WHY WE SHOULD BURY
AND NOT CREMATE
Christians since the first century have buried their dead. However, it has become increasingly popular in modern times for Christians to cremate their dead. Cremation, they say, is more convenient and cheaper. The question arises: Should we bury or should we burn believers who have died? We have to go to the Scriptures for our answers, and we find in God’s Word a strong basis for burial, not cremation.
Cremation
Cremation is the method of disposing the dead by burning. This method is not new. It has ancient origins, and was practised by the Canaanites in the time of the Old Testament. In the light of the Old Testament, we learn that cremation is not only a heathen practice, but also a sign of divine judgement.
Heathen Practice
Dr John Davis in his book—What About Cremation?—said that cremation “was both early in origin and widespread in geographic scope. For the most part, it was associated with pagan ideas about the essence of life or mythical beliefs regarding the afterlife.” Cremation is tied to the heathen practice of offering human sacrifices. God commanded the Israelites not to follow this cruel practice in Deuteronomy 12:31, “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.” For the heathen, cremation was the way to send off both the living and the dead to the netherworld!
The Jews regarded the act of cremation as a form of idolatry. Israel, in keeping herself distinct from the heathen nations and in obedience to the command of separation, practised burial instead of cremation. To prove that the divinely sanctioned method is burial and not cremation, the Jews cited Deuteronomy 21:23, “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day” (see also Gen 23:19; 35:8; Deut 34:6; 1 Kgs 11:15; 22:37; Ezek 39:15).
Divine Judgement
Cremation is also a sign of judgement. In the Old Testament, cremation was done to dishonour or punish those who had sinned against God. Achan, for his sin of covetousness, was punished by fire. God said, “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. … And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones” (Josh 7:15, 25).
Fire is a symbol of God’s judgement. When the wicked priests—Nadab and Abihu—offered strange fire before God which He commanded them not, “there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Lev 10:1-2). God destroyed the homosexual cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone and fire (Gen 19:24). The nation of Moab too faced God’s fiery judgement, “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; … but I will send a fire upon Moab” (Amos 2:1-2a).
In the New Testament, we also find that fire and burning point to God’s judgement and disapproval. In Acts 19:18-19, the newly converted believers renounced their heathen past by burning all their books on witchcraft and sorcery. The apostle Peter prophesied that God would destroy the whole universe one day by fire – “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet 3:7). At the judgement of the great white throne, all the fallen angels and all the finally impenitent will be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Rev 20:14-15).
In both Testaments, believers have always been buried. The Old Testament patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—were all buried (Gen 25:8-10; 35:29, 49:31, 50:1-13). The same is true in the New Testament: John the baptizer was buried (Matt 14:10-12), Lazarus was buried (John 11:17), Stephen was buried (Acts 8:2), and our Lord Himself was buried (John 19:40-42).
Dr Davis has rightly concluded, “The biblical record of burial is clear that inhumation was the only acceptable practice among both Jews and Christians. Although the practice of burning the human being is not absent from the Old Testament, when it appears, it is cast in a negative light.”
Burial
Why is burial the biblical way for Christians? There are two doctrinal reasons why we should bury and not cremate. We bury because of (1) the doctrine of the resurrection, and (2) the doctrine of the body.
Doctrine of the Resurrection
As Christians, we believe in the bodily resurrection. Burial is meaningful to the Christian because it points to the future resurrection. This was certainly what the apostle Paul had in mind when he said, “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” (Rom 6:4-5). When we bury the human body, it is like sowing a seed into the ground; at the appointed time, it will sprout out of the ground as a plant. God will one day raise up our body, just as He raised Christ’s (1 Cor 15:42-44).
Cremation, on the other hand, with all that fire and burning, would only evoke thoughts of punishment and judgement. Would not the message on the Christian’s blessed hope of a future resurrection be contradicted by rolling a casket into the furnace? The fire gives a picture of hell, not heaven. Clearly, cremation illustrates the eternal destiny of unbelievers, and not of believers. The hideous sight of a body stoking up the furnace will only bring more sorrow and grief to the bereaved, not hope and comfort. The message of the resurrection is lost when we cremate our dead.
Doctrine of the Body
The Bible teaches that a human being consists of two parts: the spirit and the body. These two parts are not only distinguishable but also separable (Gen 3:19; Eccl 12:7; Luke 23:43, 46). Both the spirit and the body are important. The spirit is that part of man which relates to God (John 4:24; Rom 8:16) while the body is that part which allows man to subsist on earth. For Christians, the body is also the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Although at death, the spirit will be separated from the body, both will be re-joined at the time of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:44). Know that the body is not only useful for this life, but also for the afterlife.
When a believer dies, he is said to be “sleeping” (1 Cor 15:51). This refers to the body. The body lies in the grave and is “sleeping”. When a person sleeps, he expects to wake up. This awakening will happen when Christ returns. The Jews understood the doctrine of the resurrection and of the body (cf John 11:24). That was why they treated the body of their departed loved ones with great care. Consider the following Jewish burial procedure:
- Eyes of deceased closed by eldest son or next-of-kin if necessary (Gen 46:4).
- Body washed (Acts 9:37).
- Body anointed with aromatic spices (John 12:7; 19:39; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).
- Body wrapped in cloth (Matt 27:59; John 11:44; 19:40).
- Body not to be mutilated (Lev 19:27-28; Deut 14:1).
- Body carried to a tomb on a wooden bier (2 Sam 3:31).
- Body finally placed in a simple grave, cave, or rock-cut tomb (Luke 23:53).
The Jews and the church, believing in the resurrection, buried their dead. Dr Davis noted that “the early church practiced inhumation and rigorously opposed cremation. Prompt burials followed death and a special memorial service was conducted the third day following the believer’s death. The choice of the third day was a means of reaffirming belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the ultimate resurrection of all believers. … The overwhelming consensus of early church writers and leaders was that cremation was associated with rites that were incompatible with many basic tenets of their faith.”
Christians should not bow to social or cultural pressures to cremate, but seek to obey the Scriptures and bury their fellow believers who have died in the Lord. Christians should inform their next-of-kin, who might be unbelievers, that their wish is to be buried and not cremated. When the funeral is by burial, the Gospel can be preached most clearly and powerfully—Jesus died, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead—and so will we if we believe in the One who is “the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).
Conclusion
In summary, the Scriptures plainly teach that:
- Christians are to love their own bodies (cf Eph 5:28); even at death, the corpse is not to be lightly disposed of, having been associated with the soul of a departed loved one. God’s judgement upon Adam was that at death, Adam should return to the ground: “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen 3:19b).
- The patriarchs and their spouses were buried, viz Abraham (Gen 25:9), Sarah (Gen 23:19), Isaac (Gen 35:29), Rebekah (Gen 49:31), Jacob (Gen 50:5-7, 13), Leah (Gen 49:31), Rachel (Gen 35:19-20) and Joseph (Josh 24:32).
- Our Lord Jesus was laid in a tomb and buried (Matt 27:60). On the third day, He rose from the dead (Matt 28:1-6; 1 Cor 15:4). We should follow the Lord’s example, according to the Gospel (Col 2:12; cf 1 Cor 15:50-57).
- The burial of the believer at death is compared to being “sown in corruption” (1 Cor 15:42b), exemplifying faith and hope in the resurrection—to be “raised in incorruption” (1 Cor 15:42-44).
Kota Kinabalu Bible-Presbyterian Church, 10th Anniversary Thanksgiving, 16 March 2025
