What does the Bible say about cremation? Should Christians be cremated?

There is no trace of cremation in the word of God. For human beings to be burned with fire, according to the Scriptures, is reserved as a punishment for the wicked, and not an act of respect of the living to the dead, as Christian burial is.

We read, “And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has: because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has wrought folly in Israel.” (Joshua 7:15) “But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with bands: but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.” (2 Sam. 23:6-7)

These were the words of God addressed to Adam, and form part of the sentence He passed upon him for his sin in partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is plainly stated that death is the penalty of sin. It is as plainly stated that just as Adam was created out of the ground, so he is to RETURN unto the ground. God ordained burial in the earth as the way of the disposal of the bodies of the dead. “TILL THOU RETURN UNTO THE GROUND” was and is God’s decree for sinful man. Cremation goes dead against this basic law of God, and THEREBY STANDS CONDEMNED FOR ALL TIME. Let there be no mistake about that.

As to the body, it matters little whether it is reduced to dust through the slow process of decay, or to ashes by cremation in the course of an hour or two. The four million bodies of Christian dead, laid to rest in the Catacombs of Rome, have long since mouldered to indefinable dust. Yet bodies, whether cremated, or given Christian burial, or which disappear in the frightful explosion of an atomic bomb, will be surely raised in resurrection according to the word of God, and by His almighty power.

We end where we began by bringing before you God’s basic law as to the disposal of dead bodies: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, TILL THOU RETURN UNTO THE GROUND: for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art [not ashes], and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19)

Defy God’s basic law, and you will have to face Him about it. Above all, let Christians stand firm for Christian burial, and refuse Pagan Cremation.

In the New Testament we read of Stephen, the first recorded martyr of the Christian Church, that devout men carried him to his burial, and made great lamentation over him (Acts 8:2). This stands as a model of a Christian burial. Lazarus was buried in a cave with a stone rolled upon its entrance, when our Lord raised him from the dead.

Verses 39–41 bear this out most clearly. Just as there are differences in the flesh of men, beasts, fishes and birds, and just as surely as there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, with their respective glories, ‘so also is the resurrection of the dead.’ Please note the expression ‘sown’ which indicates that the divinely ordained way of disposing of the mortal remains of the deceased is burial not cremation.

Verses 39-41, inclusive bear this out most clearly. Just as there are differences to the flesh of men, beasts, fishes and birds, and just as surely as there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, with their respective glories, "So also is the resurrection of the dead." Please note the expression "sown" which indicates that the divinely ordained way of disposing of the mortal remains of the deceased is burial not cremation.

Cremation destroys the truth and beauty of the thought of the close connection between the resurrection of Christ and that of the believer. Cremation puts Scripture sadly out of joint. Think of the time-honoured Scripture that has been read over the graves of hundreds of thousands of God’s saints. Please note particularly the “IT” repeated eight times in this precious Scripture, connecting the body sown with the body raised. There can be no resurrection unless what is committed to the Lord in death is raised literally. This is beyond human understanding, yet the believer relies on “the power of God,” and the plain teaching of Scripture.

How these verses are robbed of their beautiful meaning, if read over a coffin, about to be propelled by invisible machinery into a blazing furnace, and reduced to ashes in a couple of hours or less. Surely we do well to avoid a practice that weakens the meaning and comfort of Scripture at a time when hearts are torn with grief, and need all the comfort they can get in their hour of need.

At Christian funerals we have noted again and again how a note of holy triumph has been struck as the mourners looked into the grave, and realised that the body of their loved one, sown in corruption, dishonour and weakness, will assuredly be raised in incorruption, glory and power, aye, even in the likeness of their Lord and Saviour, who died for them that this hour of holy triumph might be theirs.

Here the same analogy is used but with a different application. A seed is sown in the earth, yet, though its identity is preserved, it comes up with a vastly different body. The acorn is buried, but the oak springs up. Every seed has what we may call its own special resurrection body in which it comes forth. The bearing of this on the point before us is plain. The dead body of that saint is laid in the grave: in the resurrection it will come up vastly different, yet with its identity preserved.