frequently asked questions


QUESTION:
blue bullet  Is the practice of cremation Scripturally wrong? 

ANSWER:

blue bullet  YES.  Cremation is wrong but is not clearly forbidden in the Bible.  However, it does not matter to God at the resurrection whether the body is ashes or dust He will still gather the pieces together before His judgment seat. 

The problem with cremation is one of irreverence and the attitude of the person who desires to be cremated.  All through a believers faithful life the body is to be respected and treated as the Temple of God.  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (I Corinthians 3:16-17). 

We should present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).  When people choose to have their bodies cremated they are in essence refuting God's Word.  Individuals who wish for their bodies to be burned feel that this life is the end and there is no hereafter.  However, praise be to God such is not the case.

"Behold, I shew you a mystery... In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So   when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immorality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" (I Corinthians 15:51-54).