Bury or Cremate

[blueluna5]

I've recently been informed my parents and husbands parents (both boomers) plan on being cremated when they die. Actually a lot aunts and uncles as well. No funeral and cremation. This is different for our family bc all of our grandparents were buried.

Is there a reason for it? Is it cheaper? Less work? Less taxes? Is it less work for us to do? Like maybe they hated planning the funerals of their parents. It freaks me out getting burned. But also I'm claustrophobic so burying seems horrible too.

I didn't think it was a big deal until I started thinking about where I would go to mourn. Do I keep them on my fireplace? I go to my grandparents tombstone and prefer it. It's an eerie sense of peace at this point many years later.

Also is it against the Bible any of it? How will their new bodies come back? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Sorry for the morbid discussion.

 

[Aussie52]

I am booked for cremation when I die. Don't believe it to be against Scripture. Think of those drowned, eaten by fish and those burnt alive in fires. I don't think God will have any problem resurrecting us all.

 

[Karlon]

i'll answer the ? in it's simplest form: bury.

 

[NightTwister]

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That one kinda interested me.

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That one is kinda weird.

Scripture is silent on this, so it's just a personal preference.

 

[WiselyWoven]

Cremation has always been a pagan practice.

 

[CarriePie]

I'm a burial person myself. My mother's family was big on cremation and she was cremated. My dad's family was big on burial and so I had him buried. When my dad was in the military, he purchased 4 burial plots. Later, my grandparents (his parents) went into two of them, and then eventually dad went into one, and I'll eventually go into the last one. My plot is between dad and the road, the line ends with me.

When I was just a one year old, my maternal grandmother got burial insurance for me. I still pay it to this day. I'm ready to go to the great wilderness beyond! I joke that I'm so ready to go, that the Lord will probably keep me here longer than I'd prefer lol.
Not only do I personally choose burial because I have a plot to go into, but I just prefer the idea of burial. Historically, cremation was a pagan practice. In the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, burial was an important practice.

This does not mean that I'm against Christians who choose cremation! I don't think they are bad or going to the hot place. I believe the Lord will put us in new bodies no matter how we died and were laid to rest. I just personally feel much better with the practice of burial. Burial is expensive though, which is why I keep paying my burial insurance. My mother was cremated without service for $1800. My dad's burial was almost $8000! And I didn't even have a service for him and I chose one of the most reasonably priced caskets that was available in order to cut costs. Burial expense is definitely something people need to be prepared for!

 

[Bible_Locket]

I've recently been informed my parents and husbands parents (both boomers) plan on being cremated when they die. Actually a lot aunts and uncles as well. No funeral and cremation. This is different for our family bc all of our grandparents were buried.

Is there a reason for it? Is it cheaper? Less work? Less taxes? Is it less work for us to do? Like maybe they hated planning the funerals of their parents. It freaks me out getting burned. But also I'm claustrophobic so burying seems horrible too.

I didn't think it was a big deal until I started thinking about where I would go to mourn. Do I keep them on my fireplace? I go to my grandparents tombstone and prefer it. It's an eerie sense of peace at this point many years later.

Also is it against the Bible any of it? How will their new bodies come back? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Sorry for the morbid discussion.

Cremation is Biblical.

We,hubby and myself,will be cremated.

Genesis: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.


Ecclesasties: ...and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

 

[Bible_Locket]

Cremation has always been a pagan practice.

That's not true.

 

[RodB651]

Cremate..

 

[maxwel]

Cremation is Biblical.

We,hubby and myself,will be cremated.

Genesis: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.


Ecclesasties: ...and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.

I don't think these verses make a case for cremation, as they only talk about returning to dust (dirt), and no matter how you're disposed of, your body is turning back to the dirt.

Nonetheless, I can't see much difference, spiritually, in cremation vs burial.
I'm sure the bodies of believers have been disposed of in many different ways over the millennia, by friend and foe, and it never had any affect on their salvation.
I think burial is more traditional in scripture, but I can't see that it matters very much.

I'm also not an expert on this; I try to bury as few people as possible.
: )

 

[Bible_Locket]

I don't think these verses make a case for cremation, as they only talk about returning to dust (dirt), and no matter how you're disposed of, your body is turning back to the dirt.

Nonetheless, I can't see much difference, spiritually, in cremation vs burial.
I'm sure the bodies of believers have been disposed of in many different ways over the millennia, by friend and foe, and it never had any affect on their salvation.
I think burial is more traditional in scripture, but I can't see that it matters very much.

I'm also not an expert on this; I try to bury as few people as possible.
: )

Nor would I boast myself an expert.

I cited those verses to show our beginning,made from dust of the ground and to dust we return.

There are verses that refer to cremation.

1Samuel 31:12
All the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Mark 13:27
And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

 

[maxwel]

Nor would I boast myself an expert.

I cited those verses to show our beginning,made from dust of the ground and to dust we return.

There are verses that refer to cremation.

1Samuel 31:12
All the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Mark 13:27
And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

I can't see that any of those verses actually support cremation, not in the sense of advocating for it.
To talk about a thing happening is not the same as being a proponent of that thing.
The Bible talks about rape happening, but the Bible isn't supporting it.

However, I'll reiterate, there are other grounds, salvific grounds, upon which I just see it as irrelevant.
When you die, your body isn't going to heaven, it's staying here, and it has nothing to do with the disposition of your soul.
And one day you'll get a new body, and it's going to be GREAT, whether your last body was buried, drowned, or eaten by zombies.
: )

God Bless, and have a great week.

 

[Bible_Locket]

I can't see that any of those verses actually support cremation, not in the sense of advocating for it.
To talk about a thing happening is not the same as being a proponent of that thing.

It was a practice afforded the bodies of patriarchs in Scripture.

And when Ecclesiastes says we return to the dust from whence we sprang,that certainly isn't reminiscent of burial practices today.

The Bible talks about rape happening, but the Bible isn't supporting it.

Given all that happened in Scripture, that is an odd choice for comparison.

Did Bible patriarchs happen to be raped?

However, I'll reiterate, there are other grounds, salvific grounds, upon which I just see it as irrelevant.
When you die, your body isn't going to heaven, it's staying here, and it has nothing to do with the disposition of your soul.
And one day you'll get a new body, and it's going to be GREAT, whether your last body was buried, drowned, or eaten by zombies.
: )

God Bless, and have a great week.

Same to you.


To each their own.

Our bodies,as you said,stay here. I prefer to think of Ecclesiastes and meet it there.

Let my ashes go upon the trees and over the seas, and may God and freedoms wind be pleased.

 

[maxwel]

It was a practice afforded the bodies of patriarchs in Scripture.

And when Ecclesiastes says we return to the dust from whence we sprang,that certainly isn't reminiscent of burial practices today.

Given all that happened in Scripture, that is an odd choice for comparison.

Did Bible patriarchs happen to be raped?


Same to you.


To each their own.

Our bodies,as you said,stay here. I prefer to think of Ecclesiastes and meet it there.

Let my ashes go upon the trees and over the seas, and may God and freedoms wind be pleased.

We could continue parsing this out, and I could explain my take on those verses, but it just isn't a very important issue to me.

When we've both passed on to meet the Lord, our bodies will be here, burned, or buried, or disintegrated in the great robot takeover ... and we'll both have a good laugh about it all in heaven.
: )

 

[Bible_Locket]

We could continue parsing this out, and I could explain my take on those verses, but it just isn't a very important issue to me.

Same here.

When we've both passed on to meet the Lord, our bodies will be here, burned, or buried, or disintegrated in the great robot takeover ... and we'll both have a good laugh about it all in heaven.
: )

 

[Lanolin]

Prefer burial, but most of the people I know chose cremation. My mum was cremated.

It is cheaper. I live not far from a crematorium. It used to scare me more than being buried.

Now I think, the holocaust wasn't so bad it was just those people were killed then burned they weren't burned alive, even so, they were killed and didn't die of other things.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, I'm a gardener. I know where you get blood and bone from. I know burial places can be sacred places. I know what happens when things get composted.

I think to be respectful, of the land, and also of the sky, or wherever you want to dispose of a body/remains of your love ones, that they be honored in some way.

 

[JaumeJ]

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

 

[Lynx]

I've recently been informed my parents and husbands parents (both boomers) plan on being cremated when they die. Actually a lot aunts and uncles as well. No funeral and cremation. This is different for our family bc all of our grandparents were buried.

Is there a reason for it? Is it cheaper? Less work? Less taxes? Is it less work for us to do? Like maybe they hated planning the funerals of their parents. It freaks me out getting burned. But also I'm claustrophobic so burying seems horrible too.

I didn't think it was a big deal until I started thinking about where I would go to mourn. Do I keep them on my fireplace? I go to my grandparents tombstone and prefer it. It's an eerie sense of peace at this point many years later.

Also is it against the Bible any of it? How will their new bodies come back? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Sorry for the morbid discussion.

My dad is adamant about being cremated because when he's done with his body he doesn't want it taking up a piece of ground for the rest of time.

"What do you want done with the ashes?"

"You can throw them off a cliff for all I care. I'll be gone."

 

[Lynx]

I did hear about one guy who wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread over his favorite golf course. So when he died, his golfing buddies spread his ashes over a specific part of the course.

See... He never was very good at getting out of a sand trap. And now he's there forever.

 

[PAC-fit]

Scripture is silent on this

Yes, completely, though not entirely from the context of God's dishonor after death!

"Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones." - Joshua 7.