Is Cremation Right Or Wrong, And What Does The Bible Say? The vast majority of Christians do not believe in cremation. They think it is against the wishes of God.
However, the Bible does not clearly define cremation as a means to dispose of the dead. Also, there is no scriptural prohibition of cremation in the New Testament. Therefore, the Bible neither favours nor forbids the process of cremation.
Let us look at Biblical scripture that refers to death and burial.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou, taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Does this mean that we should be buried rather than cremated? This is up to the readers’ interpretation.
1 Samuel 31:12 All the valiant men arose, went all night, took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. This could mean that their bodies were cremated, and the Bible did not say this was wrong.
1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Another mention in the Bible about the body being burned.
Joshua 7:25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
1 Corinthians 15:35-42 But some man will say, How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain:
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the celestial glory is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: one-star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
2 Chronicles 16:14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.
There are Christians that object to the practice of cremation on the basis that it does not recognise that one day God will resurrect our bodies and reunite them with our spirit.
A body cremated does not make it impossible or difficult for God to resurrect the body. Remember that God created us out of the dust; therefore, he would have no problems returning us to the form he gave us. Therefore, the question of burial or cremation is within the realm of Christian freedom.