Is Cremation for Christians?

WisdomSeeker said:

I mean, I guess, He could have resurected even if He was creamated...That would have been something wouldn't it?

Jesus is a special case. Cremation wouldn't have "worked" for him, since part of his proof that he was raised from the dead was to have Thomas inspect the holes in his hands and side.

Had Jesus been cremated, he would have had to manufacture the wounds when his body was reconstituted; effectively this meant deceiving Thomas into believing.

The major problem with the anti-cremation argument is simply that it confuses first-century (and earlier) practice with biblical principle. The preferred mode of disposal for the ancient Hebrews is, in and of itself, insufficient to conclude that we should go and do likewise. The Bible never attaches any moral principle to burial; it is only inferred.

 

Thank you Ransom, I didn't think of that.

And, Helen, thanks for doing your research too. Your imput as usual, allowed me to learn something new.

Your right, about the doner thing as well. I'm a doner. Good point about sharing the gift Yelsew.

Hmmm, now I have more reasons to be confused.

 

I don't know this for sure, but if burial is the choice, then doesn't the body have to be embalmed by law, if it isn't being cremated or donated?

And if embalming is the law for a body, then that practice was from the Egyptians, not a Jewish nor a Christian practice?

I would say that we should follow burial, but I would think it really isn't against the Bible to be cremated. But an embalmed body, according to the Egyptians , was prepared for the next life. I had a friend that worked in a cemetary (a grave digger). When they resumed a body that had been buried for more than ten years (I believe), that body had not decomposed as would a body that was , say, found after being exposed to the elements.

 

Howdy there OliveBranch! My son who works at a Funeral Home says "no", a body does not have to be embalmed, provided it's buried within so many hours; at least in our area here.

My family knows what to do with me & their daddy...one will make the box, one will dig the hole, & son-in-law will say some words...just simple and only the family.

No extra expenses or trouble for anyone.

[ October 03, 2002, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: GrannyGumbo ]

 

You'll find that cremation is the most cost effective method of disposition for a person's remains.

My uncle recently passed away and he was cremated... He had to be. His body wasn't found until he had been dead over two weeks!!! Yuck!

Several years ago, a friend of mine had an aunt pass away. She had instructed her children to cremate her. They were southern baptists who found cremation objectionable, especially given that the entire family for hundreds of years had been whole body interred. But she was insistent that she absolutely wanted to be cremated after death. Well, upon her death, her family chose a full body casket burial. Wouldn't ya know, on the way from the church to the gravesite, the hearse broke down and ended up catching fire. Needless to say, it was necessary to cremate her remains after that, and her ashes were buried in the family plot, just the way she wanted. No one knows why the hearse caught fire that day, but I have my suspicions

 

I don't know this for sure, but if burial is the choice, then doesn't the body have to be embalmed by law, if it isn't being cremated or donated?

_________________________________________________

Embalming is for cosmetic reasons only....so the dead body will look "more natural" whilst viewing. In Ontario, Canada,,,Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta it is not a law.

Also, as a point in law (Canada) the person's request are overruled by the survivors who actually have the final say. Even when one signs their driver's license to donate organs, this is up to the next-of-kin.

Cheers in the Lord,

Jim

 

That's a good point. For all of you who are pro buriel, how do you feel about organ donation? Does it matter how much of your body is buried?

 

That's sounds like the way I would probably want things. Actually, that sounds really nice, except for the part about me dying first...

Eric

 

To those who feel a corpse is effectively worthless, may I ask is it not possible to desecrate a dead body?

 

I plan on giving my body to science. I have dis-
cussed this with my husband, who has no prob-
lem with it, but my children do not even want me
to discuss my illness with them, so how am I to
discuss my dead body with them?

When my first husband's plane crashed, the
first thing I asked was, "Did it burn?" Mmy con-
cern was not cremation but whether or not he
suffered. I think that many people do not sub-
mit to a loved one's desire to be cremated
because fire equals pain in most minds, and
death of a loved one, being hard to accept in the
first place, seems unreal. How can they possibly
allow the burning the body of a love one until
they come to grips with the fact that they are
truly gone?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Johnv --Oo, Auntie!

 

is it not possible to desecrate a dead body? Yes, there are laws that prohibit desecration of remains. The reason for this is that when a person's remains are finally dosposed of, there is no assumption that the maintenance of the remains is up to someone, or that the remains belong to someone. With that in mind, it would not be much of a crime for someone to remove the remains of rudolph valentino or some such thing like that. With desecration laws in place, it becomes illegal for someone to disturbing a person's remains at or from the location of the remains' disposition (crypt, vault, niche, etc).

Note, however, that those desecration laws are not in force if there has been no final disposition. In other words, if you have a loved one's urn, taking the ashes and sprinkling them at sea or something like that is not considered desecration.

 

I myself wish I could be thrown in a plain pine box and dumped in a grave, but since the government wants all those chemicals in the body, it will never decay. I think that denies the ashes to ashes dust to dust thing. So I want to be burned and sprinkled into a hole, then buried.

 

FearNot, there's no requirement for embalming, but it means you'd have to have to be buried in a timely manner, and you can pretty much forget the idea of a viewing (which would be fine with me, anyway).