Cremation

[hillclimber1]

I'd like my body released into my beloved Rogue River, but society won't allow that...So I'm going to be cremated, at a cost of $800....Why pay more? I'll be long gone....

I've not paid this ahead, because I fully expect to be raptured before this decision is necessary...

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I'm coming to the conclusion that no one read any of the articles I posted or even seriously considered my points.

I've felt that way when talking with you, as well.

 

[hillclimber1]

I'm coming to the conclusion that no one read any of the articles I posted or even seriously considered my points.

I've only recently come back on here, but I read all your posts and agree with you on most everything. Just don't agree on this cremation issue... We are not rich people, probably of average income, and to pay $10-$15 thousand dollars for a funeral service, to me is an enormous waste of the Lord's money.....

While we are in residence, our body's are the Lord's temple...Once we leave it, it becomes useless, and returns to the earth. Let them fuss over my memory in a service at our church, which we've turned into a festive celebration for many of our graduates.... Maybe 3 or 4 out of 10 choose cremation in our church. Just a guess.

 

[Spinach]

Marcia, I've read and am pondering on what you wrote. There was no need to get huffy here.

You do mention that accidents and such are different. Why are they different? As horrible as this is, what if someone burns up in an explosion. God is God and can raise their bodies from the ashes, no?

Ok, so cremation is intentional. Are you saying that we can limit God somehow? If cremation is a sin, is it your opinion that one will go to hell for it?

 

[padredurand]

madre will have me cremated. She plans on putting my ashes in an hourglass. On Sunday mornings she will flip me over and let me run for an hour... in death as in life.... :thumbs:

Marcia, our bodies will be much, much different.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 KJV
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.​

The body that makes its way to the funeral home is corrupt, dishonored, weak and natural. That does not occur at the funeral home or crematorium. Saved or not, the human body is all these things. We age, get sick and ultimately die.

1 Corinthians 15:47-50 KJV
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.​

I can't wait to throw off this old tenement of clay - to borrow the phrase from DL Moody. I'm in no particular hurry, mind you, but with death and the resurrection come freedom from the bonds of this "body of death". Paul thanked God for being freed from it through Jesus Christ. (Romans 7: 23-24) Paul, I am confident, did not want to spend eternity in the shell he possessed in life. He was a broken vessel, corrupt not only in essence but in form. Paul thanked God, in advance, for the hope that Paul would be like Jesus in death.

That doesn't mean Paul's hope was in that he would be placed in the ground whole. Paul's hope, and ours, is that we will be raised immortal, heavenly, spiritual and just like Jesus.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 KJV​

 

[Spinach]

I definitely don't want how they bury here! When you die, the family washes the body, lays it on the table (the family eating table). People come by and cry for a while (wail, actually). Then they wrap the body (the poor can't afford a wooden box) and some even.....oh my....roll it into the hole (usually fairly shallow).

What really freaks me out is all the stray dogs that hang around the cemetary in a nearby city. It gives me nightmares sometimes.

 

[Crabtownboy]

I had a good friend who died this fall. She left instructions that she be cremated and her ashes placed in a contained and then placed in the crypt with her husband.

The family followed her wishes. The funeral home wanted $1000 for a wooden box to hold her ashes. Her kids said, "If we spent that much on a wooden box she would come back and haunt us forever." She had been an avid birder in life, so her kids bought a ceramic birdhouse at a local store, for a whole lot less money, and put her ashes in that. They then pasted photos and other Memorabilia to the bird house and did place it in the crypt with her husband. I believe she would highly approve of waiting for the resurrection in a bird house. The kids were wise.

My guess is a primary reason people were not cremated in the Mid-East during Biblical times was the lack of wood for fuel. Wood is not in abundance in a desert area.

 

[annsni]

Marcia, I've read and am pondering on what you wrote. There was no need to get huffy here.

You do mention that accidents and such are different. Why are they different? As horrible as this is, what if someone burns up in an explosion. God is God and can raise their bodies from the ashes, no?

Ok, so cremation is intentional. Are you saying that we can limit God somehow? If cremation is a sin, is it your opinion that one will go to hell for it?

I'm not Marcia but I'd say accidents and such are different because it's not our choice to destroy the body like that. The same with martyrdom. If our body has been the temple of the Holy Spirit, why not treat it with respect and honor? Again, Scripturally, there is not one instance of a child of God being cremated. That speaks volumes to me. Funerals do not need to cost $10-15,000 because my own mother was buried for significantly less than that. Don't choose the expensive casket - don't choose embalming. Our own Friend of God was a mortician for many years and maybe he can step in and give us some insight on dealing with the dead.

I don't think cremation is a sin but I don't think it is being the stewards of the body Christ gave us after death.

Oh and as for the body in the resurrection, we know the graves will open and those inside will walk out. Here's an article from Desiring God that is good about this subject:

Yes, our bodies will be raised not spiritually or ethereally, but physically and materially. Our souls will be reunited with our transformed physical bodies, brought back to life from the dead. Scripture teaches this in many ways.

First, simply to speak of a "resurrection" of the dead (Matthew 22:30-31; Luke 14:14; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) is to imply physicality. That is what a resurrection is. The Bible has no categories for the concept of a resurrected body that remains dead and physically lying in a grave.

Second, Philippians 3:20-21 teaches us that Christ's resurrection body is the pattern of our resurrection body: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory." We know that Christ was raised in a physical body because the disciples ate with Him after the resurrection (Acts 10:41) and touched Him (Matthew 28:9; see also John 20:27). Also, Jesus outright declared that His resurrection body was physical and touchable: "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39; see also Acts 13:33-37). Since Christ's resurrection is the pattern of our resurrection, we will therefore be raised in a physical body as well.

Third, Romans 8:21-23 speaks of waiting for "the redemption of our bodies" (v. 23). Our bodies are not going to be thrown away. They are going to be renewed, restored, revitalized.

Fourth, Jesus speaks of the resurrection as involving the coming forth of individuals out of their tombs, which clearly indicates a physical concept of the resurrection: "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).

Fifth, the Old Testament speaks of the resurrection as being physical: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). Likewise, we read in Job: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another. My heart faints within Me" (Job 19:25-27).

(http://www.desiringgod.org/Resource...ody_be_a_physical_resurrection_from_the_dead/)

 

[Palatka51]

I'm not Marcia but I'd say accidents and such are different because it's not our choice to destroy the body like that. The same with martyrdom. If our body has been the temple of the Holy Spirit, why not treat it with respect and honor? Again, Scripturally, there is not one instance of a child of God being cremated. That speaks volumes to me. Funerals do not need to cost $10-15,000 because my own mother was buried for significantly less than that. Don't choose the expensive casket - don't choose embalming. Our own Friend of God was a mortician for many years and maybe he can step in and give us some insight on dealing with the dead.

You know that embalming involves the removal of the internal organs and they then are incinerated or bagged and placed at the feet. Even so, the chemicals involved in embalming alters the chemical make up of every cell in the body.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Embalming.

Can a person specify not to be embalmed? I think the States have laws that require it. If you request not to be embalmed then you must be incinerated. A decomposing body does produce many health concerns.

 

[Palatka51]

madre will have me cremated. She plans on putting my ashes in an hourglass. On Sunday mornings she will flip me over and let me run for an hour... in death as in life....

Marcia, our bodies will be much, much different.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 KJV
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.​

The body that makes its way to the funeral home is corrupt, dishonored, weak and natural. That does not occur at the funeral home or crematorium. Saved or not, the human body is all these things. We age, get sick and ultimately die.

1 Corinthians 15:47-50 KJV
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.​

I can't wait to throw off this old tenement of clay - to borrow the phrase from DL Moody. I'm in no particular hurry, mind you, but with death and the resurrection come freedom from the bonds of this "body of death". Paul thanked God for being freed from it through Jesus Christ. (Romans 7: 23-24) Paul, I am confident, did not want to spend eternity in the shell he possessed in life. He was a broken vessel, corrupt not only in essence but in form. Paul thanked God, in advance, for the hope that Paul would be like Jesus in death.

That doesn't mean Paul's hope was in that he would be placed in the ground whole. Paul's hope, and ours, is that we will be raised immortal, heavenly, spiritual and just like Jesus.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 KJV​

This is the best response to this thread yet.

 

[SBCPreacher]

madre will have me cremated. She plans on putting my ashes in an hourglass. On Sunday mornings she will flip me over and let me run for an hour... in death as in life.... :thumbs:

I like this. It's a great idea! But for he, it'd have to be a half-hour glass. I can't seem to go an entire hour!

 

[annsni]

You know that embalming involves the removal of the internal organs and they then are incinerated or bagged and placed at the feet. Even so, the chemicals involved in embalming alters the chemical make up of every cell in the body.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Embalming.

Can a person specify not to be embalmed? I think the States have laws that require it. If you request not to be embalmed then you must be incinerated. A decomposing body does produce many health concerns.

Embalming does not involve the removal of any organs. From looking at that site, the organs are placed at the feet in a bag (in a chemical bath - not incinerated) only if the body has been autopsied and the organs were not returned to the body cavity. It is also not required as I did not have my mother embalmed when she passed away.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I'd like to think I could donate my corpse to a medical university to train students, and not have it be a sin......

 

[Palatka51]

I'd like to think I could donate my corpse to a medical university to train students, and not have it be a sin......

It is the dying that's sin not how the body is disposed of.

 

[ajg1959]

I just made arrangements to have my body cremated next month. it was less than $1000 and my family wont be hindered by my untimely death. there wont even be a service.....just chunk me into the furnace like Bendigo and his two friends.

As far as it being a sin? I think accepting life as a divorcee is a far worse sin than what to do with my body after i am gone.

AJ

 

[annsni]

I just made arrangements to have my body cremated next month. it was less than $1000 and my family wont be hindered by my untimely death. there wont even be a service.....just chunk me into the furnace like Bendigo and his two friends.

As far as it being a sin? I think accepting life as a divorcee is a far worse sin than what to do with my body after i am gone.

AJ

AJ - Why would accepting life as a divorcee a sin? What led to that divorce might have been a sin (maybe only on one side or maybe on both) but once the divorce is done, it's done.

Death is always untimely but saying that you will be cremated next month is premeditated. Are you still in counseling AJ? It sounds like you are still struggling. I'm continuing to pray for you brother.

 

[ajg1959]

AJ - Why would accepting life as a divorcee a sin? What led to that divorce might have been a sin (maybe only on one side or maybe on both) but once the divorce is done, it's done.

Death is always untimely but saying that you will be cremated next month is premeditated. Are you still in counseling AJ? It sounds like you are still struggling. I'm continuing to pray for you brother.

I refuse to go thru a divorce, and i wont. Whether i die 20 years from now or 20 days from now, i will still be married. I can show you scripture that says that only death can dissolve a marriage.

 

[annsni]

I refuse to go thru a divorce, and i wont. Whether i die 20 years from now or 20 days from now, i will still be married. I can show you scripture that says that only death can dissolve a marriage.

AJ - I understand your struggle with divorce. While I've not been through it in my own marriage, my parents separated when I was a teen and I've helped a number of women through the difficult time of their husbands abandoning them.

As I said, I continue to pray for you. I will also pray for you and your family.

 

[Marcia]

Marcia, I've read and am pondering on what you wrote. There was no need to get huffy here.

You do mention that accidents and such are different. Why are they different? As horrible as this is, what if someone burns up in an explosion. God is God and can raise their bodies from the ashes, no?

Ok, so cremation is intentional. Are you saying that we can limit God somehow? If cremation is a sin, is it your opinion that one will go to hell for it?

I'm not huffy, just discouraged.

Yes, of course God wil raise their body if it burns in an explosion, or whatever.

But an accident is not chosen (unless it's suicide, then it's not an accident).

It has nothing to do with limiting God - it's about the Biblical precedent of burial, respect for our bodies since God made them, and the fact our bodies are not ours, but God's, and they will be raised.

I'm truly surprised at the responses here -- no, actually, maybe I'm not.

 

[Marcia]

Marcia, our bodies will be much, much different.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 KJV​

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
​

Yes, they will be different, but the same bodies!

From Annsni's post which she quoted from Piper's "Desiring God" (thanks, Annsni!):
Yes, our bodies will be raised not spiritually or ethereally, but physically and materially. Our souls will be reunited with our transformed physical bodies, brought back to life from the dead. Scripture teaches this in many ways.

First, simply to speak of a "resurrection" of the dead (Matthew 22:30-31; Luke 14:14; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) is to imply physicality. That is what a resurrection is. The Bible has no categories for the concept of a resurrected body that remains dead and physically lying in a grave.

Second, Philippians 3:20-21 teaches us that Christ's resurrection body is the pattern of our resurrection body: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory." We know that Christ was raised in a physical body because the disciples ate with Him after the resurrection (Acts 10:41) and touched Him (Matthew 28:9; see also John 20:27). Also, Jesus outright declared that His resurrection body was physical and touchable: "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39; see also Acts 13:33-37). Since Christ's resurrection is the pattern of our resurrection, we will therefore be raised in a physical body as well.

Third, Romans 8:21-23 speaks of waiting for "the redemption of our bodies" (v. 23). Our bodies are not going to be thrown away. They are going to be renewed, restored, revitalized.

Fourth, Jesus speaks of the resurrection as involving the coming forth of individuals out of their tombs, which clearly indicates a physical concept of the resurrection: "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).

Fifth, the Old Testament speaks of the resurrection as being physical: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). Likewise, we read in Job: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another. My heart faints within Me" (Job 19:25-27).