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It would seem that God’s commandment in Genesis 3:19 isn’t clear enough for many who call themselves Christians.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Predictably, those who speak out against cremation are persecuted. You can see for yourself below how the liberal-media show TYT made fun of Pat Robertson.
1) Cremation is a pagan practice
According to the secular Wikipedia, cremation goes back 20,000 years. Of course, that’s ridiculous, as that would mean the first cremation happened 14,000 years before the earth was created! We do know, however, that the ancient Greeks and Romans cremated their dead, as did many of the Barbarians, but the practice died out in Europe with the spread of Christianity.
The Bible makes it clear that God’s people must reject pagan customs.
Deut 18:9-12
9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
2) You can use cremation to cover up murder
There’s no proof of poisoning if there’s no body. Just one example.
3) What if you’re still alive?
4) Cremation causes mercury poisoning
Cremation costs are set to rise by up to £100 - because the teeth of the dead are poisoning the living.
Bereaved families are to be hit with a charge to fund new filters that stop toxic fumes from vaporised mercury fillings polluting the atmosphere.
The levy could see the price of having a loved one cremated rise by up to a third.
But environmentalists say it is vital to cut the spiralling mercury emissions from dental fillings that contaminate the air, waterways, soil, wildlife and food.
Mercury pollution has been linked with birth defects, kidney disease and multiple sclerosis.
Cremations already cause nearly one sixth of all UK emissions of the metal.
5) God cremates His enemies
Lev 10:1-2 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Rev 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Lev 20:14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
Lev 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Jos 7:25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
2 Sam 23:6-7 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
2 Pet 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Sometimes God’s enemies cremate themselves (1 Ki 16:18).
1) Your corpse belongs to God
1 Cor 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Phil 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
The devil tried to claim Moses’ body, but it was God’s, and the Lord Himself buried Moses in a secret place.
Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Deut 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
2) Many notable characters in the Bible were buried
Genesis 23:1-4 (Sarah); Genesis 25:8-10 (Abraham); Genesis 35:29 (Isaac); Joshua 24:29-30 (Joshua); 1 Samuel 25:1 (Samuel); 1 Kings 2:10 (David); Matthew 14:10-12 (John the Baptist); Matthew 27:57-60 (Jesus); Acts 8:2 (Stephen).
Joseph went to extraordinary lengths to get buried in Canaan. His remains had to spend 400 years in Egypt and 40 years wandering in the wilderness (Gen 50:25-26; Ex 13:19).
3) Burial is consistent with the hope of resurrection
Paul compares the resurrection of our bodies to planting a seed in the ground.
1 Cor 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1 Cor 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
[. . .]
1 Cor 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1 Cor 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1 Cor 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
So you see burial is the proper means of disposing of ones remains. It is the Christian’s final act of obedience on this earth. Your body, even when it’s dead, belongs to God. It’s His temple. It must be treated with dignity and respect. After all, it came from dirt and must return to dirt (Gen 3:19). Cremation is a pagan practice that violates God’s law. If you burn your body in this life, don’t be surprised if you burn in the next.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Predictably, those who speak out against cremation are persecuted. You can see for yourself below how the liberal-media show TYT made fun of Pat Robertson.
Objections to Cremation
According to the secular Wikipedia, cremation goes back 20,000 years. Of course, that’s ridiculous, as that would mean the first cremation happened 14,000 years before the earth was created! We do know, however, that the ancient Greeks and Romans cremated their dead, as did many of the Barbarians, but the practice died out in Europe with the spread of Christianity.
The Bible makes it clear that God’s people must reject pagan customs.
Deut 18:9-12
9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
2) You can use cremation to cover up murder
There’s no proof of poisoning if there’s no body. Just one example.
A Pennsylvania doctor accused of poisoning his wife had more than $30,000 stashed in a safe when he was arrested, it emerged this week.
University of Pittsburgh medical researcher Robert Ferrante, 65, faces one count of homicide in the April death of his wife, Autumn Klein, and a search warrant application unsealed Monday has provided new details about the fascinating case.
[. . .]
Authorities allege that Ferrante, co-director of the Center for ALS Research and a visiting professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh used a university credit card to buy more than a half-pound of cyanide two days before his wife became ill.
A witness claims Ferrante asked for help buying 'the best and purest cyanide he could get.'
[. . .]
Blood tests revealed a lethal level of cyanide, but only after Klein had died and been cremated at her husband's insistence, police said.
University of Pittsburgh medical researcher Robert Ferrante, 65, faces one count of homicide in the April death of his wife, Autumn Klein, and a search warrant application unsealed Monday has provided new details about the fascinating case.
[. . .]
Authorities allege that Ferrante, co-director of the Center for ALS Research and a visiting professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh used a university credit card to buy more than a half-pound of cyanide two days before his wife became ill.
A witness claims Ferrante asked for help buying 'the best and purest cyanide he could get.'
[. . .]
Blood tests revealed a lethal level of cyanide, but only after Klein had died and been cremated at her husband's insistence, police said.
A CHINESE baby boy who had been declared dead was saved from being cremated alive when he started crying at a funeral parlour, media reported.
The parents of the critically-ill boy, who was less than one month old, had agreed to end his medical treatment at Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital in eastern China, hospital sources told Xinhua state news agency.
A death certificate was issued before the baby was sent to an undertakers in Hefei, the provincial capital -only for staff there to be alerted by the boy's crying on Wednesday.
The parents of the critically-ill boy, who was less than one month old, had agreed to end his medical treatment at Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital in eastern China, hospital sources told Xinhua state news agency.
A death certificate was issued before the baby was sent to an undertakers in Hefei, the provincial capital -only for staff there to be alerted by the boy's crying on Wednesday.
Beijing - A Chinese peasant woman who suffered a brain haemorrhage was left at the undertakers alive for cremation because her family could no longer afford hospital treatment, state media said on Friday.
She was only saved by the tears in her eyes.
She was only saved by the tears in her eyes.
Cremation costs are set to rise by up to £100 - because the teeth of the dead are poisoning the living.
Bereaved families are to be hit with a charge to fund new filters that stop toxic fumes from vaporised mercury fillings polluting the atmosphere.
The levy could see the price of having a loved one cremated rise by up to a third.
But environmentalists say it is vital to cut the spiralling mercury emissions from dental fillings that contaminate the air, waterways, soil, wildlife and food.
Mercury pollution has been linked with birth defects, kidney disease and multiple sclerosis.
Cremations already cause nearly one sixth of all UK emissions of the metal.
Lev 10:1-2 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Rev 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Lev 20:14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
Lev 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Jos 7:25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
2 Sam 23:6-7 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
2 Pet 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Sometimes God’s enemies cremate themselves (1 Ki 16:18).
The Case for Burial
1) Your corpse belongs to God
1 Cor 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Phil 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
The devil tried to claim Moses’ body, but it was God’s, and the Lord Himself buried Moses in a secret place.
Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Deut 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
2) Many notable characters in the Bible were buried
Genesis 23:1-4 (Sarah); Genesis 25:8-10 (Abraham); Genesis 35:29 (Isaac); Joshua 24:29-30 (Joshua); 1 Samuel 25:1 (Samuel); 1 Kings 2:10 (David); Matthew 14:10-12 (John the Baptist); Matthew 27:57-60 (Jesus); Acts 8:2 (Stephen).
Joseph went to extraordinary lengths to get buried in Canaan. His remains had to spend 400 years in Egypt and 40 years wandering in the wilderness (Gen 50:25-26; Ex 13:19).
3) Burial is consistent with the hope of resurrection
Paul compares the resurrection of our bodies to planting a seed in the ground.
1 Cor 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1 Cor 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
[. . .]
1 Cor 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1 Cor 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1 Cor 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
So you see burial is the proper means of disposing of ones remains. It is the Christian’s final act of obedience on this earth. Your body, even when it’s dead, belongs to God. It’s His temple. It must be treated with dignity and respect. After all, it came from dirt and must return to dirt (Gen 3:19). Cremation is a pagan practice that violates God’s law. If you burn your body in this life, don’t be surprised if you burn in the next.
, they are disregarding the context which specifies burial in the ground:
ORASMUCH as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.
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