Should Christians Cremate Their Loved Ones? | Desiring God
I am very much in agreement with John Piper on this issue. (KSchaal)
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.
Source: Should Christians Cremate Their Loved Ones? | Desiring God
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This is perhaps the best article I have ever read on this difficult, and emotional subject. I have been an advocate of burials, but have also been a part of many cremation situations. Burial is not commanded, so I have not made it a big issue. In my experience, finances are the main, if not only reason people cremate. This article gives great food for thought in a growingly secularized Christian culture.
While it is true that the Scriptures do not command that we must bury our dead, it is not without comment on the subject. Paul in 1 Cor. 15:42-44 states, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” Herein the Spirit likens the body to a seed which is sown in the ground in hope of the resurrection. I find these thoughts from Paul a strong argument for the burial of believers.