Cremation Is OK
I have a friend who asked if cremation
was biblical. There is no law in the bible on how we must dispose
of a dead body. However, a dead body is
clearly something that was to be quickly dealt with. Even touching it made the
Jew unclean…obviously for sanitary reasons.
Jewish rabbis and Christian
theologians have argued about cremation for centuries…that is what they are
paid to do. But if one would just use
common sense we would all reach the same conclusion. It is OK with God.
Early in Genesis, when the
dying process was pronounced upon mankind, God said…
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you
return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to
dust you will return." (Genesis 3:19)
God
does not care how that is accomplished, in my opinion, but eventually the body must
“return” to dust. And that is where common sense comes in, which sometimes is
the opposite of religious teaching and ritual.
What
is the fastest way to get a dead body back to dust (ashes)? Yep, cremation. And for that matter, putting a dead body in a
coffin to protect it from returning to the ground from which it was "taken" slows the
process of God’s intent.
So,
for me, I have instructed my wife and kids to have me cremated and put my ashes
back into the "ground" as soon as possible to complete the will of God and save them some money.
Religious
tradition is very important to some folks, and so if you prefer the traditional
method, by all means, that is OK too. But
even the most expensive vault around a coffin will not prevent the
body from its eventual “return” to dust in the “day of the Lord”….assuming you believe
the bible.
“…and
it will come -- the day of the Lord -- as a thief in the night, in which the
heavens with a rushing noise will pass away, and the elements with burning heat
be dissolved, and earth and the works in it shall be burnt up.” (2 Peter
3:10)
And
on that cheerful note I bid you adu with something more encouraging…
“And
the multitude of those sleeping in the dust of the ground do awake…to bestow on
them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called
oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor”
(Daniel 12:2: Isaiah 61:3)