Cremation: Christian or Pagan?

Cremation itself is the process of reducing the body remains to bone fragments and ashes through burning with open flames. The temperature of 1,600-2000 degrees Fahrenheit is maintained for approximately two to three hours (note: tin melts at 450 deg. F; lead melts at 662 deg. F). The ashes of a body’s cremation are usually mingled with the ashes of a body of a previous cremation. The larger bones remaining are usually ground up to smaller pieces. Today, even Christians are exploring cremation as an option to burial. The writer does not believe that cremation is acceptable for the Christian. Cremation has always been practiced by pagans and adherents of false religions. For example, the Hindus and Buddhists do not believe in a resurrection of the body; they believe that their soul is reincarnated (transmigrated) into another unrelated body or even a non-physical existence. By burning the bodies of the dead, they superstitiously hoped to prevent that body’s spirit from remaining in the local area and haunting the living. Of course, as Christians, we know death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the dead body. Jeremiah 10:2: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen.