Does the Bible Forbid Cremation of Bodies?

 

DOES THE BIBLE FORBID CREMATION?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

Cremation is traditionally identified with Eastern societies, majorly among the Hindus. It is however an increasingly common method of disposing human bodies in contemporary society. Even among sections of conservative African societies that traditionally bury their dead. Some Christians choose cremation for a number of reasons including cost and privacy.

The Jews and other ancient Middle Eastern societies buried their dead. Jesus Himself was buried in a borrowed grave. Some African societies including sections of the Nilotic people did not bury their dead. They simply discarded the bodies in sacred burial places, leaving them at the mercy of wild animals!

Does the Bible expressly or impliedly forbid cremation? Would a believer violate Scripture if they expressed their wish to be cremated upon death? Should Christians be buried rather than cremated?

These are legitimate questions that inform a healthy conversation on this topic.

Genesis 3:19 says

"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are,

And to dust you shall return."

Some consider the above text of Scripture as evidence that burial rather than cremation was intended by God for His covenant people. This Scripture however speaks of the origin of the physical or material nature of the human body and its earthly destiny upon death. My view is that whether the believer's body is cremated or buried in a grave, it ultimately returns to the dust, the very place Scripture contemplates above!

The human body bears the consequences of the curse of Adam! The Bible teaches that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The heavenly bodies are therefore distinct from physical bodies that would ultimately decay.

What do we learn from Genesis 3:19? 

The theological context of the above Scripture can be distilled from the passage of Genesis 3:1-24 which is dedicated to the Fall and judgement of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It speaks about the origin of the Fall through the disobedience of the woman and the man in Genesis 3:1-7 and the divine consequence that followed in Genesis 3:8-24.

When we read Genesis 3:19 in its passage context, we discover that it cannot serve as an authority on Christian burials. It speaks about man's destiny in his fallennes.

The New Testament Scriptures do not convey any explicit doctrine on Christian burials even though some passages of Scripture such as 1 Corinthians 15 appear to presuppose burial in line with Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures.

The Bible reveals that a believer who dies in Christ awaits the resurrection of the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). It is therefore immaterial how the body was disposed of. Even if the believer's is cremated or perishes in the sea or is dissolved in sulphuric acid other chemical agent as happened in Nazi death camps during Hitler's Third Reich, this will never affect the eternal destiny of the believer. The believer will be raised to life, and will adorn a glorified body at the sounding of the last trumpet! 

1 Corinthians 15:42-43 says in part: "...the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." 

The sowing here is a metaphorical reference to the burial of the believer. This is historically consistent with Jewish and Greco Roman thought.

One cannot perhaps help but imagine that believers in societies that traditionally bury the dead may consider the cremation scene repulsive because of cultural concerns. Similarly, the Hindu Christian would perhaps cringe at the notion of a burial being carried out in the place of their traditionally established method of disposal of their dead through cremation!

My view is that burials and cremations should be governed by the exigences of culture and should not necessarily inform Christian doctrine. The Bible does not expressly forbid or condemn cremation. Christian burial is however an established practice, historically.

I am therefore hesitant to teach that Genesis 3:19 speaks against cremation or that it is an authority on Christian burial as the sole method for the disposal of human bodies. My view is that while burial is a decent and environmentally healthy method of disposing human bodies, the Bible does not expressly teach that a believer must be buried in the ground. 

What happens to those who died in the sea?

Revelation 20:13 says: "The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works."

This confirms that those who perished in the sea will be raised to life during the final judgement. The souls of those who have died in Christ will also be raised from whatever location they lie including the sea! 

Burials and cremations are therefore informed by established cultural practices and traditions throughout human civilizations. They do not affect the believer's destiny in Christ. 

2 Timothy 4:6-8 reveals that the believer's soul is preserved by God upon death. No matter what happens to their body, their assurance of eternal life will never be lost. 

Shalom 

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2021