Article originally publish by Jon Piper, DesiringGod.com
My proposal in this article is that Christian churches be willing to help families financially with simple Christ-exalting funerals and burials, so that no Christian is drawn to cremation because it’s cheaper. I’m not thinking mainly of a line-item in the budget, but of a segregated compassion-fund that church members may give to regularly or as the need arises. Grieving families could quietly approach the overseer of that fund and make it known that they have a need, and all could be handled quietly and carefully between the family and the funeral home.
At the same time, I do believe that pastors should discourage expensive funerals. In a Bible-saturated, counter-cultural church, made up of kingdom-minded sojourners and exiles (1 Peter 2:11), no one should be pressured into the mindset that the more expensive the coffin, the more loved the deceased. Pastors should lead the way in cultivating a church ethos where expensive funerals (and weddings!) are not the norm. God-centered, gospel-rooted, Christ-exalting simplicity should be the norm.
How many evangelicals would choose cremation if it cost as much or more than a simple, traditional service of burial? Very few. There has been a skyrocketing preference for cremation over the past decades in the United States (1960—3.5%; 1999—24.8%; 2014—46.7%; in some states it is over 75%). There are various causes, but the greatest, by far, is the combination of secularization and economics. Fewer people test the practice with biblical criteria, and more people want the cheapest solution.
So my aim here is to touch on both of those causes. First, I am proposing that churches cultivate a Christian counter-culture where people expect simple, less expensive funerals, and where we all pitch in so that every church member can afford such a funeral. Second, I want to give biblical pointers for why burial is preferable to cremation. I say preferable,not commanded, in the hope that the culture created would not condemn or ostracize a person who chose differently. I encourage those who choose cremation not to equate our disapproval with ostracism. Otherwise, real disagreements are not possible among friends.
The Dignity of the Human Body
Two focuses of Scripture lead away from burning toward burying. One is the focus on the meaning and importance of the human body, now and in the life to come. The other is the meaning of fire as it relates to the human body, now and in the life to come.
First, biblical faith, unlike Greek religion, does not view the body as the prison of the soul. So the afterlife has never been viewed as the “immortality of the soul” finally liberated from its physical prison. Rather, Christianity has always viewed the body as essential to full humanity so that the life to come has primarily been seen as the resurrection of the body in glorious eternal life. Paul did not consider the intermediate bodiless state, between death and resurrection, as ideal (2 Corinthians 5:4).
The greatest thing that can be said about the human body is that the eternal Son of God was incarnate in a human body and will have one forever. He “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:14). Today in heaven, Jesus has the body he had on earth, glorified. When he comes he will “transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:21). This was an immeasurable elevation in history of the dignity and glory of the human body.
In this life Paul says, “The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). He goes on to say even more amazing things about the body.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)
Note four stunning facts: 1) Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 2) Christ died to purchase us, including the purchase of our bodies, for himself. 3) Therefore our bodies do not belong to us to use as we please, but rather as he pleases. 4) Therefore, we should use our bodies to put the glory of God on display.
- Our body, God’s dwelling.
- Our body, God’s purchase.
- Our body, God’s possession.
- Our body, God’s glory.
Paul said he hoped to magnify Christ “in my body whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20). Glorifying God is what the body is for — in life and in death.
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Jesus was not buried, he was entombed. If everyone what to have the same disposition, then cemeteries need to start building mausoleums by the dozens.
My Bible says, “Absent from the body, is present with the Lord.” That doesn’t say anything about needing a body.
Also, there are a number of references that ‘the sea shall give up her dead.’ Those folks are certainly not in recognizable body form, yet that doesn’t seem to hinder their advancement.
Our bodies were designed by the creator to go back to the elements after our deaths. The writer makes it sound like the body that arises on Resurrection morning will be exactly the same as the day of burial. Once the flesh and the bones have deteriorated exactly what are you saving for Resurrection morning? A simple answer, nothing.
My Church is an older congregation. We have already had 6 deaths this year. Even assuming that you could find a simple funeral for $5,000, do you really think that is the best way to use $30,000 out of the budget? (How would a Church get a special fund with this kind of money?)
Particularly when the individual is still not having the same disposition that Jesus had, which is your goal, according to the article. Closeness doesn’t count. If you are not being entombed, then burial or cremation shouldn’t make a difference.
Considering the wonders of Resurrection morning, gathering together the folks who have been cremated, or lost at sea, to me, this will be one of the minor miracles.
In the article, “… that the culture would not condemn or ostracize…” That is exactly what would happen., or you wouldn’t even need to bring it up. It is even likely, not just possible, that these members could be driven away from the Church, by these good Christian people.
In my humble opinion, while the writer of this article means well, there are number of objet lessons he has not considered.
Is that really important in terms of the scriptural message? Are you aware of (1) the reason for selecting entombment over all in 1st century Palestine? (2) The underlying reason for entombment vs. interment in the case of the Scriptural Jesus? It might be helpful if you were to contrast the two? Have you represented the doctrines of the major Abrahamic traditions regarding the “resurrection” question? If I read your “nothing.” correctly, you have not.
Your final question as to the amount that would be required for a dignified “burial” or other disposal of the remains is well taken, though not fully developed, which may discredit your otherwise cogent questions. Establishment of such a fund, its management and administration, screening of applicants for genuine need, prevention of misuse, and negotiating good prices with reliable service providers ranging from licensed removal to preparation, transportation, cemetery plot purchases, etc. would have to be carefully worked out. Its not simply a question of “doing the math.” Besides, I do think that one can get a decent funeral w/o resorting to cremation for much less than $5,000, if you have negotiating skills and bargaining power.
Rev. Ch. Harold
Thanks for your reply. I have been a death-care provider for over 50 years.
Is is only important to whom it is important. In my simplistic thoughts, Jesus was placed in a borrowed tomb, belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. That’s it end of story. Why it is offered, who said what to whom, isn’t important to the scriptural message.
To do the kind of study you suggest, doesn’t enhance the story, as far as I’m concerned.
I don’t know where you are, but in California, $5,000 doesn’t go very far. Even the state give the family of a homicide victim $10,000 for funeral expenses.
Here, the $5,000 could easily be eaten up, just in cemetery expenses. Checking with local funeral homes to see their General Price List, can be an eye-opening experience.
I worked at a funeral home that was on Catholic cemetery grounds. With a letter from a family’s local priest, we offered totally free funerals. It didn’t happen very often, so I never felt that it was misused.
Even with good negotiating skills, most Churches don’t have the volume to give them much in the way of bargaining power. Five to ten funerals a year, is not much of an inducement for providers to get excited about. If the Church were to purchase 50 or 100 graves, then you would have bargaining power.
I read this article with an open mind, hoping that it would not turn into some species of inane ramblings making no contribution to a more complete understanding of the topic of cremation. Instead, it appears to be written by someone with a severely limited understanding of cremation in Holy Scripture, both in the First and the Second Testaments. The author appears also to be ignorant of some of the reversals in mainline faith traditions regarding the acceptability of cremation. After having read the article, I was neither convinced that it actually had a topic nor clear what the actual thesis was.
One of the problems we all face when reading such contributions by the literalist fundamentalist Christians is that very fact that they are literalists and completely ignore the metaphoric and allegorical language of Scripture. Even more annoying is the fact that they tent to prooftext, that is, select portions of text out of con-text, that serve to misconstrue the original text while misleading the reader.
Was the article about Christians and their option for cremation or another disposal method, or was it about stewardship of church funds? Neither thesis was fully developed by the author. Far from being readworthy, it was neither illuminating nor persuasive.
Sorry, but I would have hoped for better better material on this site.
Rev. Ch. Harold W. Vadney B.A., [M.A.], M.Div.
Interfaith Bereavement Chaplain/Thanatologist