Question
Does anyone have any insight into the subject of burial vs. cremation? I cannot find any passage authorizing cremation in God’s word, nor any examples of Godly men choosing to be cremated after their death. So where would we get the authority if we wanted to make this choice?
We have examples of God killing Nadab and Elihu with fire (Lev. 10:2), and God killing 2 groups of 50 soldiers with fire (2 Kings 1:14), but all these were burned while still alive, so that is not the same as cremation of the dead.
We have God punishing Moab for burning the King of Edom’s bones to lime (Amos 2:1) which seems to reference cremation. But this punishment could be based more on WHO was killed and by WHOM rather than how his remains were disposed of.
If a Christian requested burial and his family decided to cremate him because they thought that was a better choice, obviously God could not hold that soul responsible for something out of his control. But if the Christian REQUESTED cremation (perhaps as a cost savings measure) would that be sinful?
Any thoughts you have would be appreciated.
Answer
It certainly appears that Jewish custom dictated that the deceased be honorably buried in a family tomb rather than cremated. When the bodies of King Saul and his sons were attached to the wall of Beth Shan by the Philistines, the men of Jabesh Gilead, whom Saul had delivered at the beginning of his reign, took the bodies down, carried them to Jabesh, burned them, then buried their bones (1 Samuel 31:8-13). But later David gathered their bones and buried them honorably in their family tomb (2 Samuel 21:12-14). In contrast, the bodies of Achan and his family, who were stoned to death for troubling Israel, were burned (Joshua 7:25; All this information was gleaned from ISBE).
But the Jewish manner of disposing of dead bodies was a matter of national custom (John 19:40). The Greek word for “custom” in John 19:40 is “ethos,” which can mean a custom established by law (Arndt & Gingrich, 217), but, regardless, it was a Jewish custom (cf. Acts 15:1), not something demanded by the law of Christ.
The kingdom of heaven pertains to the spiritual rather than the carnal, i.e. fleshly (John 18:36; Romans 14:17; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:20-23). Thus, it is the spiritual principle of a passage that is binding. Therefore, if the outward act is only a cultural or incidental expression of that principle, the outward act is a liberty, not a requirement. To find what is bound by the Lord upon us in any passage, we need to find what has spiritual significance.
If a customary practice is bound by divine law, it is no longer just a customary expression of a spiritual principle but is something God ordains that is inseparable from its spiritual principle. These rites are outward expressions of spiritual principles.
The Old Testament was filled with ritual. The book of Leviticus, containing the priestly rites, is full of such acts required by God. Ritualism was a characteristic of Old Testament service and worship.
Christ binds two and only two rites upon us, neither were customs before He ordained them, and both represent what is at once unique to and the basis of the gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These rites are baptism (Romans 6:3-6) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).
It is sinful to bind customs as essential to salvation that God has not so bound (Acts 15:1; Colossians 2:20-23). This raises human customs to the level of divine rite. Ritualism is a return to Judaism (cf. Galatians 5:1-4).
Circumcision of the flesh is a rite the Jews received from their forefather Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). As a customary practice, it is innocent (Acts 16:1-3). But, since the Old Testament was taken away by Christ (Colossians 2:13-15), it is sinful to bind this custom as a divine ritual essential to salvation (Galatians 2:3-5).
Jews customarily greeted each other with a kiss (Luke 7:45). So, Paul enjoins us, “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16). The form of the greeting was simply a custom, but its nature, “holy,” is a spiritual principle.
The disciples of Christ buried their dead, whether the dead were sinners (Acts 5:6,10) or saints (Acts 8:2). But this was a custom, not a spiritual principle. Their example is general authority to dispose of the bodies of the dead in any manner sanctioned by civil law (Romans 13:1-7). Thus, cremation, a method of disposing of a dead body sanctioned by civil law, is authorized by the law of Christ.
Works Cited
Arndt, W.F. and F.W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
International Standard Bible Enclycopedia.
