‘To burn or not to burn?’ that is the question (with apologies to Ham­let). Cremation or burial? That’s the choice. How should we dispose of our bodies once they die? For millennia this was not even a ques­tion for believers. It was burial. It has only been in the last few gen­erations, that here in the west, cre­mation has taken off — or taken over. The reasons seem credible. It appears more hygienic. It’s a more efficient use of the limited land space we have. It’s cheaper. Some don’t like the thought of their body slowly rotting in the earth.

Does it really matter? Is it all that important? Is it not a matter of indifference? You choose cremation — I choose burial — you’re happy — I’m happy — so we’re all happy! Right? Should we not how­ever ask if the Bible has anything to say on the matter? If we are Chris­tians this is a very important con­sideration. We should want to hon­our the Lord in life and in death.

It would solve the matter once and for all if the Bible said, ‘you shall not burn your deceased’. But it doesn’t. Neither for that matter does the Bible say, ‘you shall meet for worship on the first day of the week i.e. Sunday’. Nor does it say, ‘women should be admitted to the Lord’s table’. Nor does it say that the children of believers should be recognised as covenant children. Yet we do these things. Why? Let the Westminster Confession ex­plain; 

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, and for man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly stated in Scripture, or by good and necessary reason­ing may be deduced from Scrip­ture. Chapter 1:5

I believe that when we add up all the Biblical material on death, the examples and the analogies — we can deduce that burial is the method that the Lord approves. Consider:

1. Burial was the practice of both Jews and Christians in the Old and New Testaments. We read of the burials of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Ra­chel, Joseph, and many more. They were buried because of the hope they had. The exceptions are noteworthy. Consider some exam­ples. Nadab and Abihu who were consumed by fire because they disobeyed the Lord’s instructions re­garding worship (Lev. 10:1-2). If a man married both a woman and her mother they should be burned (Lev. 20:14). If a priest’s daughter defiled herself by becoming a pros­titute she must be burned (Lev. 21:9). The grumblers who sinned by complaining at Taberah were burned and consumed (Num. 11:1­3). In Joshua’s day, Achan and his family were stoned and their bodies were burned because of his sin (Jos. 7: 25-26). In the days of Is­rael’s apostasy children were sacri­ficed and burned (2 Kings 21:6, 23: 10). In the days of Amos cre­mation was considered a form of desecration (Amos 2:1). The fact that Saul and the remains of his three sons were burned was in ex­ceptional circumstances (1 Sam. 31:11-13). Perhaps you think these are obscure examples? The apostle Paul tells us however that, ‘these things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age’ (1 Cor. 10:11).
    
2. Jesus was buried. You might say he had no choice. True. His funeral was prearranged. It was prophesied of him that he would be buried (Isaiah 53:9). It’s an essen­tial part of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:3­4). Peter reminds us that Christ suf­fered for us. ‘He is your example, and you must follow in his steps’ (1 Peter 2:21). It seems appropriate therefore that we who follow Him should follow him into the grave. I find it immensely sat­isfying to know that Jesus never calls us to go where he has not gone before. Even when our bod­ies are laid in the earth — Jesus has gone before us. Jesus body was raised from the dead on the third day. This is also our ultimate hope. We don’t merely believe that our souls go to be with Christ when we die (Luke 23:43, Phil. 1:23). But we also believe in the resurrection of the body (John 6:39-40, 44, 54, 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 51-57). The Shorter Catechism summarises the Bible’s teaching. ‘The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in ho­liness, and immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, though still united to Christ, rest in their graves until the resurrection’ (Q 37). At the re­turn of Christ we will be raised bodily and the resurrection body will be reunited with the spirit. ‘We are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness’ (2 Peter 3:13). Because this is our Christian hope we ought there­fore to treat the dead body with the greatest dignity and respect.
   
   Thankfully God is able to raise the remains of those who have been burned. They will not be disadvantaged on the day of res­urrection. Many of the martyrs after all were burned.
   
   But that’s not the point. The issue is; how do we honour the Lord; and how do we respectfully treat the body that is ‘still united to Christ’; and how do we testify to the physical resurrection?
   
   I’m suggesting that burial does all that. It honours the Lord; it treats the body with appropriate respect; and it bears clear, effec­tive and silent witness to our hope of the physical resurrection in a way that cremation doesn’t. When we burn a thing we are finished with it. It’s done. We have no future for it. That’s the mes­sage, I believe, that cremation conveys. But it’s not the mes­sage we as New Testament Christians should want to give. Recently noticed a head stone with the inscription ‘awaiting the resurrection’. That’s the mes­sage we want to convey — not only to those attending our fu­neral — but also to those like my­self wandering through the cemetery. The body (not the soul) is ‘sleeping,’ awaiting the resurrection morning when Christ returns.
    
3. The apostle Paul assumes burial in 1 Corinthians 15. He re­peatedly emphasises that the body is ‘sown’. His analogy is drawn from agriculture. When a seed is sown in the earth something amazing transpires. Those small, totally un­attractive and dead looking seeds are transformed into a beautiful plant. The apostle writes, ‘It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are bur­ied in brokenness but they will be raised in glory. They are bur­ied in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are bur­ied as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies’ (1 Cor. 15:42-44). You can see from the analogy that cre­mation doesn’t fit. The farmer does­n’t burn the seed. If he did, that would be the end of it. He buries it. He anticipates a harvest. So we bury the body as a seed in the sure and certain hope of the resurrec­tion. The whole emphasise of the New Testament therefore favours the burial of the body of the be­liever, not its burning. The only mention of burning the body in the New Testament is in 1 Corinthians 13:3, ‘If I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing’. The apostle here however is not referring to crema­tion but to self sacrifice.
    
4. As noted at the beginning cremation is only a very recent development in the Christian community. Although cremation was practiced by the Greeks and Romans, the early Christians in­sisted instead on burying their dead, and by the 5th century cre­mation had been abandoned throughout the Roman Empire due to the Christian influence. It’s an indictment on the church today that the trumpet fails to give a clear sound. When the church appears to be indifferent; ambiva­lent and even assimilates the ways of the world alarm bells should ring.