My Beloved Sister,
We are grateful to God for our pursuit of
Truth and Growth in the Word of God. The FreedomJournal is grateful for your
honesty and great Faith. We are also very much appreciative of your Respect and
Love for all of humankind including the FreedomJournal. We commend you for your
sincere efforts of dialogue in Spirit and Truth. Thus, we bear tribute to your
Wisdom and Wise Counsel.
We also receive, as you know much email. We
also have several research projects always going at the same time and many
other research thoughts and concerns that we feel need review. So we understand
your workload however, we are grateful for your interest in this subject. We
pray that we will all be able to contribute some information on the Act of
Burial or Cremation.
My beloved Sister we also cry that the
Bible is the Greatest Book ever written however we also note that there are
various other sources for information and knowledge as we pass though this
dying earth. However, we must place them in the proper perspective as research
tools. Meanwhile when one is a believer he has a reordering of thoughts,
philosophies, theories etc. say for example those that are Social Scientist.
CartierX: While your argument is quite strong
in regard to the mention of burying the dead throughout the scriptures... you
have not shown me any scripture that strictly forbids burning the
corpse/cremation. I can accept that
entombment or burial was the accepted method of the culture that wrote the
Bible but that does not mean that it is the only acceptable means of disposing
of human remains.
In response we say that there is also No
scripture that reveals that Cremation was accepted are practiced by God's
people anywhere in the Bible. However there is much Scripture that notes that a
respectful disposal of the dead was noted in a Burial. So here is the concern:
First the Bible is our major source. However, we are not ruling out other sources
to assist in understanding or bringing clarity to the discussion. In the realm
of Debate, Discussion, Discourse, and Dialogue arguments were calculated for
and against.
Simply the Bible as we have noted has
repeated written accounts of Proper Disposal of the Dead through the act of
Burial. However there are No accounts where there is a Biblical record of
Proper Burial described as Cremation. Thus Cremation as revealed in the Bible
is an act of desecration and defilement and not pleasing to God.
The answer to the last part of your
question is that this world will not live long enough run out of space or earth
for the Dead.
CartierX: In fact, quite the contrary. For example in Exodus the Laws as given to
Moses are quite practical. . At any
rate, it was not forbidden at that time... when all the other laws were
established. I would think that if the
issue was so important as to jeopardize one's soul, God would have said so in a
very specific manner.
The reading of the scriptures regarding the
ancient Hebrew people and Disposal of the Dead always note the respectful
nature of a proper burial. For your thought and mediation. If Burial was noted
as Respectful then there must have been (is) another way of disposing of Dead
Bodies other than Burial. And evidently this method was not respectful. Is Burial
and Cremation the only way to dispose of the Dead?
Also how can one's soul be placed in
jeopardy? The FreedomJournal does not have all of the answers. However does
Cremation tamper with the Creation. Where is the body, soul and Spirit? How do we determine if God is displeased with
Cremation? Is God displeased with the act of Burial? Is there any doubt in the
positive nature of burial? Thus does one have any doubts about the positive
nature of cremation? Is Cremation a more convenience than Burial? Then what
does time and money have to do with Burial or Cremation?
Cartier X: So, in this case, I think it is
safe to use a little common sense. In
times of plague it has always been wise to burn corpses to prevent the further
spread of contagious disease. Again, I
believe that as long as the memory of the departed is honored how we
respectfully dispose of the remains is irrelevant. Funerals are for the benefit of the living, bringing
a sense
of closure to grieving loved ones. The dead are beyond caring about physiology
at that point.
My Beloved a thought for further mediation.
Fire and Burning is usually a way to destroy something. Also Fire is often seen
as a way to annihilate, devastate, eradicate, exterminate, kill, obliterate,
ravage, ruin, slaughter. Terminate. Meanwhile, placing one in the ground in an
act of burial does not conjure up such vile and wretched ways of disposing of
the dead. The Laws of God reveal that we should do all things Decent and In
Order. Cremation is not in order. Because we have no scriptural base to support
anything but Burial.
CartierX; But I find the topic to be
fascinating & I have enjoyed our discourse on the issue. I will continue to research this issue &
take your advice under consideration. Thank
you for sharing.
Now for a final statement on sources other
than the Bible. First and foremost humankind continues to make laws and pass
down traditions and customs that conflict with the Biblical message. In the
case of Cremation man cannot pass any statue or law that will ever supercede or
take precedence over the Bible. Nor can we fashion response to this question in
a point in time or state or condition of nature. For example dying at sea
merits a burial in the Sea. Here we said buried at Sea and not Burned at Sea.
O' Where does the Spirit lie, lay (be) of
the countless missed souls go that saw ashes scattered in the Sea?
Peace and Love,
Brother Carl, FreedomJournal April 9, 2002.
carl@freedomjournalpress.comcastbiz.net