We are not there anyway
8 We are confident, yes,
well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the
Lord. NKJV
John 8:36 – The Son has set us FREE IN DEED
36 So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed. NIV
Rom 6:18 – Set FREE – now
slaves of righteousness
18 You have been set
free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. NIV
Rom 6:22 – We are
set FREE with the result of eternal life
22 But now that you have
been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you
reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. NIV
Rom 8:2 – We are set FREE from the
law of sin and death
2 because through Christ
Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death .NIV
1 Peter 2:16 - Live as FREE men – But
do not do evil.
16 Live as free men,
but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. NIV
We have a choice on this
side of death, to make a difference in the bodies of unborn children
by opposing ABORTION. NYOBS 20.09 ABORTION
One
last word – Everybody will
live forever SOMEWHERE.
It’s what you do with your body on this
side of death that determines where you are going – The die is thus cast -
Life’s decisions have eternal consequences.
It’s
Jesus Christ, plus nothing else.
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I
am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical
information, and scripture verses.
Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I
otherwise ever could have.
A commentary - Eerdmans
Annotated Reference Bible – Dake
Apocrypha; The
– Edgar J. Goodspeed
Baker Commentary on the Bible - Elwell
Bible Almanac; The – Packer Tenny White
Bible Commentary - F.B. Meyer
Bible Dictionary – Harper & Row
Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein
God without Religion - Andrew Farley
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale
Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Matthew Henry
Naked Gospel; The – Andrew Farley
New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Zondervan
Thru The Bible Commentary – J. Vernon
Victor Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers
Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison
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