Cremation: Is It
Christian?
By
James W. Fraser
From
the back cover of the booklet: More
and more Christians today are condoning cremation for
family members and even requesting it for their own
future. But is this truly a Biblical practice or rather
a pagan one that actually violates the sanctity of the
Christian’s body? The author clearly demonstrates from
Scripture and history that cremation is, indeed, a pagan
practice and has never been God’s design for His people.
Preface from Sola Scriptura
Ministries
More and more Christians today
are condoning cremation for family members and even
requesting it for their own future. A typical example is
the following, written by Billy
Graham:
“My
Answer”*
By
Billy Graham
Question: My husband and I are
considering cremation. Is cremation against the teaching
of the Bible? Will those cremated also be
resurrected?
The aspect of cremation that worries some
Christians is the thought of the total annihilation of
the body. We need to get our thinking in a right
perspective here. The body is annihilated just as
completely in the grave as it is in cremation. The
graves of our ancestors are no longer in existence, and
soil in which they were buried has long since been
removed elsewhere. We must therefore accept that what
happens to the body or to the grave cannot be of any
significance so far as the resurrection is
concerned.
Our resurrection is related to that of Christ’s
in 1 Corinthians 15, and we must realize that the
resurrection of Jesus was quite different from that of
say, Lazarus. Lazarus needed the body that had been
buried, but when Jesus came forth from the tomb, his
body was so changed that he could not be easily
recognized.
In that chapter, Paul states of the burial of our
bodies: “thou sowest not that body that shall be”
(v.37). The body that rises is not made of the same
substances as the one that was buried, but is immortal
and
incorruptible.
In Corinthians 5, Paul makes the contrast between
living in a tent, a temporary home that can be pulled
down and put away, and living in a permanent home that
will last forever. Our bodies are our temporary tents.
Our resurrected bodies will be our permanent homes. They
are similar in appearance but different in substance.
Cremation is therefore no hindrance to the
resurrection.
* “My Answer” is a nationally
syndicated article by Dr. Graham appearing in many
newspapers.
The ignorance of Scripture and history in this
answer is appalling in light of it coming from a
supposed great Christian leader. But even more tragic is
the fact that many other Christians and Bible teachers
of much more evangelical position than Billy Graham are
being deluded into believing that Cremation is okay.
This is due in large part to the increase of pagan
influence that has been going on in Christianity for
centuries. The author of this booklet clearly
demonstrates from Scripture and history that cremation
is, indeed, a pagan practice and is not God’s design for
His people. We pray it will have wide
use.
Forward
God did not choose to have all His revelations
recorded in Scripture, but therein and in universal
anthropological evidences the student of Biblical
theology finds abundant evidence to reconstruct
practices which could not conceivably have arisen
independently in all parts of the world; they must have
had some common authoritative source. God must have
revealed to Adam and Eve the acceptable and appropriate
method of returning “dust to dust.” The modern
archaeologist in almost every land takes careful note of
the position of burial, the dress, the artifacts put in
the grave with the body and any indications of
anticipated life after
death.
From earliest indications, burial has been the
public testimony of assurance of physical resurrection.
Can you imagine that God would appoint cremation in
anticipation of raising His only begotten Son from the
dead! He was known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob--the God of the living. Even more than among many
Christians today. Hebrew believers kept separate
references to the body and references to the person who
had once inhabited the body, for to be absent from the
body is to be present with the
Lord.
This was the public declaration of Job from the
midst of great testing. Worms-not fire-would destroy his
body, yet in that same body (resurrected) he would
behold his Redeemer (Job 19:25-27). This is the
testimony of every believer who pictures publicly his
union with the Lord in death, burial, and resurrection
through believer’s baptism (Romans 6:4). Can you imagine
that God would have permitted cremation when public
burial in water was so closely knit in the message of
the new Church, “Believe and be
baptized!”
The word for sanctification means, basically, set
apart unto God. The author of these studies argues for
burial in consecrated ground, that set aside in
dedication unto God and respected thereafter. This
dedication likewise expresses our hope that in Christ
shall all be made alive. Let any Christian look
carefully at the teachings of Scripture, as set forth
here by the Rev. James W. Fraser, before examining the
commercial arguments of modern
paganism.
Warren
Vanhetloo
Central Conservative Baptist
Theological
Seminary
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
The Supreme
Curse
“The Supreme
Curse”
In the law of God it
was decreed
That Israel’s land
be purged and
freed
Of images, idols,
statues, and
groves
By burning to ash,
tho’ hidden in
coves.
They were cremated
in public
view
At God’s command,
both old and
new.
When Achan saw that
wedge of
gold
And costly garment
he could neatly
fold,
With shekels of
silver, all shining and
new,
He decided at once
to carry
through
A secret plan that
none would
know,
Thus help to make
his fortunes
grow.
He confessed his
sin, but ‘twas too
late;
He could not
re-enter mercy’s
gate.
He was stoned with
stones until he
died
For appearing as if
he had never
lied.
They laid him upon a
new-built
pyre
And reduced him to
ashes in the angry
fire.
For heathen gods and
certain
crimes
Was death and
cremation--there were no
fines.
This was God’s curse
and immediate
sentence,
Regardless of
confession of deep
repentance:
Swept from the earth
by a purging
fire,
And reduced to ashes
upon a
pyre.
Moses then burnt
their golden
calf
And reduced their
god to bitter
chaff;
David and his men
burnt Philistine
gods
And spread their ash
upon the
clods.
Jehu, too, burnt
their gods of
Baal,
Not even putting
them up for
sale.
Shall we, in this
enlightened
age,
Refuse to obey the
sacred
page;
Treating our dead as
if divinely
cursed,
In crematory fires
wholly
immersed?
Dear fellow
Christian, be warned in
time,
Don’t burn your
friends in fire or
lime!
J. W.
Fraser
Is Cremation
Christian?
Know ye not that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,
and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God’s (1 Corinthians
6:19-20).
One of the great Bible doctrines which has almost
been forgotten in the last few years is the sanctity of
the Christian’s body. This text plainly states that our
bodies are not our own to do with as we please. They
belong to God because of creation and redemption. They
are holy because they are cleansed and sanctified by the
blood of Christ.
They are also temples of the Holy Spirit and
members of the body of Christ. These and many other
Bible statements clearly set forth the truth of the
divine ownership and sanctity of the Christian’s
body.
In dealing with this question of cremation we
must not ignore the positive statements of Scripture if
we would sincerely seek the Christian position on this
issue. We know that in many localities a question of
this kind is of little importance. In places far from
large cities the question of cremation is seldom, if
ever, raised; but in thickly populated areas this is not
the case. When a relative passes on, the question comes
up: shall it be cremation or burial? Questions have been
asked by intelligent people: Is it wrong for a
Christian’s body to be cremated? Is it true that the
body comes to life in the process of cremation?
Recently, I was asked, “Why is cremation unpopular in
Christian
lands?”
I frankly admit I have not the last word on these
questions, but confess I have given serious and
prolonged thought to the question of Christian burial.
What I may say is not the result of an overnight
meditation or snap judgment. This sermon has been called
forth as a result of questions put to me by sincere
people and also because of doubts and questions in my
own mind over a period of years. I am giving what I have
gleaned in the hope that others will find the answers to
their questions on this
subject.
By the grace of God I have served as a minister
of the gospel since 1921. I had never been requested to
officiate at the funeral service of a body to be
cremated until I came to Montreal. To date, I have taken
but one cremation service;
what was very disturbing to me in that instance was the
fact that the individual had been a baptist. I had not
been notified that it was to be a cremation until I
arrived at the chapel at the hour of service. That
service was for me a conscience-stirring experience.
This event caused me deep concern as to my personal
responsibility as a minister of the gospel and as a
leader among Christian people of this generation. For I
sincerely believe that the minister’s responsibility to
God and to his fellows is much greater than that of the
average Christian. We know all Christians are stewards
of God and will be called to account for their
stewardship in a coming day, but preachers are
especially honoured and privileged servants; therefore,
their responsibility is
greater.
This new experience caused me to study again the
whole question of Christian burial. I searched the
Scriptures on this subject with greater avidity than I
had done heretofore. In my quest I made the discovery
that very few, if any, articles have been written or
sermons preached by the clergy, either for cremation or
against it. So as I proceed to state my findings, I
trust you will follow me with an open
mind.
According to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, the
word “cremation” is from the Latin cremo, which means
“to burn--burning, particularly the burning of the dead
according to the customs of many ancient
nations.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that
“cremation is the burning of human corpus which was the
general practice of the ancient world, with the
important exceptions of Egypt, where bodies were
embalmed; Judea (or Ancient Israel) where they were
buried in sepulchres, and China, where they were buried
in the earth. Cremation is still practised over a great
part of Asia and America, but not always in the same
form. Thus the ashes may be stored in urns, or buried in
the earth, or thrown to the wind, or, as among the
Digger Indians, smeared with gum on the heads of the
mourners.”
Our modern crematories are specially constructed
buildings erected for the purpose of the incineration of
human bodies, having individual compartments which are
heated to a temperature that quickly reduces the body to
ashes. The usual committal service is held in the
crematory chapel, after which the friends leave. The
casket is then placed in one of the compartments, the
shape of an oversized coffin, at which point the
cremation process commences. When the heat becomes
intense, the body appears to be very much alive as it
jumps about, which is the result of the contraction and
expansion of the
muscles.
To me it is a rather gruesome and unkind thing to
do to the body of a loved one. Can you imagine yourself
being responsible for the cremation of the body of your
mother, your husband, your wife, or your child? To a
person of refined Christian culture, it must be most
repulsive to think of the body of a friend being treated
like a beef roast in an oven, with all its running fats
and sizzling tissues. The body is reduced to ashes in a
white heat of 2,000 F. in a few hours. In the more
recently built crematories, it is claimed that this is
done in less than one hour. When cooled, the ashes are
put into an urn. The remains of a body weighing about
140 pounds would be no more than three to four pounds of
ash.
Were it not for the Christian’s responsibility to
God, there is something that can be said in favour of
cremation. It may be less expensive than burial, because
a cemetery lot is unnecessary, although some do bury the
ashes. The laws of Canada and some other lands do not
compel you to bury the ashes: you may throw them to the
winds, or cast them into the sea; you are at liberty to
dispose of them in almost any way you please; you may
bury them in your lawn or back yard, or divide them
equally among the family, or keep them in your
pantry.
If people only knew their Bible, I am sure they
would be more careful with the remains of their loved
ones. According to divine standards, it was a supreme
dishonour and curse for a person to have no burial. Such
a curse was pronounced by God on King Jehoiakim of
jerusalem because of his pride and disobedience to God.
The prophet Jeremiah said of him, “He shall be buried
with the burial of an ass” (Jeremiah 22:19); which
meant, he shall have no burial at all. Josephus, the
Jewish historian, states that Jehoakim’s body was cast
out by the king of Babylon, and lay exposed and unburied
some distance from the gate of Jerusalem. There are a
number in the Bible who wee thus cursed for their
disobedience to God: Achan (Joshua 7:15); Jezebel (2
Kings 9:30-37); Ahab’s offspring (1 Kings 21:17-24):
Sisera and Jabin (Psalm 83:9-10); and others. If we
dishonour friends by cremation we shall be called to
account for it (Romans 14:12; 222 Corinthians
5:10).
Another “advantage” of cremation is that if you
wish to bury the remains in another land, the freight
charges are small, or you can carry them with your
luggage; and then, too, a second undertaker is not
necessary.
When we mention the transportation of the dead
form one place to another, I think of the case of the
patriarch, Joseph. He died in Egypt but did not wish his
remains to stay there; so, previous to his decease, he
took an oath of his people, saying, “God will surely
visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”
He died at the age of 110 years; they embalmed him and
put him in a coffin (Genesis
50:24-26).
About 300 years later his people left Egypt to go
to the promised land. In Exodus 13:19 we read, “And
Moses took up the bones of Joseph with him.” His people
carried his remains in the coffin all through that long,
long journey. And then in Joshua 24:32, which was about
forty years later, we read, “And the bones of Joseph,
which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt,
buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which
Jacob bought...and it became the inheritance of the
children of Joseph (Israel).”
If Moses had cremated the body of Joseph before
commencing that long journey, the question of
transportation would have been much simpler. Instead of
carrying that costly, bulky, Egyptian coffin with its
contents, one of the grandsons could have carried the
urn with his household baggage. But no! This heathen
custom of cremation must not be practised among God’s
people. For them, there was only one way to dispose of
their dead and that was by the sacred custom of
burial.
A large and important place is given in the Bible
to the burial of the faithful. The whole of Genesis 23
is devoted to recording the death and burial of Sarah,
Abraham’s wife. The sacred writer devoted almost one
half of Genesis 50 to the record of Jacob’s death and
burial. There are some today who assert that it doesn’t
matter how our bodies are disposed of. Such an attitude
betrays a poor knowledge of the letter and the spirit of
the Word of God. Why did God bury Moses? He could have
disposed of his body in many other ways (Deuteronomy
34:5-8). Burial is the only God-given way of honourably
disposing of the
dead.
Bear in mind, beloved, that this sermon is
preached only for the benefit of those who sincerely
fear and worship God and who accept the Bible as final
and adequate in all matters of doctrine and
conduct.
Now let me quote another Bible incident which
gives us to understand what God thinks about the burning
of human bodies. In Amos 2:1 we have the record of
Moab’s unpardonable sin. Remember that Moab was
considered a heathen nation. This account serves to
prove that God takes notice of the doings of the most
ungodly. Let me quote the verse: “Thus saith the LORD:
For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned
the bones of the king of Edom into lime.” If there is
any verse in the Bible that positively emphasizes God’s
disapproval of the burning of human bodies, it is this.
God plagued and punished Moab for this immoral and
unpardoned
sin.
I wish to briefly state at least four reasons
why, as a Christian, I cannot lend my support to the
practice of
cremation.
First of All, Because It Is of Heathen
Origin
It is not difficult to understand why people who
are not well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures lend
their support to this pagan practice. I was not
surprised when I read in the Montreal Star in 1953 that
Joseph Stalin requested that his body be cremated. He
was not a Christian but a communist, and naturally would
not have a conscience about it. However, contrary to his
request, his body was actually embalmed and, years
later, buried (on November 1,
1961).
Then, too, let us mention another communist, the
late Andrei Y. Vishinsky, the chief Soviet delegate to
the United Nations. He died of a heart attack on
November 22, 1954, at the age of 71 years, in New York.
His body was laid in a copper-lined casket which cost
$8,000 and was flown to Moscow by way of France. He lay
in state for a time in Moscow’s historic Hall of
Columns, after which his body was cremated. Communism
has done everything possible to obliterate the standards
and customs of Christianity, even to that of Christian
burial.
According to historical records, the idea of
reducing human bodies to ashes originated in ancient
heathen lands. Rome was among the first to practice this
abhorrent custom. Today, in India, this is a common
practice among the Hindus, but the Muhammadans bury
their dead.
I asked a missionary from India if the Christians
of that land cremated their dead. With a look of
surprise he said, “Positively not! Cremation is heathen.
The Christians of India bury their dead, because burial
is Christian.” There is absolutely nothing Christian
about cremation; it is as pagan as idol
worship.
In the year 1873 a physician, Sir Henry Thompson,
advocated the introduction of cremation into England on
the basis of sanitation. But strong public feeling was
against the innovation, with the result that it has made
very little progress. The first crematory built in the
United States was in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1876.
It was first used for the incineration of the body of
Baron DePalm in December of that year. Some have
requested cremation in an attempt to escape the
resurrection and the life to come. How utterly ignorant
and foolish of
them.
According to the Reader’s Digest of January 1964,
the percentage of cremations to burials has stayed at
less than 4 percent in the United States during the last
ten years. But regardless of how popular or unpopular
this practice is or may become, it is still
pagan.
Secondly, Because It Is an Aid to
Crime
This is something that is not very well known but
is one of the reasons why the practice has made little
headway in Christian lands. It has been stated by those
who are in a position to know, that, in the detection of
criminal poisoning, a proper analysis cannot be obtained
after cremation; therefore, it is a positive aid to
crime. There should be a law in our land forbidding the
cremation of all bodies having died from poisoning or
other suspicious causes. I am pleased, however, to learn
that the “Acts of Burial” for the Province of Quebec
states: “No burial (or cremation) can take place before
the expiration of twenty-four hours after decease,
unless special permission has been obtained from the
police.”
The sudden death of a certain man in an eastern
Ontario city attracted much public attention. After the
burial a common rumour resulted in a postmortem
examination, which yielded evidence that the deceased
had died as a result of a dose of strychnine. An arrest
was made and, after questioning, the accused was
committed to trial for murder by judge and jury but was
acquitted because of insufficient evidence. We were told
that it was one of those cases where they knew who was
responsible but could not at the time secure sufficient
legal evidence. But this is why I refer to the incident:
Before the arrest, the accused said to a certain
mortician, “My mistake was that I did not have his body
cremated.” Every person with a Christian conscience
should avoid even thinking favourably of this screen to
crime.
Thirdly, Because It Is a Barbarous
Act
Here is an extract from a letter from a British
Columbia reader to the Sunday School Times of September
1934: “The question of cremation was brought home to us
when our mother was called Home. At first it was decided
to cremate her body, principally with the thought of
some day taking her ‘ashes’ to the old home in the East
and burying them in the family plot in the old cemetery.
On finding out the process of cremation, from first to
last, we immediately decided in favour of burial. Anyone
who knows little or nothing about cremation should find
out all about it before cremating the body of a loved
one. Even from a human standpoint, without considering
the religious side of the question, it seems
wrong.”
A great many refined people shrink from
consigning the bodies of loved ones to destruction by
the process of cremation because of its apparent inhuman
and pagan aspect. After all, the custom was handed down
from the barbarous people of the Dark Ages. Most
certainly it is inhuman and godless, to say the least. I
am not concerned about the resurrection of bodies that
have been cremated, for God can, and He will, raise form
the dead all bodies of believers and unbelievers who
have been burned, buried, or eaten, and all who lie in
the depths of the seas, or who have been blown to atoms,
or destroyed in any way, for His power and ability are
infinite.
When we lay away the body in the grave, according
to the sentence of God, it returns to earth in the
natural way or by an act of God, whereas cremation is an
act of man. God said, “Out of it [the ground] wast thou
taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return” (Genesis 3:19). According to divine precept and
example there is but one Christian way to dispose of our
dead and that is to bury them. This brings me to my
last, but most important,
point.
Fourthly, Because Cremation Is Anti-Biblical,
Therefore,
Unchristian
One of the most elementary principles of
christian thought and life is expressed in the apostolic
words, “Ye are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). This
sense of divine ownership, rather than self-ownership,
is the inspiration of all Christian dignity and
strength. The doctrine of the resurrection reminds us
that the body is not to be treated as a temporary thing,
as belonging to this stage of existence
only.
Rather than give our consent to destroy God’s
property in the oven of a crematory, every loved one
should be affectionately and carefully laid away
whole in the mother
earth, like the body of our Saviour. His body was
lovingly and tenderly prepared for burial according to
the customs of God’s people (John 19:38-42). The Hebrew
people considered as sacred all burial grounds and
marked the place where each body was
interred.
Perhaps one reason why some Christians have had
their friends’ bodies cremated is that many preachers
have failed to teach the great Bible doctrine of the
sanctity of the Christian’s body. Many, who claim to
have declared the whole council of God, have never
taught or preached this major subject. This is a very
grave omission, for in Malachi 2:7 we read, “For the
[preacher’s] lips should keep knowledge, and they [the
people] should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the
messenger of the
Lord.”
The sanctity of the body was a doctrine is Israel
that was carefully taught. They were charged that they
must not copy the customs of the heathen nations. They
were expressly taught not to cut, mark, or tattoo their
bodies (Deuteronomy 14:1-2). This teaching of the
sacredness of the bodies of God’s people is carried into
the New Testament and is enjoined upon Christians
everywhere in such portions as 1 Corinthians 6:9-20;
Romans 6:13; 12:1. In Romans 14:8 the apostle says,
“Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”
Christianity not only concerns itself with the soul but
also with the body, for both have been
redeemed.
The Apostle Paul, like his Saviour, often taught
great lessons by asking questions and then answering
them. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 he asks four questions as
he proceeds to prove the sacredness of the Christian’s
body. Just briefly I will mention
three:
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of
God?”
Then is verses 9 and 10 he names ten classes of
society which are disqualified for Heaven. These
Corinthians were heathen when Paul first preached the
gospel to them. They had been a wicked and unclean
people, but by acknowledging to God their guilt and
accepting Christ as their Saviour, they became children
of God. Then Paul asks another
question:
“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of
Christ and use them for immoral purposes?” He then makes
the observation, “He that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit.” He is proving the oneness of the believer with
his Lord. In the light of this statement it is an
immoral act to abuse the body by subjecting it to
cremation. “What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have
of God, and he are not your own? For ye are bought with
a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s” (verses 19-20). Now, then, we
have observed that the Holy Scriptures teach
that:
The Christian way of disposing of our dead is by
burial only, as exemplified in sacred
history.
God does not approve of the burning of human
bodies - even of our enemies. This was one of Moab’s
unpardoned sins (Amos 2:1). Our bodies are the members
of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). Our bodies are the
temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians
6:19).
Dead or alive our bodies belong to God because of
redemption and sanctification (Romans 8:23; Hebrews
10:10).
Our bodies are the seed of the resurrection
bodies (1 Corinthians
15:38).
Self-ownership is a pagan concept, and we are not
free to do with our bodies as we please, if we would
live in the will of God (1 Corinthians
6:20).
Cremation has come to us from the uncivilized,
uncultured, pagan peoples of the Dark Ages...those whose
minds were distorted by sin, of whom Plato said, “Man
has sunk below the beast of the brutes”...people who
bored out the eyes of their fellows, tore out their
tongues by the roots, burned them alive, and also fed
them to the lions...people who practised many other
methods of fiendish cruelty. And yet, in these days of
boasted, civilized culture and Christian refinement,
some are still following this primitive fell custom of
burning the bodies of their friends. This custom is
positively unrefined, unholy, and
pagan.
When asked recently to officiate at the funeral
service of a body that was to be cremated, I
sympathetically refused. When asked why, I replied, “As
a minister of Jesus Christ I officiate only at Christian
burials.”
In answer to the question, “Is cremation
Christian?” my answer is, “Positively no! It is of
heathen origin, an aid to crime, a barbarous act, also
anti-Biblical; therefore,
unchristian!”
Cremation In The
Bible
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn
with fire (Deuteronomy
7:25).
He that is taken with the accursed thing shall be
burnt with fire, he and all that he hath (Joshua
7:15).
After giving my first message over the radio
against the practice of cremating our Christian dead, I
received a large number of letters from correspondents
in all walks of life, in which were liberal expressions
of appreciation for help received. I had expected to
receive some letters approving of this primitive
practice, but not even so much as one correspondent
objected to my position in relation to this
subject.
No doubt it is due to the fact that there cannot
be found in the early writings and practices of the
Christian Church on writer or leader who supported the
heathen custom. Also, there is not to be found in the
Holy Scriptures one sentence that even sympathizes with
such an unholy practice as cremating the Christian dead.
Down through the years Christians have shunned and
disapproved of this uncultured practice. It was in the
year 1886 that the Roman Catholic Church officially
banned this gruesome practice. Long before that date,
however, baptist pastors and their congregations spoke
against and abhorred the pagan rite. Not only these but
any group of people who accept the Bible as the Word of
God and as their criterion for faith and practice can
only condemn this heathen way of disposing of a
Christian’s
body.
So, our stand against this barbarous practice is
certainly not a new Christian attitude. It is a position
that is easily supported by the Scriptures - that is,
among those who accept the Holy Bible as adequate and
final on all questions of religion and moral conduct.
Against the sacred Scriptures there is no court of
appeal, for they are settled and accepted in Heaven
(Psalm 119:89). This question of cremation is not even
debatable, for God has spoken the final word. I am aware
that there are some professing Christians even today who
are semi-pagan in their concepts of life, who do not
accept the Scriptures as sufficient in such a matter as
the disposal of a redeemed body. They have practically
forsaken divine revelation; from a position of human
reasoning they have interjected their own compromising
interpretations on the subject and have fallen prey to
the ancient, heathen custom. However, I will endeavour
to state four further reasons why the cremating of the
human body is
anti-Christian.
I have chosen these texts (Deuteronomy 7:25 and
Joshua 7:15) to show that cremation was, in God’s sight,
the most dishonourable of all disposals. When God
commanded it, it was in severe punishment of an unworthy
individual or of the abominable idols of the heathen.
Whenever the gods of the heathen nations fell into the
hands of the Israelites, they were to be reduced to
ashes immediately. This was the law of God (Deuteronomy
7:555, 25), and we see how it was obeyed by David and
his men in 1 Chronicles 14:12 and by Jehu in 2 Kings
10:26.
Also, during the life of Moses we have an
incident recorded in Exodus 32:1-24 as to how this was
done. When he went up into the mountain to receive the
tables of the law, he was absent fro the people of
Israel for forty days. They became restless and, like
the Egyptians, wanted a god they could see. They brought
their gold trinkets to Aaron, and of them he made a
calf. The calf was one of the prominent gods of Egypt at
that time. When Moses came down out of the mount he saw
the golden calf and the people dancing about it. He made
the sad discovery that they had fallen into idolatry. He
took their god and burned it in the fire and ground it
to dust. Why did he burn it? Because this was God’s
sentence against all such abominable idols. Does it seem
right, therefore, that the body of a Christian friend
should be treated like that of a heathen
idol?
Then, too, in Joshua 7 we have the sad record of
Achan’s sin against God, his people, and himself. In
this incident, wee are given to see that cremation was
to be the disposal of the accursed and unforgiven! A
person’s body ordered cremated was the divine sentence
for wrongdoing! To be burned instead of buried was only
for the person who had been guilty of special,
aggravated sin. It was God’s curse upon Achan. In our
previous message we pointed out that, according to
divine law, it was a supreme dishonour for a person to
have no burial. It was so in the case of Achan, because
he disgraced himself and his family by disobeying the
command of God. He was cremated as part of the divine
punishment for his sin. It was a harsh sentence, but
Achan had troubled his own household and nation and was
the cause of the death of thirty-six soldiers in Israel.
Since this is the picture as found in the Bible, do you
think it proper to have the body of a Christian friend
disposed of in this way? Would you wish to have your
remains disgraced in this retributive, abhorrent manner?
In the Bible such treatment was reserved for deliberate
disobedience to the command of
God.
Now then, I must proceed to mention my four
further reasons why a refined, Bible-enlightened
Christian cannot endorse or request in his will that his
body be
cremated.
1. Cremation Is Contrary to the Example and
Teachings of Jesus and of the Apostolic
Church
If only Christian people were better acquainted
with the Bible, they would not do such a dishonour to
their deceased friends. From any angle you may look at
this subject, the fact remains that an honest soul who
is familiar with the Bible will confess that cremation
does not belong to a refined Christian culture, nor is
it the request of one who has surrendered soul and body
to Jesus Christ. We do not take issue with
non-Christians in this matter. If they do not accept the
Bible as God’s Word, in reality they have no criterion
by which to judge right and wrong. Their own thoughts
and personal views are to them supreme. It is a most
foolish and dangerous attitude toward life, we know. In
fact, King Solomon said under divine inspiration, “He
that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs
28:26). This deceitful attitude of setting aside or
rejecting the Bible and its message is a foolish
philosophy, to say the least. It is like a man going to
sea without a chart or compass, like climbing a mountain
without a guide or equipment, like a student without a
teacher or textbook. An unbeliever has no supernatural
guide or spiritual understanding that would enable him
to make the right and proper
choice.
One of the great disadvantages of this generation
is a limited or partial knowledge of only certain parts
of the Bible. This has given rise to many false
statements by those who claim to know it. Recently, I
read of a certain religious leader who said, “There is
nothing in the Holy Scriptures that forbids cremation.”
Whoever he was, I think he would do society a kindness
if he would carefully re-read the sacred Book. There is
certainly sufficient to show that creation was held in
disfavour and was associated with the abominable and
cursed! To reason that there is nothing in Scripture
which directly forbids the cremation of Christian bodies
reveals a shallow mental attitude of compromise toward
that which God
abhors.
However, for the Christian, Jesus Christ is our
example in life and in death, and that should be
sufficient. But can you imagine a sincere person
claiming to be a Christian and yet refusing to follow
the example of Christ? Such an attitude is paradoxical
and a direct contradiction of his
profession!
The burial of Jesus was not coincident or
accident, for previously the bodies of godly men and
women were disposed of in that way. Burial was God’s
only method of disposal of the bodies of His people.
Jesus Christ was buried, because burial was in harmony
with the purposes of God (Isaiah 53:9). Burial is the
only Christian method and scriptural disposal of a
believer’s
remains.
As previously mentioned, in 1886 the Roman
Catholic Church banned the practice of cremation for her
priests and people for at least two very good reasons.
First of all, historically cremation has been associated
with the efforts of unbelievers in their denial of the
resurrection of the body. The disposal of the body by
cremation has, in recent years, been largely the choice
of unbelievers and notorious characters. It is true that
some good-living people have requested it, but you will
agree that the vast majority have been questionable
characters. Such men as Josef Stalin requested
cremation, although in his case it was not carried out.
Adolf Hitler, Andrei Y. Vishinsky, Adolf Eichmann, and
nearly all of the notorious criminals of our day have
also made that same request. There is a great deal of
evidence that cremation is not usually the choice of the
scripturally enlightened or moral-living
individual.
It is folly of the most puerile kind to entertain
the though that by cremation one will escape the
resurrection of the last day. However, since cremation
largely is the choice of the unbelieving and ungodly,
that alone is enough to cause refined Christian people
to refuse to be partakers with them in this supposed
attempt to escape the
judgment.
Another reason why the Roman Catholic Church
banned its practice was because it shows an irreverence
for the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. This, too,
should be sufficient reason for any intelligent
Christian to reject openly this ungodly pagan practice.
The Greek Orthodox Church does not favour cremation
either. A discussion was touched off in the United
States in 1961 by the cremation of the famed conductor,
Dimitri Mitropoulos, a member of this church. Archbishop
Iakovos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church of America,
asked the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople for a
clarification of the Orthodox attitude toward cremation.
This patriarch responded by saying, “There is no formal
Orthodox rule against cremation, but there is a heavy
weight of custom and sentiment in favour of Christian
burial.”
There is very little that can be said or written
in favour of cremation. Even that which has been said by
the International Cremation Federation is weak. In the
federation’s resolution passed at their three-day
congress in Stockholm, Sweden, in May 1961, which was
attended by 120 delegates representing fifteen
countries, they recommended disposal by cremation on the
grounds that it was aesthetic, sanitary, and
economical.
Christian conviction compels me to point out that
their resolution contains a mixture of truth and error.
To those who know nothing about the ugly truth of
cremation, this may sound rather pacifying. I do agree
that it is economical. It is the cheapest legal disposal
of a human body that I know of in this land. But to say
it is aesthetic could sound like the truth only to those
who know nothing of the unpleasant and grotesque process
of cremation. There is really nothing beautiful or
graceful about any process of the disposal of a body but
this is definitely less so when we revert to this
modernized, heathen custom. How can one, who knows of
the twitching and jumping and noises that there are when
the heat is turned on to 2,000 F., look upon the process
as aesthetic? It is anything but aesthetic. It is most
revolting and repulsive to think of the body of a
refined Christian being burned to a crisp and finally to
ashes. There is absolutely nothing beautiful or graceful
about it.
Some argue that it is sanitary - well, of course,
so is burial. But then, this is why, in the
larger-populated areas, they gather and burn the refuse
and garbage of our cities. Does a human body that has
served God, that has been purchased by a divine price (1
Corinthians 6:15,20), that has been indwelt by the Holy
Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and served its generation
in the will of God, deserve this kind of uncultured
treatment? Because of the example of Christ, the claims
of God, and the divine ownership of body and soul, there
is a sanctity to the believer’s body that the average
individual has not realized. If he did, no Christian
would ever will that his body be destroyed by the fire
of a crematory. Then, too, a Christian objects to
cremation
because:
2. Cremation Is a Supreme Dishonor to a Redeemed
Body
“Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians
6:19-20).
The body of every Christian belongs not to
himself but to God in the very same sense in which the
spirit or soul belongs to Him. Therefore, to subject
that which belongs to God to an immoral, heathen custom
is sin! This body of flesh and blood, as well as the
resurrection body to be, equally belong to God, because
of
redemption.
Ethonologists have listed about thirty methods of
disposing of the human body, but there is only one
honourable way of disposing of a Christian’s body - and
that is burial. I have yet to meet or read of a
recognized Bible teacher who teaches that cremation is
Christian. I know there is a small class of professed
Christians who actually think it brave and smart to
violate the customs and laws of Christian society. They
have asked that their ashes be strewn along a railroad
track, or scattered on a river, lake, or at sea, and
others that their ashes be cast to the winds anywhere
-anywhere rather than have them deposited in consecrated
ground. Such requests and decisions indicate an
unspiritual character. There seems to be a strong desire
by such a class to break away from the teaching and
example of Christ and His
apostles.
We have already stated that cremation is a pagan
custom which has come down to us from the uncivilized,
uncultured, heathen people of the Dark Ages. Long before
the time of Christ it was an accepted practice of the
backward, primitive, superstitious tribes and nations.
It was a custom of the Gentile nations surrounding
Israel at the time of Christ and His apostles. Neither
He nor they ever looked upon it with approval, either by
precept or example. To Jesus Christ and the early
Church, cremation was one of the abominations of the
godless and unenlightened peoples. For Christians in
this age of learning to adopt such an unholy custom is
the equivalent of taking a long step backward to the
uncouth and primitive customs of the unlearned of the
superstitious
ages.
No man of any academic standing can find one
sentence of Scripture to support the burning of the
bodies of honourable Christian people. When I preached
and published my first sermon against cremation, I
expected a letter or two of protest but was surprised,
for not one was received. But I have received literally
thousands in commendation and also telling of the
changing of wills from cremation to Christian burial.
These were unsolicited. I haven’t room in this brief
message to insert excerpts from letters of some of
Canada’s and the United States’ most distinguished
citizens. The reason for such a response is that every
intelligent Christian knows that Jesus and the
apostolate in spirit and example witnessed against such
a sacrilegious
act.
3. Cremation Destroys the Sacred Memory Of Our
Beloved
Dead
The Bible states that one of the degenerate evils
of the last days is the absence of natural affection in
family and social life - “without natural affection” (2
Timothy 3:3). In no other manner is this lack of
affection being exhibited so forcefully as by the many
who have friends cremated!
A friend of mine, who visited a crematory,
noticed a pile of urns stacked one upon another. He
asked the attendant if they were his stock of empties.
Reluctantly he said, “They contain the ashes of bodies
that have been cremated, but the relatives never thought
enough of them to return and claim them.” What a cheap
way of unloading a sacred responsibility, isn’t it? It
is also a quick way of destroying the memory of the
deceased.
Where there is a sacred respect for the deceased,
it is evidenced by a reverent committal and a marking
and a protecting of the place of internment. But
usually, following the average cremation, there are no
markers, tombstones, or monuments erected to one’s
memory. I believe it to be a most cruel and dishonouring
act against the memory of the dead. Usually there is no
grave to visit and decorate; no sacred spot where the
remains of a friend lie. It is a demoralizing practice
when you think of it in this way. It is a cruel way of
desecrating the memory of a loved one, isn’t
it?
When the devoted wife of a certain citizen passed
away, the husband had her body cremated. He was loath to
part with even her ashes. For years he kept the urn in
the home with an expensive wreath over it. It was really
not the proper thing to do. However, after awhile, the
daughter became tired of having it in the home, so she
had it buried in the backyard. The following year the
property was sold; the family moved out and left the
sacred remains of the mother in an unmarked spot in
unconsecrated ground. How unintentionally cruel! The
circumstances produced and unholy disrespect for the
sacred remains of the devoted mother. Do you think that
was a Christian think to
do?
I have been informed, by one who was in a
position to know, that the remains of a certain family
who have been cremated were finally put out with the
local garbage and carried to the dump. How repulsive
this is, even to tell of it! What a brutal dishonour
done to those loved ones! There are similar incidents
that could be repeated, but I must refrain. I just wish
to emphasize that cremation is one of the quickest ways
of destroying the sacred memory of the
deceased!
4. Cremation Is the Cheapest Way of Discharging a
Sacred
Responsibility
There is no Biblical or Christian position that
can favour cremation of an honourable believer’s body,
because it is wholly pagan and is nowhere favoured by
God nor practised by the godly. There is no period in
the early history of the Church when deceased believers
were
cremated.
In the time of the catacombs under the city of
Tome, when the Church went underground because of bitter
persecution, deceased believers were carefully laid away
in the rock-hewn toms, sealed and marked to identify
them. If ever sanitary conditions would have excused
cremation, it was then. but the abhorrent practice was
never allow, and, although the unbelieving Romans
practised it at that time, the Christians looked upon it
with disfavour because it was an ungodly, heathen
custom. It is estimated that about 3,000,000 believers
were buried in those subterranean
passages.
Usually, where there is warm affection, no man
will dispose of a loved one, because the method is the
cheapest. I think of Abraham, when Sarah died in those
primitive times. He could have buried her somewhere in
the wide open spaces, and it would have cost him
nothing. But he didn’t because he loved her, and, too,
he was a God-fearing man. The whole of Genesis 23 is
occupied with the death and burial of Sarah. There is a
reason for this. Abraham never owned a foot of land,
but, when his wife died, he bought a piece of land that
would serve as a cemetery. He would not accept it as a
gift; he paid 400 pieces of silver for it. To him, the
laying away of his wife was a sacred matter. This became
consecrated ground and was kept solely for the purpose
of a cemetery. The three covenant fathers and their
wives were later buried
there.
There is a divine reason
why all this account was written into the sacred
Scriptures. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning” (Romans 15:4). It is not
only folly but ignorance for one to argue that cremation
is now Christian. it never can be while the whole spirit
of Scripture is against it. Even if certain so-called
Christian groups were to endorse it, that does not make
it Christian. It is still a cruel, uncultured, pagan way
of disposing of the
dead.
It is true that the majority of cremated remains
are never deposited in consecrated, marked, burial
places. This is, to say the least, doing a supreme
dishonour to the deceased’s sacred
remains.
In conclusion, let me
recapitulate:
- Cremation is contrary to the example and
teachings of Jesus and of The apostolic
Church.
- Cremation does a supreme dishonour to a
redeemed
body.
- Cremation destroys the sacred memory of our
beloved
dead.
- Cremation is the cheapest legal way of
discharging a sacred
responsibility.
BARBARIANISM
A mother was
kind and gentle and
true,
Had three
little angels; oh, how they
grew;
With dimples
and curls, and contagious
smiles;
Were fat and
chubby: at play they ran
miles.
They were
healthy and happy and winsome,
too:
Were the
loveliest darlings this mother
knew.
This charmed
mother was a willing
slave.
Her three
from disease she fought to
save.
She toiled
all day and nursed all
night,
And put up
for them a terrific
fight.
Through the
help of God and by her
care,
He raised
them up in answer to
prayer.
With
mother’s help they grew
mature;
Men and
maiden were taught to be
pure.
The three
all married and moved
away.
With the
promise to return some better
day.
Mother
became lonely and rather
poor.
She rented a
room on a Rue
Lefleur.
Her form was
stooped, her face was
drawn,
Her hair was
grey and her children
gone.
She fainted
one day while on the
street,
And could
stand no more upon her
feet.
That saintly
mother, with a love so
true,
Was left
alone to battle
through.
She was weak
and sick with none to
care,
Not even a
friend to say a
prayer.
But God’s
angels came and took her
home,
That
forsaken woman, so sad and
lone.
This mother,
who was once a willing
slave,
Was denied
the favour of an earthly
grave.
The one-time
dimpled and angelic
three
Were now
cold and cruel, as you will
see;
For they
ordered her body reduced to ashes
-
The cheapest
disposal, the burial of
asses.
A pagan
ordeal, so godless and
cruel;
Don’t treat
your mother as you would a
mule!
J.W.Fraser
About the
Author
JAMES W. FRASER was born
in the Highlands of Scotland. His parents belonged to
the Plymouth Brethren, among whom he received his early
Christian training. He says, “I came to know Jesus
Christ savingly while reading John’s Gospel, on July 7,
1918.” He was educated in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada.
Entering the gospel
ministry in 1921, he served as a missionary in the
Bahamas until 1930, and since then has served in
evangelical Baptist pastorates in Drumheller, Alberta,
Niagara Falls and Hamilton, Ontario. He is presently
pastor of the Verdun Baptist Church, Verdun, Montreal,
Quebec, where he has since 1953 carried on a radio
ministry that has been blessed by God to
many.
He has ministered at many
Bible conferences in Canada and the United States, and
his articles have appeared in various evangelical
magazines. He is author of several pamphlets, as well as
of a large number of Christian
poems.
When a
portion of Cremation—Is It Christian? appeared in a leaflet and in the Sunday School
Times several years ago, the author received over 3,000
letters—not one of which was critical of his stand or
interpretation of Scripture
references.
