Cremation, yes or no?
Cremation yes or no by lcl
Fire was used for purification against uncleanliness in scripture. Offerings to god were always burned. Burning killed disease in physical form and sin in spiritual form. Bear in mind that those in Christ have already been covered with purification and do not need spiritual cleansing.
In ancient Israel, sepulchers (tombs or vaults) were used for burial; cremation was shunned. The body was exposed to the air of the tomb and simply decomposed over time, leaving only bones which were transferred to a bone box.
The early Christian church also rejected cremation, partly because of its association with Pagan societies of Greece and Rome. Christians buried their dead in graves or in catacombs (underground vaults such as was used for the burial of Jesus.)
When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the followers and leaders of other religions were either exiled or exterminated, burial became the only permitted method of disposing of bodies throughout much of Europe.
“Because the Orthodox Faith affirms the fundamental goodness of creation, it understands the body to be an integral part of the human person and the temple of the Holy Spirit, and expects the resurrection of the dead..
The Hebrew word translated as “burnt” might actually mean “anointed”; thus, the bodies might not have been burned after all
Amos 2:1: God proclaimed a death curse on Moab because he had reduced the bones of the king of Edom to lime through burning
Scripture examples for when cremation was appropriate:
Lev_6:30 And no sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation for atonement in the sanctuary, shall be eaten. It shall be burned up in the fire.
Lev_8:21 And he washed the inward parts and the legs in water. And Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savor, a fire offering to Jehovah, even as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Lev_9:13 And they presented the burnt offering to him, with the pieces of it, and the head. And he burned them on the altar.
Lev_20:14 And if a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, so that there may be no wickedness among you.
Lev_21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by going whoring, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
Deu_12:31 You shall not do so to Jehovah your God. For every abomination to Jehovah, which He hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods.
1Sa_31:12 then all the brave men arose, and they traveled all night. And they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
1Ki_13:2 And he cried against the altar in the Word of Jehovah and said, O, altar, altar, so says Jehovah. Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you he shall offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you. 2Ki_17:31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
2Ch_34:5 And he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. Psa_106:18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
Isa_43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; nor shall the flame kindle on you.
Zep_3:8 Therefore wait for Me, says Jehovah, for the day I rise up to the prey; for My judgment is to gather the nations, for Me to collect the kingdoms, to pour on them My fury, all My hot anger. For all the earth shall be burned up with the fire of My jealousy.
2Pe_3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up.
Christ had a better teaching:
1Co 13:3 And though I give out all my goods to feed the poor, and though I deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, I am profited nothing.
Scripture teaches that cremation does not help one become acceptable to god any more than good things if a person does not have charity toward others. God commanded that we love Him and others to show that we are followers of Christ. Without love, we have not understood what god desires.
Arguments for Cremation
Just because a body has been destroyed by fire, doesn’t mean God can’t one day resurrect it in newness of life, to reunite it with the soul and spirit of the believer. If God could not do this, then all believers who have died in a fire are without hope of receiving their heavenly bodies. Bodies will also be retrieved by god from disasters and ocean burials on the resurrection day. Cremation is cheaper, it stops the spread of any disease and it does not require much space when land is scarce.
All flesh and blood bodies eventually decay and become like dust in the earth. Cremation simply speeds the process along. God is certainly able to provide a resurrected body for those who have been cremated. The heavenly body is a new, spiritual body, and not the old body of flesh and blood.