None that I know of, but I’m sure there are people who have found a principle/text in Scripture that they believe applies to cremation. This should be an interesting discussion.
Ashes to Ashes.. Dust to Dust.
I would have mine sprankled on the tomatos so that everyone could eat me...
Seriously, I am not aware of specific burial procedures for Christians.
Not that I know of in the Bible, but I know the Catholic Church sure frowns on the practice.
The bible says nothing about cremation although many bible based religions prohibit it.
It is not forbidden as far as I have found!
Buried at sea, Creamated, Buried on land, etc. What difference does it make? The Bible makes it a point to talk of bury the dead. In that time period, that is all that was available. What is important is to clear the remains of what was the person here on earth from the surface of this earth. If you’ve done that, you’ve taken care of it.
Creamation was always a pagan practice. Some believe it was started as a slight, to make God work at finding you on judgement day.
There is no command against it in Scripture, though.
Seems it is fine as long as they are buried in consecrated ground.
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=645&CFID=111867998&CFTOKEN=89296457
“You can’t store Grandma on the mantel or scatter your father’s ashes across the 13th green of his favorite golf course,” advises Father Peter Polando, canon lawyer and pastor of St. Matthias Parish in Youngstown, Ohio. “The Church has strong feelings about the fact that this body has been a temple of the Holy Spirit and requires a proper burial as a result.”
By definitions supplied from funeral-industry literature, cremation is the process of reducing the body to bone fragments through the application of intense heat. The bone fragments are then pulverized, and placed within a temporary container before being returned to the family.
Catholic burial practice calls for the cremains to be buried in an urn within a consecrated grave or placed inside a mausoleum. Keeping ashes at home or scattering them on land or sea, even where legal, is inappropriate to the Church’s deep reverence for the body as a place where the soul has resided, As “Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Encyclopedia” notes:
“Cremation was the normal custom in the ancient civilized world, except in Egypt, Judea and China. It was repugnant to early Christians because of the belief in the resurrection of the body. By the fifth century, cremation had been largely abandoned in the Roman Empire because of Christian influence.”
The traditional view: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04481c.htm
The “modern” view:
http://www.cathcemtoledo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=41
Although cremation is permitted, Catholic teaching continues to stress the preference for burial or entombment of the body of the deceased. This is done in imitation of the burial of Jesus’ body. “This is the Body once washed in baptism, anointed with the oil of salvation, and fed with the bread of life. Our identity and self consciousness as a human person are expressed in and through the body . . .Thus, the Church’s reverence and care for the body grows out of a reverence and concern for the person whom the Church now commends to the care of God.”
I am sure someone can give you a better answer but as I understand, the Catholic Church use to frown on it but it is now accepted unless it is done for unsound purposes
Many don’t care for the symbolism.
Others refer to Jewish religious requirements specifying burial, since Christianity did arise out of Judaism.
Me, I’ll be buried facing east in the old family cemetery alongside all the family I’ve known and loved. The cost has gotten truly excessive though.
Reversion back to the simple, quick Jewish burial in a pine box would nip a great deal of that cost in the bud, but then there’s the vault required by law in many jurisdictions, that is pushing $2,000 by itself, regardless of whether there is embalming and a nice casket or not.
So, I guess I’d say I don’t really like the practice, wouldn’t do it myself, would be uncomfortable if anyone I loved chose to be cremated, but won’t condemn someone else who chooses it, due to the cost of traditional burial or some other consideration.
I don’t see that it is forbidden or condemned, Biblically. It does make me uneasy, though.
The Catholic Church used to forbid it, but they no longer do so. My mother had a grave plot reserved for her in a small cemetery near her house, and that cemetery required cremation and burial in an urn. So that’s what we did, and no problem bringing the ashes to her funeral Mass and then to the cemetery.
The presumption is that when the body is resurrected on the last day, God will be able to piece it together again. The important thing is that it should be treated with respect.
If you have any questions, perhaps you should talk to your local minister.
Nothing wrong with it in the bible. Some Christian traditions have tended to avoid it in order to avoid having survivors fear that the flames were eternal. Also, may have been avoided in order to create a greater distinction between a Christian burial and that of the pagans who commonly practiced cremation, but pagans also bury their dead so, some similarities between Christians and pagans are unavoidable.
The Catholic Church is against cremation, I don't know about any protestant objections to the practice, although I feel sure some denominations are against it. The Bible doesn't mention it as far as I know.
My grandmother was a devout catholic...and had a catholic mass funeral. She was cremated; but, as others on this thread have pointed out, the urn was buried. I am not positive, but I believe she chose cremation, so she could be buried alongside her late husband (no room for a coffin). The cemetary even had a permanent altar and benches, with a spot for the urn to go - for a ‘graveside’ service. I was surprised that the catholic church dealt with cremation, but it apparently does.
According to the Koran cremation is OK for infidels .... and they don’t even have to be dead yet.