Cremation

If God can't raise some one from ashes, incluidng those cremated, burned alive, incinerated in crashes, etc...then He's not God.

 

The bible says that the sea will give up its dead and there's not even shes left once it gets through with a body. Burial gives the family and loved one s a place to visit, but cremation doesn't bother me one bit.

 

Christians have always buried their dead, while pagan cultures are the ones who burn their dead. I don't think it's right to deliberately burn or destroy the body that God created. I know God can raise the body, no matter how it goes - that's not the issue here -- but that is not justification for burning it on purpose.

Would you have burned the body of Jesus, even if you knew he would resurrect? I doubt it. There is something inherently ungodly in cremation, imo.

 

It is deliberate destruction of the body, the body that God gave us, however imperfect it is due to the Fall. And there is no biblical record of Jews or Christians burning bodies of the dead; this was and is a pagan practice.

 

The funeral homes, the embalming, the fancy caskets and cost of other arrangements...... funerals are big business now adays, into the thousands of dollars.

About 10yr ago, I read an article in a magazine encouraging folks to consider a folksy more traditional funeral which bypasses the funeral director. Except for regional ordinances, and requirements to provide a vault....if required by law or by the place of internment..... it reported that there were many places where a person's family could take care of all the arrangements. Then it went on to say, how the person wishing such a burial and his family must prepare before hand and understand the process. This meant that when death was near it was important to either move the person back home.... or make arrangements with hospital or other places caring for the person so that they would understand that the body would not be released to a funeral home. They particularly cautioned that some arrangements, such as hospice, collaborate with funeral homes and may refuse or be reluctant to release the body to the family. Upon the death, the family, particularly those of the same sex as the deceased, share the duties of bathing the body, dressing and placing the body in the home made or carpenter's constructed casket. If some temporary storage were required then a bath of ice cubes in a tub with the body placed on a tarp of plastic would help to slow deterioration, but changes in complexion are normal. On the one hand it sounds gruesome.... but on the other hand, it really does seem like the family participating in the last loving rites of passage in caring for the empty temple which was once alive with their loved one, could be a deeply personal and tender act of remembrance and canre; and as such, presents the reality of death to those who remain and those careful preparations assist in the grieving process of realization and acceptance that the spirit has gone and the body is now empty. Visitation occurs in the home and then the casket is moved and the service is conducted at the prepared graveside. The cost.... little beyond the doctor's and coroners report, the cost of opening the ground and placement of a vault, if required by law or desired by the family, and the cost of a simple wooden casket and maybe a few other minor expenses.
If I knew my family would accept this arrangement, I would prefer it for myself over the costly expense and extravagance and profit taking by the funeral companies. I would consider that this is within the description of what is accepted as a 'Christian' burial. But the expense of the commercially arranged funeral seems prohibitive as well as such a 'show' that I'd hope my family would consider the expense vs their needs and chose either a home ordered arrangement or cremation and a memorial service instead. But then, my next of kin encompasses siblings and neices and nephews... and my 'estate' is too small to consider as relevant to expenses which might be left.

While I'm thankful for this body which God has made... once its purpose is gone, once it no longer serves me or him.... The body he'll give me one day will never see corruption and I know that this one 'aint it'.

 

I think cremation makes perfect sense if that's what the one wants or all the family can afford.

I personally would prefer to be cremated and have my ashes scattered to the wind from some mountaintop cliffs I roamed as a kid. However, the wife is dead set against cremation and has vowed to put my ashes in the kitty litter box if I insist on it. So, if I go first I'll just leave it up to her what to do with my bones.

 

Dh says I can have him cremated so he becomes portable---so I can stay here or return to the States without leaving his grave behind.

 

Windcatcher, that is information I did not know! Thank you! I did a tiny bit of looking into it because it sounds like something the government here would just not allow so I was skeptical.

That is really good to know and I wonder how many more people would do it if they knew. I hate "publicity" at intimate events, and it would be so much more warm and "right" feeling to not use a funeral home if I had to deal with the loss of a loved one. (on the other hand I am used to seeing and preparing the dead from earlier work experience)

I was amazed to find out that a casket isn't a requirement. You could use a cardboard box if you wanted, and from what I've read thus far, a casket does NOTHING to preserve a body, despite claims. It's the embalming process. (I'm not sure why people want to preserve them anyhow, they're not pickles)

Anyhoo, cremation...I had a preacher once who said "Jesus was buried, and I want to do as many things like Jesus as possible." Of course he meant when he died, not right then. LOL But that was his reasoning, even though he made it clear that he wasn't against cremation.

I personally would prefer to be buried out of a sealed box or cremated. The whole idea of a casket has always creeped me out and seems so formal for me personally. I'm not someone who likes crowds, and even though I'd be dead, I still wouldn't want my dead body surrounded and displayed through fluff and all that. It wouldn't fit with my personality. Stick me on the couch or in a box on the floor of my room until it's time to get buried or cremated.

Better yet, cremate me, put all my poems in book form, and have those books sitting on a home or library shelf with my urn as a bookend. LOL Now THAT would be me! I'd be sitting in heaven giggling.

 

I think it's a good idea. There's no scriptural need whatsoever to preserve a body for the future, or to bury it in the ground. Absent from the body, present with the Lord.

Interment is expensive, and imo, can sometimes be a little pretentious. I've already made arrangements for a cost-effective cremation and interment in a columbarium, even though I'm not anywhere near my retirement years.

Scripturally, there's nothing to suggest that there is one preferred method of interment over another. It's completely the choice of the believer and his/her family.

 

What happens to me after death is up to my wife or who ever is living at the time. Personally I see no need to spend the money on a regular burial. Cremate men and put the balance of what it would cost to bury me in a church plant. That money would be much better spent.

 

First off, the body has been donated to medical science, if they want it. Cremation and no service follows. Ashes will be scattered where my dogs have been buried. Total cost was $500. Canadian, which I paid in advance some 30 years ago.

Cheers,

Jim

 

If the surviving family is comfortable with cremation I have no objection.

 

Paul, it was all settled many years ago. Family has no problem with it. We don't have much family in Canada, and the family remaining in England have all been visited....alive!

Cheers,

Jim

 

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A funeral is for closure for family and friends left behing not the deseased. There are many different ways such as private burial followed by light eulogies, long drawn out ones with singing and speeches and I have been to some where there were evangelistic messages presented. Personally I have asked my family not to put my family on public display for a lenghty period.

 

Or, cremate them and put their ashes underneath the church plants. They'll appreciate the nutrients.

oh...you mean the OTHER kind of "church plant..."

 

Well, I did read recently about the "corpse to compost" plan...