A look at a map showing the number of cremations in each state reveals there are fewer cremations in the Bible Belt South than any other region of the United States, and more in the Western states.
The Web site Religioustolerance.org asserts, “As North American society becomes progressively more secular, it is expected that cremation will gain in favor and become the normal method of disposing of bodies.”
In an article in Christianity Today, Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, wrote that the first cremation in the United States took place in 1876 and was “accompanied by readings from Charles Darwin and the Hindu scriptures.”
“For many years,” the article points out, “relatively few persons (mostly liberals and freethinkers) chose cremation.” Is there, then, a connection between religion and the choice of cremation?
Dennis Sansom, professor and chair of philosophy at Samford, believes there is.
“I think there is a connection between religious belief and burials versus cremations,” he said. “For instance, the Greek Orthodox Church forbade cremation because it desecrates the body, which is a gift from God and which we are responsible to treat with dignity and respect.”
As Sansom noted, the Greek ban on cremations was lifted in 2006. But the Greek Orthodox Church continues to oppose cremation.
Like the Orthodox Church, Jewish law has long opposed cremation or any method for disposing of the dead other than burial, believing in the eventual resurrection of the body.
Chabad.org, a Jewish Web site dedicated to fostering and explaining Jewish tradition, is clear on its historical opposition to cremation.
“Jewish law is unequivocal in establishing absolutely, and uncompromisingly, that the dead must be buried in the earth,” the site reports. “Man’s body returns to the earth as it was. The soul rises to God, but the physical shelter … sinks into the vast reservoir of nature.”
The site quotes God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3:19 to affirm the position, “For dust thou are and unto dust shalt thou return.” There are other numerous references in the Scriptures to people who were buried, from Abraham and Sarah to Jacob and Joseph, whose bones were preserved for hundreds of years and transported back through the wilderness to be buried in the Promised Land. This fact is often used to support the Jewish contention that burial is preferred over cremation.
Also, the Old Testament contains numerous references to burning bodies and objects, generally in a negative context. In Exodus 32:20, for example, Moses destroyed the golden calf made by the Israelites by burning it. In Numbers 16, God destroyed 250 Israelites because they rebelled against Moses’ leadership. In Joshua 7, Achan and his family were stoned and their bodies burned for looting from Jericho after it was destroyed.
In ancient Israel, burial was in sepulchers, which were either natural caves or tombs hewn out of rock, generally in a hillside. An example familiar to Baptists is the burial of Jesus, which was conducted according to Mosaic Law and Jewish tradition.
Prior to the arrival of Christianity in the Roman Empire, cremation was in widespread use. Early Christians opposed the practice, believing that burial conformed more closely to the teachings in the Old Testament. As Christianity spread throughout the region, burial replaced cremation as the preferred method of disposal of the dead.
Although cremation made a comeback after the invention of a cremation chamber in the 1870s, the Roman Catholic Church banned it in 1886, and members were excommunicated for arranging cremations. The ban was lifted in 1963, and in 2005, a Catholic church in New Jersey constructed a crematory with an attached chapel.
According to the 2005 Wirthlin Report, a study commissioned by the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, 39 percent of the Catholics surveyed reported that they are likely to choose or will definitely choose cremation.
Compared to Catholics or the general population, “practicing Baptists,” according to the Wirthlin Report, are the religious group least likely to choose cremation, at 29 percent. Christians often question whether cremation is an acceptable alternative. Most Christian churches, including Baptist congregations, either approve of cremation or are neutral toward it.
George points out, “While the weight of tradition clearly favors burial, the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns cremation.”
Sansom agreed. “Cremation is not necessarily disrespectful of the body, because we are made from the dust, as Genesis says.” There is reason for the hesitation on the part of Christians to elect cremation, however.
“The belief in the resurrection of the dead signifies that in a way our bodies are still not entirely our own to do with as we want,” Sansom said.
The issue is not, Sansom said, that God cannot resurrect a body that has been cremated.
“As God created us out of grace, God will resurrect our bodies into a spiritual body out of grace,” he said.
“Cremation would not hinder the work of the resurrection. Thus, the issue is to respect our bodies as God’s gift whether alive or dead and this can occur with cremation as well as burial.”
Wilton Bunch, also a Samford professor and a father who chose cremation when his daughter died, said, “I don’t know how God will resurrect us, but He can do it from the dust of cremation as easily as the dust of centuries of decay.”
Sansom asserted that the real issue with cremation is the handling of the remains.
“Sometimes people will cremate the dead and ‘throw away’ their ashes or throw them over a special place, like the sea or a mountain. This use of cremation is problematic, because it may suggest that the dead are unconnected to their past or the living,” he said.
Some people, Sansom said, have an attitude that they are self-made and autonomous and can do anything they want with their bodies. He maintained that this is a superficial attitude.
“Just as we should not be flippant about our lives thinking we can do whatever we want with them, we should not be flippant about our deaths and the burial of the dead,” he said. “In this light, though cremation is possible, it’s important to bury or keep the dead in cemeteries with other people.
“Cemeteries indicate that we are part of many generations of families and others. They also become witnesses of a community awaiting the resurrection of the dead,” Sansom said.
“The various Christian symbols and Scriptures on graves and headstones indicate we approach death with an anticipation of the resurrection when Christ returns to bring all to God the Father in a new heaven and new earth.”
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