Dear Pastors Wife:
What is Gods word about cremation?
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Dear Cremation Questioner,
While there are no specific commandments in God’s Word concerning cremation, the prevailing preference of Christians to be “buried” stems from Christ’s words about judgment and hell being like “fire” (Matthew 5:22) and His reference to letting “the dead bury the dead” in Luke 9:60. It has been pointed out that maybe Christians should only wear sandals then, since Christ spoke of only that kind of footwear, inferring that the preference for burial was merely a cultural issue at that time. Your same question was posed to me by another e-mailer just a few days ago and I went into detail about the meanings people have put into how they care for their dead. Simply click on the “archive” section that has the subject of “cremation” in the description. The bottom line is that you need to do what is most loving and respectful to the wishes of the deceased AND to the desires of those left behind. What would bring them closer to a loving relationship with Jesus? Whether scattered ashes or fully dressed waiting for the resurrection, we needn’t worry because God is more than able to create for each one a resurrected body. God looks at your heart and if you are professing your faith and trust in Him, either through your stated preference or through your loving submission to another’s preference, He will be pleased. Bodies are just shells…”jars of clay.” They are not worth a family argument over. However, be gracious as emotions run high and may not be very rational when dealing with a loved one’s death. Once again, check out the previous question/answer on the same subject.
I am praying right now for peace as you make your decision, cremation questioner.
The Pastor's Wife
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
What is your advice per Bible about cremation for Christians?
Dear Pastors Wife:
What is your advice per Bible about cremation for Christians?
-- Concerned
********************************************************************************
Dear Concerned,
“Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” while not specifically quoted this way in scripture, is still the truth God repeatedly tries to teach us in the Bible about our physical bodies. Our eternal souls inhabit bodies made of “dirt” (compounds and minerals) while dwelling in this dimension of time and space, matter and energy. In Genesis 3:19 God tells Adam, “dust you are and to dust you will return.” When we die, however, we leave this earthly dimension and our physical body, behind. Faith assures us that the same God who created us in the first place can quite easily fashion us a new body for our eternal life with Him after we die, whether we be cremated, buried or lost at sea. Nothing is going to hamper the resurrection. “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise….the earth will give birth to her dead” is what God promises us in Isaiah 26:19. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter what happens to our bodies after we die. This being said, you must have had some pause when considering the subject or else you would not have become “concerned.” Are there loved ones whose feelings and beliefs need to be considered in this situation? If so, then it DOES make a difference what we do with our physical body after we die because it becomes a matter of loving others, honoring and respecting them. Here are just a few thoughts, truths and traditions surrounding the subject that might help you understand the feelings of those around you. While there is no “right” or “wrong” concerning cremation delineated in the Bible, loving and respecting others is ALWAYS commanded. Burial was one way for Jews, first, then Christians, to declare themselves different from those around them who worshiped pagan gods and demon idols. The Greeks, Romans and Hindus all cremated (often adding live spouses, servants, children tied to the pyre!) while the Egyptians mummified. The Canaanites burned their firstborn children as required offerings to the demon Molech. Some cultures placed absolute no worth on human life, while others placed too much emphasis on the physical. Burial seemed the best way to witness to the world both the respect of each created individual, while admitting that the body was just a “house” or “tent” of the soul. As centuries marched on, burial (protecting the deceased’s body from mutilation) became a way to honor the uniqueness of each created human being, remembering the honor the human body was given when Jesus chose to indwell one, honoring the fact that the body of each believer became a hallowed temple of the Holy Spirit of God at conversion and a confession of belief in the promise of a glorified body at the resurrection.
At the time, fire also had the connotation of God’s wrath and judgment tied to it. Ashes were used in mourning and repentance. Christians, no longer under judgment because of Christ’s work on the cross, wished to celebrate this good news by distancing themselves from the idea of ashes while also proclaiming the anticipation of being accepted, just as they were, into God’s presence and blissful glory. With Jesus’ own burial and resurrection as their supreme example, there was a time when anything but a “proper, Christian BURIAL” was considered heathen and evil, to the point of believing the DECEASED WOULD BE CURSED! (While there have always been legalistic extremes in every belief system which dehumanize and ultimately disrespect the moving and work of the Holy Spirit within the spirit of man, we need to be careful that we do not throw out the truth along with the legalism. I hope you know what I am saying.) Martyrs who had been burned at the stake, of course, were given special allowance.
Both Jewish and Christian burial grounds are themselves called cemeteries, the literal meaning of which is, “sleeping places.” It may be that some around you still hold to the belief that burial is the “best” way to declare a person is prepared and looking forward to Christ’s return and their own resurrection. If so, then burial IS the best thing to do. Many in today’s American culture have forgotten or never been taught these traditions and so it is more popular to have one’s ashes scattered to the wind or over a beloved place as a memorial. There is nothing Biblically wrong with this. Some family members, however, will be at a loss of where to go to honor or remember a loved one without a grave or headstone. Unless there are mitigating circumstances, i.e. expenses can only cover cremation, land use limits, strong desires of the deceased, etc., you should plan on doing whatever is most loving and respectful for both the deceased and those left behind. This could be either burial or cremation. ‘Sorry that I couldn’t be more help but sometimes there is no “right” answer, except to do the loving thing and that means you will have to search your heart and pray, conversing with Jesus, yourself, about the decision. Oh yeah, and need I remind you that whatever you decide, you are not going to be able to please everyone? That’s right. I didn’t think so!
‘Hoping I have helped ease some of your “concerns,”
The Pastor's Wife
What is your advice per Bible about cremation for Christians?
-- Concerned
********************************************************************************
Dear Concerned,
“Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” while not specifically quoted this way in scripture, is still the truth God repeatedly tries to teach us in the Bible about our physical bodies. Our eternal souls inhabit bodies made of “dirt” (compounds and minerals) while dwelling in this dimension of time and space, matter and energy. In Genesis 3:19 God tells Adam, “dust you are and to dust you will return.” When we die, however, we leave this earthly dimension and our physical body, behind. Faith assures us that the same God who created us in the first place can quite easily fashion us a new body for our eternal life with Him after we die, whether we be cremated, buried or lost at sea. Nothing is going to hamper the resurrection. “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise….the earth will give birth to her dead” is what God promises us in Isaiah 26:19. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter what happens to our bodies after we die. This being said, you must have had some pause when considering the subject or else you would not have become “concerned.” Are there loved ones whose feelings and beliefs need to be considered in this situation? If so, then it DOES make a difference what we do with our physical body after we die because it becomes a matter of loving others, honoring and respecting them. Here are just a few thoughts, truths and traditions surrounding the subject that might help you understand the feelings of those around you. While there is no “right” or “wrong” concerning cremation delineated in the Bible, loving and respecting others is ALWAYS commanded. Burial was one way for Jews, first, then Christians, to declare themselves different from those around them who worshiped pagan gods and demon idols. The Greeks, Romans and Hindus all cremated (often adding live spouses, servants, children tied to the pyre!) while the Egyptians mummified. The Canaanites burned their firstborn children as required offerings to the demon Molech. Some cultures placed absolute no worth on human life, while others placed too much emphasis on the physical. Burial seemed the best way to witness to the world both the respect of each created individual, while admitting that the body was just a “house” or “tent” of the soul. As centuries marched on, burial (protecting the deceased’s body from mutilation) became a way to honor the uniqueness of each created human being, remembering the honor the human body was given when Jesus chose to indwell one, honoring the fact that the body of each believer became a hallowed temple of the Holy Spirit of God at conversion and a confession of belief in the promise of a glorified body at the resurrection.
At the time, fire also had the connotation of God’s wrath and judgment tied to it. Ashes were used in mourning and repentance. Christians, no longer under judgment because of Christ’s work on the cross, wished to celebrate this good news by distancing themselves from the idea of ashes while also proclaiming the anticipation of being accepted, just as they were, into God’s presence and blissful glory. With Jesus’ own burial and resurrection as their supreme example, there was a time when anything but a “proper, Christian BURIAL” was considered heathen and evil, to the point of believing the DECEASED WOULD BE CURSED! (While there have always been legalistic extremes in every belief system which dehumanize and ultimately disrespect the moving and work of the Holy Spirit within the spirit of man, we need to be careful that we do not throw out the truth along with the legalism. I hope you know what I am saying.) Martyrs who had been burned at the stake, of course, were given special allowance.
Both Jewish and Christian burial grounds are themselves called cemeteries, the literal meaning of which is, “sleeping places.” It may be that some around you still hold to the belief that burial is the “best” way to declare a person is prepared and looking forward to Christ’s return and their own resurrection. If so, then burial IS the best thing to do. Many in today’s American culture have forgotten or never been taught these traditions and so it is more popular to have one’s ashes scattered to the wind or over a beloved place as a memorial. There is nothing Biblically wrong with this. Some family members, however, will be at a loss of where to go to honor or remember a loved one without a grave or headstone. Unless there are mitigating circumstances, i.e. expenses can only cover cremation, land use limits, strong desires of the deceased, etc., you should plan on doing whatever is most loving and respectful for both the deceased and those left behind. This could be either burial or cremation. ‘Sorry that I couldn’t be more help but sometimes there is no “right” answer, except to do the loving thing and that means you will have to search your heart and pray, conversing with Jesus, yourself, about the decision. Oh yeah, and need I remind you that whatever you decide, you are not going to be able to please everyone? That’s right. I didn’t think so!
‘Hoping I have helped ease some of your “concerns,”
The Pastor's Wife
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