Christian Forums
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
Desire to be a vessel of honor unto the Lord Jesus Christ?
Join For His Glory for a discussion on how
https://christianforums.net/threads/a-vessel-of-honor.110278/
-
Taking the time to pray? Christ is the answer in times of need
https://christianforums.net/threads/psalm-70-1-save-me-o-god-lord-help-me-now.108509/
-
-
Depending upon the Holy Spirit for all you do?
Read through the following study by Tenchi for more on this topic
https://christianforums.net/threads/without-the-holy-spirit-we-can-do-nothing.109419/
-
-
How are famous preachers sometimes effected by sin?
Join Sola Scriptura for a discussion on the subject
https://christianforums.net/threads/anointed-preaching-teaching.109331/#post-1912042
-
Is Cremation Christian?
- Thread starter Lewis
- Start date
farouk
Member
Hypothetically, for those who are cremated I would have thought that it would be a moot point.
Obadiah
Member
It just still amazes me how some people can insist that a person can't be a true Christian if they don't embalm their dead to preserve them and then intern their bodies because this is supposedly a Biblical command and anything else is pagan. Yet according to the National Museum of Funeral History this practice of embalming and interning originated with the Egyptians and was their pagan ritual for the dead. (I pointed this out before, but maybe putting a source to it will give it some credibility for those who didn't already know this.) So somehow misguided Christians who can not point to one single scripture claiming we have to preserve our bodies after death still claim that any other form of dealing with a dead body is pagan, despite the fact that the traditional so called Christian method came from pagan Egyptians. No wonder so many people outside of Christianity think we're all nuts and don't want anything to do with us!
tim-from-pa
Member
Lewis is right. You can go online to buy cheap caskets and knock down some of the costs above. I still haven't gotten around the funeral home costs for services or embalming yet, but the "materials" can be obtained outside and ahead of time, such as the grave plots, the casket, the liners and such. A basic casket can cost as low as under $1000, so for that alone we shaved off $1300. Also, one may want to consider some place other than a funeral home, but if one wants any type of service payment to someone will be expected anyways including transporting the person and coffin.
I heard of people not only buying their plots, but using their casket as furnature, such as an exotic coffee table so that it doubles in purpose and use before death. If nothing else, it would serve as a great conversation piece with my spooky clocks. Don't know if the wife would go with it yet.
One other point Lewis brought out is "exploding casket syndrome". As funny as it sounds, it's very real just like leaky mausoleums is also a problem. It's better not to seal the casket and let the body decay naturally, and the gasses escape and perhaps even mummify (as if embalming would allow that to completely happen, but in many places embalming is not required but makes for a fresher-smelling funeral)
I can go on an on as I learned a lot of morbid stuff a few years back doing my genealogical studies. Like I said, I was curious what was "under there" in the grave.
Historicist
Member
AirDancer, I do not have a problem with donating ones corpse for medical teaching/training, etc., as I do with burning it in the Hindu custom of cremation.
Historicist
Member
Obadiah, cremation is a heathen, Hindu practice ("learn not the ways of the heathen"), there are no positive examples of it in scripture.
Some feel that if anything was once related to anything pagan or heathen then it's automatically a no-go for Christians. Others feel it's more a matter of the intentions of the heart and as long as it won't cause someone else to stumble it's a non-issue. I tend to fall into the latter group myself.
I find that both groups base their position on scripture--or rather, their interpretation of it.
I find that both groups base their position on scripture--or rather, their interpretation of it.
Last edited:
turnorburn
Member
Has this been posted yet..
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
tob
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
tob
Historicist
Member
Obadiah, the Biblical example does not include the pagan, the Hindu practice cremation. In scripture, when the burning of a corpse was prescribed, it was not for the righteous, but for the wicked.
Historicist
Member
Reba, thank you, for exercising a degree of discernment.
Deborah13
Member
What about being embalmed God never said to do that and pagans clearly did that?
Deborah13
Member
Everyone needs to do what the Lord has put on their heart.
However, this scripture does not tell me that all peoples bones where dug up and taken to the promised land. Or that the bones of those who died in the wilderness were carried into the promised land for reburial.
Moses' law was very detailed for every area of life, from farming principles to marriage to the court system. I'll check again, but I don't remember any of the burial laws that are specific to the placement of the dead body. They all relate to the handling of a dead body and cleansing after handling a dead body. And about mourning.
However, we know that the Jews buried their dead.
Last edited:
Christ_empowered
Member
I think, as the culture changes, so too will our view of cremation. What was once cheaper,easier, and associated with foreign cultures and non-believers may come to be fairly mainstream. I think there are also bound to be generational issues. My generation (I'm 29) and those younger than me probably tend to shrug it off: "what's the big deal?". That's not to say that older generations are *wrong* or misguided, just that cremation, because of their experiences, is viewed differently.
I'd personally file this one under "Christian Liberty," but I could be wrong.
I'd personally file this one under "Christian Liberty," but I could be wrong.
True. They say one generation's liberal is the next generation's conservative.
To avoid confusion since both of these words have several meanings, the definition of "liberal" in this sense would be: "Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive". And the definition of conservative in the sense used: "A person who favors maintenance of the status quo or reversion to some earlier status."
(Source: wiktionary for both definitions)
Jethro Bodine
Member
I couldn't agree more. We're all about the externals, and not about what really counts. It's sad.
When what you tell others to do with your body after you die becomes a matter of holiness, I think we got a problem.
We know the Egyptians practiced preservation of the corpse because they believed in the afterlife. And it's certain that is why the Patriarchs adopted the practice. Their faith was based on the hope of being resurrected to dwell in the Promised Land forever. How could we expect them to do anything less than preserve their remains given the limited knowledge of the resurrection and the kingdom to come they had? But we know so much more than they did. We know there's no reason to preserve a body as best we can in preparation for the resurrection.
TOG
Member
Not quite. Although there are probably people who do believe that, I don't think that's the belief of most. The same thing can be thought up by different individuals or groups, without any connection to each other. One example of this is vegetarianism. Hindus are vegetarians because they believe that people can be reincarnated as animals. When you slaughter an animal for food, you may actually be slaughtering a deceased relative. Some Christians are vegetarians because they believe that was God's original plan for mankind. God told Adam and Eve that He was giving them all the herbs and fruit bearing trees for food. These Christians did not "learn the ways of the heathen", even though they came to the same conclusion. The question is not whether some Pagans have done it before, but rather how it came to us. Did we learn it from the Pagans and adopt their ways, or did we develop the idea independently. In the case of cremation, we got it from the Hindus. We developed embalming separately from the Egyptians and for a completely different reason. They did it for spiritual reasons, but we did it to prevent the spread of disease.
The TOG
Obadiah
Member
I would respect and at least try to follow the teachings of those like yourself who tell me that when there is no positive example of something in scripture this is equal to a command from God to not do this thing. I would respect and try to follow this idea if those who purport it actually followed this themselves. Yet I have never met one single person who follows this, therefore I do not accept it.
There is no prohibition in scripture on cremation, therefore condemning those Christians who do this as non-Christians (which you did when you said no "Bible believing" Christian would do this since you can't be a Christian without believing the Bible) is false teaching and false judgment. There are many, many things that we all do which are not against God in the least, but yet have no scripture specifically telling us to do these things. Many of those things can also be traced at least in part to pagan traditions, just as the type of burial you hold to can can be traced to pagan traditions. Why is it ok for you to follow the Egyptian pagan rituals while you condemn others for what you claim are Hindu pagan rituals. (Which by the way, is overly simplistic. Many cultures other than Hindus have also practiced cremation.) If you could prove to me that you never do anything unless there is clear scripture telling you that it is ok to do that particular thing, then I would respect your advice. However, I do not.
For those who have had loved ones cremated, please rest assured that there is no sin in that as long as it actually wasn't done as part of a real pagan ritual. And I'm pretty sure if it were done as part of a real pagan ritual, any Christian would recognize that something wasn't right about how it was done. To be a pagan ritual, there has to be much more than just the physical act of burning a dead body.
Last edited:
