CREMATION: A Heathen Practice
“Dust to Dust, Not Cinders to Cinders”
The body in death becomes a seed sown in this earth. In every saint’s body, there is the DNA signature of that individual person by which they will be raised in perfect form, yet without the adamic nature, at the resurrection. Apostle Paul made this bold declaration in his first letter to the people of Corinth. His words proclaim the mystery of death and the hope of our new body. “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? 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 of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.” (I Corinthians 15:35-38).
Our resurrection is not a copycat event in which all of us have similar appearing bodies. Each resurrected body will be unique, exactly like we are all unique in this life. The seed or grain of the present body contains the nucleus for the new body. Our great God in the resurrection does not create new bodies, but recreates us from the seed sown in death and burial. Paul continues the thought above, saying, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (I Corinthians 15:42-44, 49).
In death we sow the seed of our earthly life in complete assurance of the coming resurrection. No wonder the writer of Ecclesiastes stated unequivocally the following words, “If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.” (Ecclesiastes 6:3). This is God’s ideal. It is clearly His plan and method.
The late Wlm Malgo of Midnight Call wrote a small booklet on The Fatal Path of Cremation. He quoted Doctor Karl Ludwig Scheich as saying the following, “It is the nucleolus of the cell, that concentration of the cell’s protoplasmic yolk, which, like a sort of central organ, like a brain, a soul of the cell, and also like the yolk of the egg, must be regarded as the essential element of these microscopically-small life units. These life units of the cell – the nucleoli – remain alive under all conditions, and in them there is no death, only a spore-like preserving, a waiting, until they, in the miraculous cycle of life, restore their minute, immortal energies to life through rhythmic transfer. Digestion, fermentation, caustic acids or lyes cannot destroy their almost crystallized life. Only fire dissolves them! But this is not part of nature’s plan. Cell-death by burning is the most unnatural thing there is, and we must come to a decision to prohibit cremation as one of the greatest errors of civilization! Every nucleolus, which is freely dissolved in the soil, carries within it something of the spiritual and physical ‘I-nature’ of that decayed body from which it came. There exists, therefore, a cycle of life, an immortality of bodily organization, and herein lie the reasons for why we declare that cremation is an act of human boldness. It unwisely meddles with the above-described cycle of life, and, with clumsy, unknowing hands, frustrates the methodical construction and promotion of living creatures to ever-increasing higher achievements.” (Miracles of the Soul, Dr. Karl Ludwig Scheich.)
Fantastic is the only word I can imagine for such a scientific miracle. Our God had it all planned in the beginning and the resurrection DNA or seed/cell/germ was implanted in the very creation of each living soul. It can be no wonder that cremation was unnamed in all of Scripture as the method for the death of His own saints.
Abraham Was Commanded For Burial
Abraham is the “Father of Faith,” so named by Holy Scripture. He was called out of pagan Ur to become the Father of a new nation that would leave heathenism and follow the path of obedience to God. He stands at the head (humanly speaking) of the Bible-believing world. God spoke to him and clearly commanded, “And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.” (Genesis 15:15).
“Thou shalt be buried” was a direct command. This was very clear to Abraham, although he was born in heathenism among the very worse of his day. The city of Ur in Sumer is at the center of where heathenism had its origin. North of Ur is Babylon and west of Ur is Erech, so named in Genesis. “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” (Genesis 10:10).
Abraham buried his wife, who died before his own death, to show his readiness to be obedient. “And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 23:19). God Himself buried Moses on the top of Mt Nebo. “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 34:5-6). The Scriptures give details of numerous burials of those who were God’s servants. Just a few names may be helpful to show that this is the only method ever followed in Holy Scripture. No one that was numbered with the chosen was ever cremated in the Word of God. Note these names: Rachel, Leah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Miriam, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Solomon, and Elisha. Moses gave a clear description for the burial of the dead in the Jewish Torah, our first five books of the Holy Bible. “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 21:23). The New Testament Supports Burial as God’s Clear Command The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the center of all truth. The Old Testament exists to purposefully and methodically bring us to the fullness of time, when the Son of God would be incarnated in a sinless human body. His body or His coming to live among men was the Second Adam. All that the First Adam sold, the Second Adam purchased and pardoned. His death, burial, and resurrection are the redemptive acts in which all redemption is complete. His bodily resurrection from the death is the firstfruits of our resurrection. There will be no departing from this truth when that glorious moment arrives for each of the saints to be resurrected. Our body will be raised exactly as was His body. We will be like Him for we will see Him as He is. We shall also be known as we were represented in our bodies in this life. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12). Death, burial, and resurrection are the Lord’s clear pattern; and to depart from the same is barbaric and heathen. Water Baptism Is Lost In Cremation The act of baptism has no meaning if there is no burial. You cannot show a resurrection from a cremation because there is nothing left to resurrect. Maybe, if you only believe in sprinkling, then you could call it just a type, but Scripture cannot be so ignored and still retain meaning. The Body Is For The Lord The entire majestic acts of redemption, water baptism, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the promised resurrection of this very body make cremation unthinkable. How the church world treats those spiritual truths so cheaply is hard to grasp. Heathenism & Secular Humanism According to present information, in 25% of all deaths and funerals, the families are now opting for cremation. Churches all across America are actually promoting cremation by erecting columbariums on the church property. These columbariums serve as a memorial on the church grounds, usually near the sanctuary. Ministers are encouraging their congregations to consider cremation. Pagan religious ideas are exploding in the American churches. If a church welcomes Buddha-type meditation, New Age ten-step programs, martial arts, etc. then the natural direction is to welcome new forms of thinking in other matters. As many voices are now declaring, “We are living in post-Christian America.” The Bible Condemns Cremation God utterly condemned Moab in the days of the prophet Amos. One of the clear reasons was an act of cremation against another king. “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.” (Amos 2:1-3). This judgment was severe and plain. Often in Scripture, the wicked were judged by fire and complete obliteration. It was always reserved for great acts of blasphemy and sin. It appeared that a symbolism for a curse was the cremation of the body. We are dealing in those cases with people who had no hope of a saintly resurrection. “And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.” (Joshua 7:15). The Catholic Church burned great numbers of saints at the stake because they believed they were cursed for withstanding this harlot institution. These very acts show the utter disregard for truth that has characterized this false religion. What will happen to those who are burned to death accidentally? How about the martyred saints who were burned at the stake or any other believer who has been destroyed by fire? There is no direct Biblical answer, but we know that our Sovereign God is not hindered by those kinds of circumstances. On one occasion He stated, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9). You can have perfect peace that no situation or event that has ever occurred will hinder our Father in the resurrection of the dead saints or the resurrection unto damnation of the ungodly. While God has ordained our resurrection from the body sown in the grave, He is clearly able to recreate the resurrection body for those destroyed by accident or in malice. The Death of the Wicked God also commanded that certain blasphemous or extremely wicked person be burnt with fire. “And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.” “And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.” (Leviticus 20:14; 21:9). Cremation must be reserved exclusively for the wicked and God rejecters in our midst. It should be expected that individuals that have rejected the Creator and His Holy Bible would desire to show their rebellion against the sacredness of life by choosing cremation. It becomes the last act of defiance and determination to escape responsibility to Him. Offering Fiery Sacrifices To Idol Gods Human sacrifice is only a few steps away from cremation. Idol gods are intimately connected to spirits and demons, and destruction is their character. There is a special hatred in spirits of evil for the human life and body. Moses wrote, “Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12:31). Reincarnation is an important part of many false religions. Since they have no hope of eternal life or a physical resurrection, they have concocted a different idea. As men pass from one life experience to another, they must be released from each incarnation. Cremation is the chosen from of release. The Encyclopedia Britannica reported, “The pagan Scandinavians favoured cremation, believing that it helped free the spirit from the flesh and also that it kept the dead from harming the living. These pagan practices paralleled the Greek and Roman epic cremations.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, p. 726.) It’s impossible to disconnect cremation from paganism and heathenism. Hell and the Eternal Lake of Fire Conclusion
The Word of God always teaches by example as the first method for declaring truth. God rested on the seventh day of creation and forever set an example for the seven-day week, with one day devoted to Him and rest. Burial is seen throughout the New Testament with the death and burial of Jesus Christ at the center. Lazarus was buried and Jesus raised him from the dead. If Martha and Mary had cremated him, Jesus would not have resurrected him. His resurrection was the natural body, which was to die again in his proper season. “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:39-40,43).
Water baptism is a beautiful and commanded experience. The entire base of this action typifies the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12). “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5).
“Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.” (I Corinthians 6:13). Our body is clearly the temple of the Holy Ghost and all that the Lord does in His earthly kingdom He does by using His saints. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:19). Our bodies are also members of Christ. “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.” (I Corinthians 6:15).
There is no question but that cremation has never been acceptable in a Bible-believing church. Only after the effects of pagan ideas and secular humanism could the church world be headed in this direction. A booklet written, entitled Burial or Cremation, gave this following information. “Between 1876 and 1884 there were only 28 recorded cremations in the U.S. During the 1960’s and 70’s many changes in our culture began to occur in a time of social instability fueled by the doctrines of secular humanism, the basic tenant of which is man is not accountable to any higher power or God. From this doctrine of human autonomy have come both the acceptance of abortion and the practice of cremation. The right to do both of these barbaric rituals is claimed on the basis of the false concept that one’s body belongs to himself and he can do with it whatsoever he pleases. Consequently, by 1977, 7% of all human corpses were reduced to bone fragments and ashes by cremation in this country. By 1993 that percentage had increased to nearly 20%. That percentage will continue to increase as Americans reject Biblical Christianity and adopt the so-called New Age thinking which is nothing more than ancient and pagan Hinduism and Buddhism in new garb.” (Burial or Cremation, by Royce Smith, M.A., Th.M., Th.D. Published by Bethel Baptist Church-Watchman Press, Lawton, OK.)
The Scripture does not speak volumes about cremation because it does not need to do so. When you have the truth presented in great abundance, the need to condemn the opposite is not required. Yet, the Scripture shows God’s disfavor.
The resurrection of the godless and wicked persons is a resurrection unto damnation. So, cremation fits the death of the unjust perfectly. Their bodies will be raised up in the wickedness of their life and death. The resurrection of the righteous is glorious, but the resurrection of the unjust is fitted to their lifestyle of rebellion and stubbornness. This is clearly why God Himself has often judged the wicked in fire or brimstone. “And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” (Numbers 16:35). “And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.” (Leviticus 10:2). “The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.” (Psalm 106:17-18).
Cremation has always been deeply connected to idolatry. The worship of false gods is almost always connected to fire. Israel was constantly warned not to be involved in such worship. “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:21).
Cremation is too close to hell for a saint to ever choose such a treatment of the divinely created body. God Himself created Hell and the Lake of Fire for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It was never intended for man or woman. It is their choice, not His choice. The unregenerate person that refuses Christ and chooses self, will be cast into the “lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” (Revelation 21:8).
Wlm Malgo eloquently stated, “Cremation belongs to Satan’s refined system of destruction.” (The Fatal Path of Cremation by Wlm Malgo. Published by Midnight Call, West Columbia, SC.) There is no kinship between a human act of the destruction of the body and the beauty of God’s great creation and plan. The Bible does not teach, “dust to dust and ashes to ashes.” The latter part was somehow added, maybe by someone who believed in cremation. Dust to dust is what our God has decreed. “… For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19). That is not just an idle statement, but a clear declaration. It is not “cinders to cinders,” but “dust to dust.”
Sean
You know, Joseph, I was going to commmend you on a really beautiful opening – then I read further and discovered your ungenerous, unnecessary, unChristian and hate-filled designation of the Catholic Church as the harlot church. I notice you carefully did not mention the Protestant burnings of monasteries and convents in Germany, or the Protestant witchburning all over Europe and at Salem in the American colonies.
Joseph, historically, the State and Church were considered the two arms of Christ to keep order in the world, materially and spiritually. A threat to one was a threat to the other. The Catholic Church did not burn heretics. The Church tried heretics after demonstrating how their beliefs differed from Scripture and, when they refused to retract, turned them over to the secular arm.
The Church, as the Body of Christ, can never err. M<embers of the Church err all the time. I do not mean to exonerate these persons, bishops and popes who were bloodthirsty, ruthless and usually were more interested in matters of the world rather than in matters of the Spirit and, because of that dichotomy, proved effective at neither
As a historian, I believe in truth and fairness.
You, Joseph believe only in your self aggrandizement.
I will pray for you, asking the Holy Spirit to bring you to your senses. I do not pray for your conversion, only that you learn how to be a true follower of Christ.
Sean
Joan
I am sorry, I have to disagree with you. God said, our bodies die & go back to the dust of the earth,from whence it came.ps.103:14 /ps.104:29/Eccl.3:20(Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
(check out the scriptures(carefully & with your spirit mind)
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
(watch this ,read carefully)
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (here is the Key)
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
especially:
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
The Physical has nothing to do with the Spiritual,we are flesh here on earth, however, the flesh body is a tent in which we (who are spirit in God’s Image) dwell in.Joan Rogers
God is not going to come to earth & resurrect dead bodies out of graves.Resurrection to life is when #1 we are born again,raised up out of our graves(sinners)dead to God,brand new spirit cleansed from all unrighteousness.
#2 when our earth body dies, and we abide in Christ,being sealed by His Spirit 1John3:6-10 & eph.1:13,14,cleansed in His Soul cleansing Blood 1John1:9,10 and our earth body dies,(resurrection to everlasting life) Jesus receives our born again spirits John14:2,3
(Joan Rogers)
pat
The thought of having a cremation makes me cringe, but if I die a pauper and the authorities have to dispose of my carcass they will probably choose this method because it’s cheap and sanitary. I’m sure that God will know how to reassemble it if He has to. Not sure I agree with Dr. Schleich about life remaining in cells forever, but that idea has no relevance because the Bible says flesh cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. I would not encourage cremation, but I don’t believe that our Father would penalize or ban from heaven one of His children if they went to ashes or dust. Interesting article. Maybe it can be sold to casket company for advertising.
Ed Wood
Interesting article, Pastor Joseph, however if it is so, it presents certain problems.
1) If the destruction of the body by fire in some way imperils a person’s resurrection, what of those who believe in Jesus who may have been involved in a conflagration over which they had no control?
2) Job said that even if he body was destroyed (the method is not mentioned) yet he would one day see God. (Job 19:25-27)
3) With all due respect, the gentlemen you cited are incorrect in that the nucleolis survives anything except fire. Given enough time and the proper circumstances all of any living body’s (plant or animal) contsituent elements will be returned to the environment, including the DNA, and be recycled. Of course, such things like freezing, or being trapped in amber, can interrupt the process, but only temporarily. Once gone, the genetic instructions encoded in the DNA are irrevocably lost.
But since God’s ways are not our ways, to expect him to rely on perishable and even sometimes flawed DNA is to place our human limits on his abilities, which is always unwise!
4) Did you know that burning and natural decomposition are very much similar in that oxidation occurs and heat is produced in both? It is only the rate at which it occurs that makes the difference. Two good examples: The wood burning in a fireplace vrs. the slow decomposition of a compost pile.
5) The case with Jesus was unique. He was the Son of God, God Incarnate, virgin-born, lived a sinless life and remained in the tomb for only a very short time, unlike all the majority of believers across the ages who are awaiting the Rapture (except possibly Enoch, Elijah, and for those other saints mentioned in Matthew 27:51-52).
6) In the case of Lazarus, note that Jesus specified for Lazarus to come forth. I’d heard an interesting thought that had he just said “Come forth!” perhaps all the dead in that cemetary might have arisen (John 11:17-45). Lazarus was most likely not resurrected in his glorifed body because later on we see the reigious leaders were thinking of killing him, in effect to literally “re-bury the evidence” of what Jesus had done. (John 12:10). Jesus, by restoring life to a man whose body already should have been decomposing fufilled a “messianic requirement.”
So, I think this is an area in which the jury is still out. I still enjoyed your dissertation even though I disagreed with its conclusion.
What I think we can agree upon is that God has already figured it all out and that we’ll all meet each other one day because he has.
Carol
Just wanted to share an interesting experience here. When my father passed away in a drowning, the Lord specifically instructed my mother to burn his clothes. He was involved in sexual sins. She was not told to cremate his body, but destroy the clothes that he wore that were defiled. Incidently, the fire was extremely hot and not a zipper or buckle was left. I find the practice of cremation rather disgusting for Christians to practice also.
To address the poster: I believe that history shows, as does Foxe’s book of Martyrs, that “bishops, popes who were bloodthirsty, ruthless and more interested in matters of the world than matters of the spirit” is an accurate statement. I’m not sure why this historian would defend them and the other unbiblical doctrines they developed and enforced them as “traditions”. Cathedrals were built on the backs of the poor and uneducated under the guise of paying for their sins (indulgences). I am an ‘Anathema” according to Vatican II. They have never repented of being an exclusive club. May we learn from history and study it accurately with discernment. Sometimes it’s like statistics, and some have rewritten it to suit their own views and change people’s perspectives.
Joni Wagner
Many Christians were burned in the ovens under Hitler. Are they not worthy of the full grace of heaven? Legalism is probably a greater stumbling block than cremation. I’m not too concern over what I have no control over. The cost of burial is out of reach for most people in most lands. Maybe only the rich will enter heaven in a perfect state of rotted flesh and bones after the magotts have their way that is.
Joni from Bothell
Joseph Chambers
Boy, did I hit a nerve. I never thought of Cremation as a salvation issue. I’m simply calling Christ’s church back to the Bible. There is no case in Scripture where a Saint was burned at death instead of Buried. Living by the Word Of God is what we saints do or should do. Our enemies used burning as their attack on the Church. The Bible tell us to burn the wicked, but never does He instruct the saints to follow this pattern.
No desire to offend anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pastor Joseph Chambers
Gabriel
I love it. Some opposed to this idea, are actually making it more interesting to me. Obviously Joseph Chambers is not perfect so use the supporting info for further study. BUT let’s hold fast to me the WORD of God, and use it to guide us. Some others, with veiled insults in the comments, should be ashamed. Better to address the issue in truth and sincerity. 1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
God has shown in his Word multiple examples of burial for his saints. (and even a COMMANDMENT for burial as well!) Not to mention all the horrible examples of death by fire. Why follow that cremation negative example? Not me.
Yes, I agree we don’t know what happens to those who are “accidentally” or purposely burned. But hey, does that mean you decide not to follow God’s wise examples in his Word because you found a “possible” loophole. Since God controls everything, maybe these “accidents” were ment to be or your body being purposely burnt was God’s plan. Sounds like we all need to keep ourselves close to the LORD and avoid ANYTHING that is connected with evil. And cremation is connected enough to evil for me to refuse it.
Gabriel
Roger Ball
Very good Joseph.
I beleive in most of what you write. The Catholic Church and OTHERS are the Harlot Churchs.
However about the fire destroying the WATER BAPTISM. How can that be when water baptism
went out the window and has nothing to do with salvation when Jesus died on the cross and was risen on the third day.
Review John 3:16.
Roger.
Kimber
What is sad are people are running out of money… those laid off. Families can’t afford the coffin so they are resulting to cremation. You have families out in the streets now. I lost my job and I am financially broke. I couldn’t afford a casket at this time in my life if something would happen. $7 to $10,000.00 isn’t cheap
I wonder how people can get by this.
John Harrison
I think all of the DNA needed is in a flake of skin or strand of hair which we shed by the thousands and hundreds of thousands every day. So, I think the Lord can find DNA somewhere to replicate us, as though we don’t seem to realize He can do it all from “scratch” without a sample, if He wanted to. I enjoy your site but think worrying about whether we are cremated (people are completely incinerated in fires, nuclear blasts – Japan), etc. all the time and I am sure the Lord can overcome this?
Mike
Hi Joseph, I’m not in any way an advocate of cremation, and perhaps this was mentioned in the booklet you quoted somewhere and i didn’t see that part, but cremation did happen in the Bible, in Joshua 7 (although not in a complimentary way, it did happen):
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.”
Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor[f] ever since.
Additionally, plenty of saints have been burnt at the stake in Rome and elsewhere, and Father is just not limited by any such small matter as it relates to the Resurrection. 🙂 But you knew that. 🙂 -mike
jaimie
Dear Pastor,
I agree with your article, this took me a while some years ago, but it became was obvious I want to be Buried.
It is important for people to know the simple fact, Do not get Cremated! As a Christian I do not worship the Fire. Who wants the unquenchable fire were the worm does not die, cremation has a creepy forshadow of the Lake of Fire to me. What is our focus Heaven or Earth, thought there were rivers in Heaven and the Earth would be cleansed by fire
Ed is also right to a point, Cryo Preservation of human cells (-196C) has a max shelf life of 25,000,000 years. Wet Oxidization can destroy just about any biological organism without fire.
100,000,000 ONE HUNDRED MILLION : Thats the estimated number of Christains put to death by the RC Church. Salem witch hunts were also fired by Ergot a Lysergic Acid type blight on grain
which the villagers ate. Lysergic Acid is also known as LSD when processed.
The real CHURCH is not found here or there just as it is written.
God Bless my Christian Bretheren
jaimie
Bill
Dear Brother Joseph,
I love 99.9% of your postings, but I do not see this prohibition included in Acts 21:25, nor anywhere else in the New Testament. You overstep your place on this issue Sir. Would you have us next abstain from pork, and tie scripture to our foreheads? Beyond the 10 commandments, where does one draw the line on Judiazing the Bride of Christ? Paul and Peter settled this type of issue at the 1st church counsel.
We’re not talking about someone making an offering of strange fire to other gods. We’re talking about economically disposing of a corrupt tent. Personally I don’t like cremation, but in no way does it hinder God Almighty from raising a fallen saint. I do however see it’s value in our fallen culture, especially in the current economic climate.
The New Testament is silent about this modern practice. I suggest the New Testament church be silent about it too.
Just my 2 cents.
Grace and peace to you Sir.
Bill
Joseph Chambers
This has been a great responce. The part about the DNA was beautiful to me but certainly not the important part. God already has sometime more wonderful than the DNA. Let me quato Him. “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalms 139:16) He has a perfect record of every living soul. The wicked will be resurrected with an eternal body for everlastig judgement while the righteous will be resurrected unto eternel life. He will not fail!
Pasator Joseph Chambers
Kenneth R. Hilton
I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH YOUR WHOLE PREMISE ABOUT CREMATION. YOU HAVE TAKEN A WHOLE LOT OF SCRIPTURES OUT OF CONTEXT AND MADE FOR YOUR SELF A DOCTRINE. mY BIBLE SAYS OUT OF THE BODY, PRESENT WITH THE LORD.
i SAW MY MOTHER AND MY WIFE MINUTES AFTER THEIR SPIRIT AND SOUL HAD LEFT THE BODIES AND THE BODY IN FRONT OF ME WAS JUST AN EMPTY SHELL TO BE DEALT WITH ACCORDING TO THEIR WISHES.
THEY ARE IN “ABRAHAM’S BOSOM” AWAITING THE RESURRECTION CALL
Brother Kenneth,
My Friend! Be careful when you say I twisted the Scripture. I certainly did not. Just say you do not believe the whole Bible. So many today, pick and choose. Cremation is a case in point. Also, The New Testament saints are not in Abraham’s bosom they are with the Lord in Heaven. Apostle Paul said, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
We are still friends!!!!!
Joseph Chambers
Chuck
Pastor Joseph…..as a born again believer in Jesus Christ as defined in Romans 10, I find this message extremely disturbing and completely uncalled for. My salvation AND RESURRECTION is based on Romans 10:9,10 and NOT by how my physical body is disposed of after I die. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
“Question: Is cremation a sin?
Answer: As we experience more land shortage, more people are considering cremation as opposed to burial. However, how does the teaching of the Bible apply to cremation? God created man out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2: 7). The spirit of man was created in the likeness of God (Gen. 1: 27). The body of man returns to the dust and the spirit being incorruptible, returns to God (Gen. 3: 19, Eccl. 12: 7, 1 Pet. 3:4).
Death is separation, scripturally speaking. In illustrating the futility of an inactive faith (no works), James taught: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (Jas. 2: 26). The body is simply the dwelling place or physical habitat for the spirit of man in this material existence (2 Cor. 4:16-5: 9). Hence, when the spirit departs the body, the body is dead. Jesus said man only has power over the body, man cannot kill the spirit (Luke 12: 4).
Joan Johnson
First of all, cremation is not burning a body in the flames of fire. The body is placed in intense heat that more or less dehydrates it. The body it largely made up of water anyway, and this just speeds up the natural process of decomposing.
Are you trying to link a person’s salvation to whether or not he/she is cremated? If that is the case you would have to change the Scripture that says: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and don’t be cremated and thou shalt be saved.”
So, I think you are just saying that it looks better or seems more Christian to be buried and not cremated. Right???
Daniel Majdis
Very good article, the bible is so plain and simple to understand to those who will humble themselves and believe in child like faith.
Why can’t people just just follow in the footsteps of Christ? This whole article was explained very well. Keep up these great truths.
God bless you
Mrs.LaVita
Pastor Joseph Chambers,God Bless You For the message on cremation.The Christians will read and under stand but the others won’t.We know these are the last days,and that satan is busy trying to keep people in darkness.especially GOD children.He already have the others so he goes after the Christians. Pastor Chambers keep Preaching the truth on cremation and every thing else,and again I say ,GOD BLESS YOU