answered by Randy Alcorn

As for whether God can resurrect a body that's been cremated, that's no problem. Think of all the people incinerated in terrible fires, and all the atoms and molecules and DNA dissipated and reabsorbed into the eco-system (and other people) over thousands of years. Cremation ultimately does nothing more to destroy the body than will happen with time anyway. (Unless you're an Egyptian pharaoh, in which case your body may remain intact several millennia later).

Cremation and burial result in the same essential change in chemical nature. The primary difference is that cremation is an action to make that change nearly instantaneous rather than gradual. But in any case our all-powerful God will have no trouble making a perfect resurrection body out of the fragments He will raise.

The other issue is whether there is any Scriptural preference of cremation or burial. Personally, I believe Scripture suggests burial is the appropriate way to deal with a dead body-"for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:19). This seems to imply the body is to be allowed on its own to return to dust, not that action should be taken by others to turn it to dust.

God said to Abram, "You will go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age" (Genesis 15:15). Abraham buried his wife when she died (Genesis 23:19). Isaac and Ishmael buried their father Abraham alongside his wife Sarah (Genesis 25:9,10). Scripture records the burial of Rachel, Leah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Miriam, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elisha, and others. We're told of Joseph, "So Joseph died...and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" (Genesis 50:26). Obviously it would have been much easier for them to cremate Joseph's body and carry around his ashes for forty years, but this was not the chosen way.

God Himself buried Moses on the top of Mt. Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:5, 6). If God preferred another means of disposing a body besides burial this was an opportunity to choose it. He didn't.

Hebrew burial wasn't identical to ours, as it was more often in tombs than underground, but the point is that the body was not destroyed by fire or any other means but was "laid to rest" somewhere intact.

In contrast, heathen nations often burned dead bodies (and sometimes live ones). Some cite Amos 2:1 as an anti-cremation passage. "Thus says the Lord: 'For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.'" I've never studied this contextually or historically, so I'm not sure whether there's validity to using it that way. But one of the few references to God's people burning bodies is in Joshua 7:24-25 where Achan and his family are stoned and then their bodies burned. Clearly, this related to God's judgment on Achan's terrible sin.

In the New Testament we see the burials of John the Baptist, Ananias, Sapphira, and Stephen. Jesus, of course, was also buried (Matthew 27:58-60). I've read that when Christians were torn by wild beasts in the arena their brothers and sisters carefully collected their remains and buried them in the Catacombs. Burial was considered an important and loving act.

Burial demonstrates respect for the body. It allows natural processes (well, natural under the Curse) to occur, without us taking direct action to destroy the body. True, the dead body is no longer animated, but the fact remains it was handmade by God and once served a sacred purpose as the temple of his Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and will again serve as an essential aspect of one's God-created identity. In light of this, we might not want to take it upon ourselves to destroy the abandoned temple. Since God created it, and it belongs to Him, why should we destroy it? If He chooses to destroy what belongs to Him, through natural processes or anything else, that's up to Him. But do we have that same right to destroy what we didn't make and what doesn't belong to us?

While bodies were frequently burned in heathen nations, burial was the consistent practice of God's people, the Israelites, and also of the early church: "Godly men buried Stephen" (Acts 8:2). Christ's burial is stated as a component of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). We were "buried with him through baptism" (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12).

In Scripture the destruction by fire of human bodies and other objects is normally associated with God's wrath. This was true of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6), Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1,2), and Korah and his followers (Numbers 16:35). It was also true of idols (Exodus 32:20; Deut. 7:25) and magic books (Acts 19:18-19). Unbelievers will cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Revelation 20:15)

As believers, we will escape the coming judgment of the world that will be judged with fire (Revelation 20:14). We will survive the fire of God's holiness (1 Corinthians 3:15). We will not burn in the fires of hell but will enjoy God's presence in resurrected bodies in Heaven (New Earth). To destroy the body by fire rather than to bury it doesn't seem to fit either the biblical precedent or its pattern of symbolism.

In the great resurrection passage, Paul talks of the body being "sown," a reference to burial. "So also is the resurrection of the dead, It is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" (I Cor. 15: 42-44).

The body being sown as a seed put in the ground is a particular picture. Burning a seed rather than planting it doesn't fit that picture. That doesn't prove it's wrong, only that it's not in keeping with Paul's analogy between burial of the body and the planting of a seed. As a farmer doesn't destroy a seed that awaits transformation into a plant, it stands to reason we should not destroy a body that awaits transformation into a new body.

Eastern religions tend to disregard the body and seek to be free of it. Hence, utter destruction by fire fits their worldview. Biblical Christianity awaits a resurrection, realizing the same bodies put into the ground will be raised by God. Hence, destroying those God-created bodies which he promises to raise doesn't seem appropriate.

It could be argued that questions of the body's disposal are purely cultural, and just because Israel and the first century church practiced burial and not cremation is no reason we should. Still, the consistency of this practice among God's people and the fact that pagans often burned bodies, as well as the association of fire with God's judgment, is suggestive. It appears that God put his stamp of approval on burial in His dealings with Abraham, Moses, Israel, Jesus and the apostles. In other words, it seems like it is more than just a cultural practice recorded in the Bible, but actually a biblical practice.

I've been told that Christians in India, having observed the burning of bodies so predominant in Hinduism (they once included burning wives alive on their husband's funeral pyre) are adamant about burial. Perhaps this parallels the reservations about eating meat offered to idols among those who have worshipped idols.

Of course, there are arguments for cremation based on economics or convenience. But they are not compelling when stacked against these Scriptures and the consistent history of burial among God's people.

As far as I know there are no direct biblical arguments for cremation. If not, then my personal preference is to go with what we know, that God is not displeased with burial and appears even to be pleased by it. If there is the slightest doubt about whether he is equally pleased with cremation, and in my mind there is, then wouldn't it seem wise to choose burial rather than cremation?

Of course, countless Christians, unaware of or unconvinced by this logic, have chosen and will choose cremation. Again, this creates no problem for God or our loved ones regarding the resurrection. My point is not to put anyone in distress or have them second guess past decisions, but only to offer something to consider for future decisions.

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