Introduction
“Ashes to ashes and dust to dust” is a common
phrase we hear associated with funeral practices. This first appeared in the
Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer in 1549. The phrase “dust to dust”
has some biblical origin from Gen. 3:19 and Ecclesiastes 3:20 but the words
“ashes to ashes” do not appear anywhere in the bible. As we will see from Alvin
Schmidt’s book, “Dust to Dust or Ashes to Ashes? A Biblical and Christian
Examination of Cremation”, the scriptures never instruct people to burn dead
bodies turning them into ashes (p.67).
History of Cremation
Cremation comes from Latin word “cremare”
meaning “to burn” (p.6).
Some historical reasons for cremating the dead were (p.7):
Some historical reasons for cremating the dead were (p.7):
1. To cope with
fear of the dead.
2. To enable easy
transportation of bones back to homes or other places.
3. To prevent
bodies from being stolen by thieves and miscreants.
4. Belief that fire
freed the soul from wandering and searching.
5. Belief that fire
purifies the departed person’s soul.
Cremation begins reappearing in the West
following the efforts of Prussian pro-cremationists in 1855, when an
international congress of medical experts met in Florence in 1869 contending
that earth-burial was unhygienic (p.19). Cremation appealed not only to atheists
and freethinkers but it was commonly requested—usually as an act of rebellion
by Spiritualists, Theosophists, Unitarians, Universalists, anti-clerics and
anti-church types (p.30). In 1875 the Cremation Societys in England and New
York are formed (p.20).
Cremation rates in United States have increased
dramatically over the last several decades, from .003% in 1900, .04% in 1920,
3.5% in 1960, to 27% in 2001 and are expected to rise to 40% by year 2010
(p.21).
What is Cremation?
Cremation is not a completely accurate term for
the burning of a departed person. Human bones do not burn because they contain
about 60% inorganic, non-combustible matter (p.23). Thus, the unburned bone
portions are pulverized in today’s crematoria by a grinding process that
reduces them to small granules resembling dried fertilizer pellets, the latter
comprising at least half of the total remains. Sometimes a white colored
substance is added to make the ashes look more attractive (p.24). As a result
of package leakages, UPS and FedEx refuse to transport ashes of cremated
bodies. Sometimes, human ashes are mixed with ashes from another person or
other sources.
Burial in Ancient Judaism
The Hebrews/Israelites in the Old Testament era
lived and were surrounded by pagan societies: Canaanites, Amorites, Edomites,
Hittites, Philistines and others. Through the prophets, God frequently warned
the Israelites not to adopt the pagan values, beliefs, or practices of those
societies such as worshipping pagan polytheistic gods, marrying pagan wives, engaging
in homosexual practices, eating unclean food, sacrificing infants, and making
graven images of pagan idols (p.31).
In the OT, earth burial was the norm for
treating departed persons. Cremation was used only as punishment and
humiliation for those who engaged in grievous, sinful acts as recorded in
Joshua 7:15; Leviticus 21:9; 20:14. Cremation was also an instrument of God’s
wrath as He destroyed certain peoples by fire as recorded in Numbers 11:1-3;
16:35; Joshua 7:15,24-26; 2Kings 1:10-12 and famously the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah in Genesis 19:24 (p.35-36).
The Lord says through the prophet Amos, “For
three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath, because he
burned, as if to lime, the bones of Edom’s king” (2:1-2). This is argued as a
clear denunciation of cremation. (p.37)
The Israelites treated the body of a dead person
with great respect by closing the eyes (Gen.46:4); washing the body (Acts
9:37); draping a napkin over the dead person’s face (John 11:44); anointing
with aromatic spices (Lk.23:56; 24:1; Jn.19:40) and wrapping with linens
(Mt.27:59; Mk.15:45; Lk.23:53; Jn.19:39-40).
Christian arguments against Cremation
1. Our Lord, God
and Savior Jesus Christ died on the Cross and was buried. (Nicene Creed) We should imitate Jesus.
2. Everyone will be
bodily resurrected in the Second Coming of Christ. Cremation is a denial of the bodily
resurrection.
3. The human body
is a sacred sanctuary even after physical death.
4. Cremation with
God’s blessing is never mentioned in the Old Testament
5. We must not be
conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) especially as cremation becomes more
common.
Benefits of Earth Burial
Relics of the Saints
It is well known among church historians that
the early Christians fervently opposed infanticide, child abandonment, abortion
and suicide because they believed in the sanctity of the human being. In their
minds, the sanctity of the human body did not come to an end when a person
died. They saw the human being as the crown of God’s creation, for man was made
in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:27) (p.49). “The saints, during their
earthly lives, were filled with the Holy Spirit. And when they fulfill their
course, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not depart from their souls or their
bodies in the tombs” (St. John of Damascus). Cremation denies and deprives us
of the sacred tradition and benefits of the presence of saintly holy relics.
St. Paul emphasizes this in the Epistle reading from the 9th Sunday of Matthew: “16Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple” (1Cor.3:16-17). He repeats this again later, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which have from God? You are not your own” (1Cor.6:19). So, even though we may not have attained a level of saintliness like some of our spiritual predecessors, nevertheless, God’s Holy Spirit lives and dwells within us.
Conclusion
The only
fire we should submit ourselves to is the fire of God’s love and holy presence.
St. Paul also says, “Each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will
disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test what
sort of work each one has done… If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss,
though he himself will be saved but only through fire” (1Cor.3:14,15). Amen!
CONVERSATION