Does Scripture Teach Cremation as an Option for the Saint? – Part 1

As the years go by, more people are turning to the option of burning their dead as common place alternative to burial – something that was rare and unusual in the past generations. While this practice is gaining momentum, the real focus of this article is directed towards the professing believer in Jesus Christ and what we discover in the Bible.

From the onset, it is to be understood that every single topic in life may not be explicitly addressed in Scripture, but we can deduce the heart of our Father through patterns and implications which will help us to confidently draw a conclusion that follows His heart towards us. With this understanding in mind, let us see what the Bible tells us how God’s people put to rest those saints who have slept in the Lord, having departed the land of the living.

Let us begin with our forefathers, and starting with Abraham we read of his death, “Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age… and he was gathered to his people. Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael BURIED HIM in the cave of Machpelah” (Gen 25:8-9).

Isaac: “Then Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob BURIED HIM” (Gen 35:29).

Jacob: Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; BURY ME with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite” (Gen 49:29). Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel… So Joseph went up to BURY HIS FATHER, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt” (Gen 50:1-2, 7).

We discover a pattern from the patriarchs that after death their bodies were prepared for burial and laid to rest. We further read this same pattern from the Kings of Israel…

“So David rested with his fathers, and WAS BURIED in the City of David. (1 Kings 2:10) … Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and WAS BURIED in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. (1 Kings 11:43)… So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and WAS BURIED with his fathers in the City of David...” (1 Kings 14:31)

(See the following for additional kings, 1 Kings 15:8; 15:24; 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24)

This is the same method of laying to rest the departed throughout the entirety of Scripture. To be clear, the people of God buried their own, without exception. So what of the new phenomenon of cremation – the practice of burning the dead bodies of our family just as a carcass of refuge and garbage – and where did this practice originate? The best evidence points to ancient European customs, with the greatest influence tracing back to the Greeks. As pertaining to Scripture, we find the practice of burning people, and specifically children, for the purpose of ritual sacrifice to foreign gods. This was something that the nation of Israel later embraced in departing from their faith, of which YHWH forbid as a practice for His people.

“And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” (Lev 18:21)

We later see… “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he DID NOT do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he even made his son pass through the fire, in accordance with THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE NATIONS whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel.” (2 Kings 16:2-3)

We discover through the entire Old Testament that that practice of burning the body, being made in the image of God, was never an accepted practice from our LORD, in any manner. The grand point to consider is that no one reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation will ever come out of it with the idea of burning the dead bodies of our parents and loved ones as an accepted practice by God. In point of fact, it is never implied at any level. The only reason as to why cremation has come to be an option for modern-day Christians has been through pagan practices and influences being accepted as the norm. I am not declaring that it is an outright sin to burn the bodies of Saints, but I am saying that there is a higher road for the people of God, and we are not called to follow the world, but we are called to be separate and to be a light. The Christian is to be led by the Spirit, and to influence the culture with a kingdom mind, as opposed to submitting to a mindset that is under the sway of the god of this age.

Shalom,
B.D.R.