John Who Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 I just returned from a funeral this afternoon,in which the woman chose to be cremated.Afterwards I went with my GF to her mother's house,her mother is christian and she is also a pastor,she asked about the funeral we told her the woman was being cremated and she flipped out,she said the bible says cremation is wrong,basically you will not be with god if you are cremated is what she said. I am not familiar with this,to my knowledge I did not think this was true,although I could be wrong. If this is true why is it wrong to be cremated? If this is not true,why would she believe this or say it is wrong?
alphamale Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 If this is not true,why would she believe this or say it is wrong? cause she is mis-informed
curiousnycgirl Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 People who believe in the literal word of the bible believe that we will physically be resurrected when the messiah comes (whether you believe it is his first or second coming is irrelevant here). Therefore your body must be in tact to join G-d in heaven. Others believe it is a spirtual resurrection, so the body is not necessary. The literal intepretation presented some challenges when organ donation became a viable medical treatment. However I know Rabbis got around this by saying medical necessity trumps all else. Not sure how Christians are handling it. Hope this helps.
alphamale Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 Therefore your body must be in tact to join G-d in heaven. no ones body will be "intact" after being in teh ground for thousands or millions of years
hopesndreams Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 It's more important how you live life, day to day, not what happens to your body after death.
Citizen Erased Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 no ones body will be "intact" after being in teh ground for thousands or millions of years That is so true.
Author John Who Posted December 20, 2009 Author Posted December 20, 2009 cause she is mis-informed I agree she could be misinformed,but then I was thinking she has been a pastor for 35 years. She literally flipped out,like attack mode.
curiousnycgirl Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 no ones body will be "intact" after being in teh ground for thousands or millions of years Of cousre I agree, and so would they (ashes to ashes, dust to dust) - I was just answerring the question asked.
TaraMaiden Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 I agree she could be misinformed,but then I was thinking she has been a pastor for 35 years. She literally flipped out,like attack mode. Perhaps you could ask her to point out the exact passage where it states cremation is wrong/sinful, in the bible.... That would help us give more informed answers. I doubt she'll be able to come up with anything concrete. I found these two websites..... She's batting on a sticky wicket. as we say.
EnigmaXOXO Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 Early Christian’s believed the body to be God’s ‘temple’, and viewed cremation and/or the burning of the body after death to be a ‘pagan’ ritual. Therefore, the practice was denied as part of the doctrine of Resurrection. It was explicitly forbidden by the Catholic Church up until the 1960’s, when they finally lifted the ban deciding it was no longer contrary to Christian belief. Oh well. Believer or not, you still can’t help but be fascinated by the ever-shifting politics of it all!
FleshNBones Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 Early Christian’s believed the body to be God’s ‘temple’, and viewed cremation and/or the burning of the body after death to be a ‘pagan’ ritual. Therefore, the practice was denied as part of the doctrine of Resurrection. It was explicitly forbidden by the Catholic Church up until the 1960’s, when they finally lifted the ban deciding it was no longer contrary to Christian belief. Oh well. Believer or not, you still can’t help but be fascinated by the ever-shifting politics of it all! I am not sure, but I do believe the practice was allowed after the black plague. They couldn't bury the bodies fast enough.
melodymatters Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 So following this "woman of God's" reasoning, a baby who died in a fire, the jews her were sent into ovens during the holocaust will be exempt from heaven ? If that were the case, God is an evil freak and he can keep his " paradise" !
scatterd Posted December 20, 2009 Posted December 20, 2009 My Aunt was just cremated she lived a honest life loved everyone and did her best to be good person. I know she was close to god and that is what matters If god is a loving god and we live the way he expects we should then the way we choose in the end should not matter that would make god wrong.Hes a loving god so that would not make since to me.She in heaven where she should be.
Author John Who Posted December 21, 2009 Author Posted December 21, 2009 She said a true christian know's cremation is wrong,she said it is in the old testiment. I told her I do not think it is wrong to be cremated,her answer...you must be cathlic,and we do not need another cathlic in the family.
TaraMaiden Posted December 21, 2009 Posted December 21, 2009 The Old testament is not upheld by most Christians to be a binding and creditable dictum. If she thinks that the Old testament should be adhered to, ask her if she thinks Leviticus is also something to live by: Particularly 25: 44, 15: 19-24, 11: 10, 21: 10, 19: 27, 11: 6-8, 19: 19, 24: 10-16 and Exodus - 21: 7, 35: 2. these are all highly ridiculous recommendations, but in the OT, nonetheless. if she's so adamant that cremation is a sin, should we also not consider these in the same light?
Moai Posted December 22, 2009 Posted December 22, 2009 Some think that if you are cremated or even donate an organ (Jehavah's Witnesses, etc) that when Jesus reanimates you he will have nothing to reanimate or you will lack kidneys in the afterlife. That makes one wonder why an omnipotent superbeing who could create the entire Universe simply by speaking it into existence couldn't reanimate the ashes, create new kidneys, or whatever had to be done come reanimation time. My answer as to whether cremation is allowed vis a vis the bible is, "Who cares?"
Tayla Posted December 22, 2009 Posted December 22, 2009 So following this "woman of God's" reasoning, a baby who died in a fire, the jews her were sent into ovens during the holocaust will be exempt from heaven ? If that were the case, God is an evil freak and he can keep his " paradise" ! WOW! I was just thinking of those very folks when reading this thread. Thank you for bringing to light what few consider when making a blanket statement about cremetion.(Meaning the Pastors comment). I took care of an elder man who had to have his leg amputated, His family made the decision for him as he was not of sound mind. He made one thing clear "When I am buried, the leg gets buried with me" ...so the family agreed to have it frozen until his death. My question was, whos fridge did they keep it in over the holidays? (sorry offtopic )
Moai Posted December 22, 2009 Posted December 22, 2009 I just returned from a funeral this afternoon,in which the woman chose to be cremated.Afterwards I went with my GF to her mother's house,her mother is christian and she is also a pastor,she asked about the funeral we told her the woman was being cremated and she flipped out,she said the bible says cremation is wrong,basically you will not be with god if you are cremated is what she said. I am not familiar with this,to my knowledge I did not think this was true,although I could be wrong. If this is true why is it wrong to be cremated? If this is not true,why would she believe this or say it is wrong? I would ask how can she possibly know this with any certainty, and secondly maybe the woman in question did what her faith told her was right and it is none of her business. In some cultures the body MUST be cremated because the soul will not completely leave the body otherwise. Ask her why she is right and they ar wrong. Ask her what hapens to you if you die in the middle of nowhere and you are consumed by animals. Heaven or no? What if you are eaten by a shark? What if only your arm is eaten? Do you get it back? What if you lose an arm in a fire? Or acid burns it off? Or it is crushed? What about if you have your appendix out? Do you get it back, or what? And if she answers that in those instances god would make allowances, why wouldn't he for someone who felt cremation was the right choice--especially considering what a waste of space cemeteries are? What about all the hair you get cut off throughout your life, and your fingernails? What if you lose our teeth before you die? Does god give you a new est, or should you save them and have them buried with you?
Tayla Posted December 22, 2009 Posted December 22, 2009 Moai! WE are going to be re-animated?? Okay I want to be an animaniac- Pinky !from Pinky and The Brian!
TaraMaiden Posted December 22, 2009 Posted December 22, 2009 ......Pinky and the 'Brian'? You picked the right one to be......
Moai Posted December 24, 2009 Posted December 24, 2009 Moai! WE are going to be re-animated?? Okay I want to be an animaniac- Pinky !from Pinky and The Brian! Yes, believers in the One True God can pick whatever reality they wish to live in, one like ours, or any number of artist-created animated ones. You can even move between them, so you can be in Roadrunner & Coyote world one minute and then go to Jetsons world. You can also inhabit any movie or TV show you want, even ones that come out after you die. You can live on the Enterprise with Captain Kirk during the series years and battle Klingons and Romulans, or storm the beaches of Iwo Jima with John Wayne, or stand side by side with Darth Vader and slaughter Jedi with your lightsaber. Or, you can sit on the porch, have a beer and watch the sunset--which will last as long as you want it to. If you don't believe, you go to a place where everyone wears white and all you've got is harp music.
Tayla Posted December 27, 2009 Posted December 27, 2009 LOL Tara! Thanks for reminding me of the typo! I do need to get a webster dictionary sometimes! Live and Learn, Luckily I am alive to learn
Fun2BMe Posted December 28, 2009 Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) oops deleted answer. Edited December 28, 2009 by Fun2BMe
stillafool Posted December 28, 2009 Posted December 28, 2009 What about people who die in fires and other destructive forms that destroy the body? For that matter cancer and other diseases that take people's life does not exactly leave your body in tact.
Eve Posted December 28, 2009 Posted December 28, 2009 I just returned from a funeral this afternoon,in which the woman chose to be cremated.Afterwards I went with my GF to her mother's house,her mother is christian and she is also a pastor,she asked about the funeral we told her the woman was being cremated and she flipped out,she said the bible says cremation is wrong,basically you will not be with god if you are cremated is what she said. I am not familiar with this,to my knowledge I did not think this was true,although I could be wrong. If this is true why is it wrong to be cremated? If this is not true,why would she believe this or say it is wrong? The Mount of Olives is mentioned in Scripture as being where the dead in Christ will rise come Judgement Day. So in my mind, references to burial over cremation was linked to this more than anything else. So, burial is a means for the believer to align oneself to the belief of a ressurrection of body and soul - which is the dominant belief within Chrisitanity. Especially as the body is seen to house the soul/God. Individual to individual this is of course a personal matter but some branches of Christianity do value burial over cremation.. I understand that Robert Maxwell bought himself a plot before his death in the Mount of Olives so that he would be one of the first to rise... somehow I dont think it works like that... Take care, Eve xx
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