Christians And Cremation

Cremation has been around for many centuries and continues to grow in popularity around the world. The Greeks and Romans cremated their dead while burial in Japan is illegal. The early Christian church viewed burning as associated with pagans and a burial was homage to God. The first modern cremation chamber was built in 1870 by an Italian, which brought this practice to what it is today.

What guidance does the Bible give on the acceptance or condemnation of Cremation? Nowhere in the Bible does it specifically say it is not an excepted practice. Many of the first Jews were burned. Burning is a practice in the Bible, but is not banned. Many Christians look on cremation and compare it to the days of burning witches or bodies with the plague. However, cremation was officially banned in 1886, but today the church strongly suggests continuing in the tradition of a funeral burial with the body decomposing in a casket.

In America, the first cremation happened in 1876 and the number of cremations has been steadily increasing ever since. In 2002, nearly 28 percent of all deaths were cremations. Reasons for the increase in numbers of cremations deals with extended land use, the high expense of traditional funerals and the loss of traditions. The figures for 2010 predict that 1,552,800 people or roughly 40 percent of all deaths will end in cremation. As the practice grows more and more, funeral homes will offer this service along with traditional funerals, but as of now 30,000 funeral homes offer cremation.