Ashes or Dust?

[tateziwin]

Does it make any difference if Christians are buried or cremated. Is there any particular biblical references that make one preferential to the other?

 

[ChrisB]

I'm not aware of any NT scriptural references on this so I doubt if it matters - a dead body is just a shell, the spirit lives on in glory. My preference is for cremation but as I say, I don't think it really matters.

 

[plum]

My preference is also cremation because of the practices of embalming that I find... to be gross- to put it simply.

But many Christians do not support cremation because of the belief in the Resurrection of the body. Basically, tf the body is burned, how can it be resurrected?

 

[KleinerApfel]

But many Christians do not support cremation because of the belief in the Resurrection of the body. Basically, tf the body is burned, how can it be resurrected?

Whyever do they worry about that?
God made the first man from "the dust of the earth", so re-assembling us from ashes or anything else we become after death is no problem for the Creator!

And what about those Christian martyrs - burnt, cut up, or eaten by lions? Most certainly God is able to ressurect them into their glorious bodies too.

Blessings, Susana

 

[fingerprint]

Well I'm Catholic and I want to be cremated. Like the above poster said, God can and will resurrect you from the dead whether your skeleton is in the ground or your ashes in a mausoleum. Do you think it's any harder for God to add your body back on to your skeleton than it is to remake you from ashes as he did in the beginning anyway? The Catholic Church has no problem with cremation as long as you are stored in a mausoleum or buried in consecrated ground.

 

[Bulldog]

I don't really care what happens tp my body when I die. My soul is the important thing. They could chop me up and sprinke me on salad for all I care....

 

[praying]

I don't really care what happens tp my body when I die. My soul is the important thing. They could chop me up and sprinke me on salad for all I care....

I don't know Bulldog those that are eating the salad might have something to say about that

 

[La Bonita Zorilla]

Americans often prefer embalming and ornate caskets because we deny death. The entire death care industry is exploitative and overpriced, not that I have anything against people in the business, many of whom are good folk.

I doubt it matters to God. Either way, you're dead.

 

[Lotar]

I want my body stuffed and sat in a chair on the front porch.


I don't see what the big deal is, I don't really care what happens to my body after I die.

 

[JVAC]

I myself would prefer my body thrown in a grave. I know my body will be resurrected on the last day and reunited with my soul more perfectly than it was previously. I don't deny God has the power to summon my atoms back together, or to mend what was/is/will be wrong with me, I just want to make it a little easier.

I don't think I subscribe to the empty shell that most people do. I think both my soul and body make up me, is that a little Aquinian?

-James

 

[TwinCrier]

I don't think it matters what happens to the body either, however, I did hear a sermon once that talked of how burning a body was done to disgrace the person, sort of an act of dishonor. For me, a funeral isn't for the dead person anyways, it's for the family and friends to be able to have the closure of actually seeing the deceased one last time. I don't want to deny my loved ones that just to save some money. I do hope I die in such a way that many of my organs can be donated. It feels so good when I know I helped someone, so how great would it be to be in heaven and see that your body was used for the good of others.

 

[A. believer]

I don't think I subscribe to the empty shell that most people do. I think both my soul and body make up me, is that a little Aquinian?

My goodness--by "most people," surely you aren't referring to most Christians, are you? Your concept of the body and soul making up you is not only from Aquinas, it's from Scripture!