Having a proper burial for your recently departed was held with great importance during Biblical times. Most of us are aware of the great lengths ancient Egyptians went through to preserve the dead for their eternal journey, but the ancient Hebrews also took great care in preparing their dead for burial, as evident in John 19:39. In most cases, Jewish families buried their dead in caves and tombs when possible.
John 19:39 – English Standard Version
39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus[a] by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds[b] in weight.
The practice of cremation is found throughout the Bible. The first-time cremation is referenced as a burial practice is 1Samuel 31: 11-13:
1 Samuel 31:11-13 – English Standard Version
11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what 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 they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.Saul and his sons were cremated because burial was not possible. While ancient Hebrews and Egyptians traditionally buried their dead in tombs of some form, cremation was also an option when necessary.
The Old Testament contains a passage where the act of cremation desecrated the altar. In 2 Kings 23:16-20, Josiah took the bones out of the tomb, burned them on the altar, and “defiled it.” However, nowhere in the Old Testament does the Bible command the deceased cannot be burned, nor are there any judgments attached to those that have been cremated.
2 Kings 23:16-20 – English Standard Version
16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted[a] these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
The Bible also reference cremation. The earliest we see this is in Genesis 3:19:
Genesis 3:19 – English Standard Version
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
You are probably most familiar with the paraphrasing of the passage, “ashes to ashes and dust to dust.”
These simple words carry a lot of meaning about the cyclical nature of life. We were formed from the earth by God, and upon death, we all return to it. Many people who choose cremation find comfort knowing that their body eventually returns to “ash” and “dust” — becoming part of nature’s cycle again.
Two passages in Corinthians reference cremation. In 1 Corinthians 13:3, the apostle Paul writes,
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 13:3 – English Standard Version
1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
Again, nowhere in the passage is cremation frowned upon. The passage focuses not on how your body is treated after death but what good you did during your lifetime. We can see this sentiment again in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5:
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 – English Standard Version
Our Heavenly Dwelling
5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on[a] we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
While not specifically mentioning cremation, God’s creations continue to live in the kingdom of heaven even if their earthly forms are destroyed.
The only other references are found in the book of Amos 2:1 and Amos 6:8-10. Leviticus 20:14 indirectly mentions cremation, since they involve capital punishment that requires the offender to be “burned with fire.” However, there are over 200 references to burial in the Old Testament which indicates this was the custom of the culture at that time. For ancient Israel, burial in a tomb, cave, or in the ground was the common way to dispose of a human body (Genesis 23:19; 35:19; 2 Chronicles 16:14; Matthew 27:60-66).
2 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[a] because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.
Amos 2:1 – English Standard Versio
Amos 6:8-10 – English Standard Version
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
10 And when one’s relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
Leviticus 20:14 – English Standard Version
14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.
Genesis 23:19 – English Standard Version
19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 35:19 – English Standard Version
19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),
14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art, and they made a very great fire in his honor.
2 Chronicles 16:14 – English Standard Version
60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
MATTHEW 27:60-66 – ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION
Is cremation a sin?
Burying the dead was the usual practice in Biblical times, and until recently, the preferred method for most people when they passed. Even though many Bible passages see cremation as necessary in only dire times, nowhere in the Bible is cremation directly condemned. Perhaps the biggest concern for many Christians is if their bodies can still be resurrected if cremated.
According to a statement by the Vatican in 2016 (3), God can resurrect a body, even though it’s been cremated:
“The Church raises no doctrinal objections to this practice, since cremation of the deceased’s body does not affect his or her soul, nor does it prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life.”
Even bodies buried traditionally eventually decompose. So, the question shouldn’t be if cremation is a sin, but if cremation is right for you.
If you are Catholic, you may wonder if cremation conflicts with Catholic teachings. However, there are ways to honor your Catholic upbringing if you choose to be cremated.
In 1963, the Catholic church changed its stance on cremation (4) – now allowing it as long as the body is present during the funeral. The Catholic Church considers the human body to be sacred, even in death. As long as the cremated remains are treated with the same level of respect and dignity that a body would receive, cremation is still in line with Catholic teachings.
See references below to learn more about the Catholic Church’s stance on cremation (5).
Even thousands of years old, the Bible is full of sage advice and lessons that are still applicable today. Perhaps, one of the most endearing ones is that on the circle of life in Job 34:14-15 — ashes to ashes and dust to dust.
Job 34:14-15 – English Standard Version
14 If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
Pastor John MacArthur of grace Community Church says the following:
“Actually, the Scriptures do not say anything about required modes of burial for believers. Standard practice among Old Testament and in the New Testament was a burial. Saul and Jonathan were cremated by the Israelites after their deaths, but this was not normal practice in Israel. Their bodies were mutilated by the Philistines, thus the decision was made to cremate, then bury the ashes (1 Samuel 31:8-13). Achan, and his family, were cremated upon their execution for sinning against Israel, which again appears to be an exception to normal burial practices among the Israelites.”
1 Samuel 31:8-13 – English Standard Version
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what 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 they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
There is no explicit scriptural command against cremation. Some believers object to the practice of cremation on the basis that it does not recognize that one day God will resurrect our bodies and reunite them with our spirit (1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The Resurrection Body35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; [a] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Mystery and Victory
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:35-58 – English Standard Version
1 Thessalonians 4:16 – English Standard Version
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
The fact that a body is cremated does not make it impossible or difficult for God to resurrect that body. He can resurrect a body eaten by a shark or a baby torn limb from limb and aborted by its mother. God is equally able to raise a person’s remains that have been cremated as he is the remains of a person who was not cremated. The question of burial or cremation is within the realm of Christian freedom.
When we consider how God created mankind, it supports this fact. In Genesis 1:27, we are told that God created man. The verb to create is the Hebrew bara. In Genesis 2:7, the Bible says God formed man (Hebrew asah). Since both verses speak of God creating man, we find that man was both created and formed. God created Adam by using pre-existing material, the earth. The word translated form is used in Scripture of the work of a potter forming his clay. The Hebrew has a play of words in Genesis 2:7. The word translated man is the Hebrew word adam while the word translated dust of the earth is the Hebrew word adamah.
Genesis 1:27 – English Standard Version
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7 – English Standard Version
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Why Does This Matter?
It doesn’t matter if a loved one is cremated, buried, or placed in a pod to become a tree. “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.” Job reiterated the final moments of the body in Job 34:14-15, “If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust.”
Job 34:14-15 – English Standard Version
14 If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
God will resurrect his people at the second coming. Funerals are meant for the living as a chance to celebrate the life of their loved ones who have passed. It is a chance to remember, respect, and reminisce about their lives. It is also a reminder that we are ultimately in God’s hands. He’s given us life, the breath in our lungs, and the bodies that hold our spirits. One day we will meet him face to face with a new body that will never wear out for all eternity.
Source: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-life/what-does-the-bible-say-about-cremation.html
Reference:
1) https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/mungo-lady
2) https://time.com/4425172/cremation-outpaces-burial-u-s/
3) https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/25/499286415/vatican-dont-scatter-cremation-ashes-and-dont-keep-them-at-home
4)https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20160815_ad-resurgendum-cum-christo_en.html
5) https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/bereavement-and-funerals/cremation-and-funerals