Burial or cremation? The argument rages on, especially in the Christian community. There is no mention of cremation, per se, in the Bible. The only mention is death by fire for someone who has sinned.
Christians worry that without burial they will not be resurrected, as there will be no body to raise. However, if you believe we were all created by God, a new body would certainly be a possibility.
Another worry for Christians is that that cremation goes against the Bible's teaching, which clearly indicates in passages such as Genesis 23:4-6 and 2 Chronicles 16:14, as well as many others, that care be given to a dead body in preparing it for burial.
Cremation has grown in popularity in recent years and studies show the main reason for this is financial. A cremation costs less than a burial, and in these troubled economic times, people are going for the least expensive means of coping with all necessary expenditures. The death of a loved one, no matter how painful, still fits into that category. Another reason for cremation is the dwindling amount of land available for cemeteries, and concerns over the environmental impact of interment.
Hinduism and Buddhism have practiced cremation for centuries, and it has become more prevalent in Europe in recent years. However, the Jewish faith aligns itself with the teachings of the Bible and does not accept cremation as a method to dispose of the dead. Cremation is another issue in which Christians will have to strike a balance between their beliefs and the demands of the modern world.
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