Body & Soul

Body & Soul

After reading the essay about cremation, I really did not see any biblical reason for not doing cremation, what was discussed was more tradition and the pagan aspects of cremation. It is probably more biblically favorable for cremation -- Gen 3:19; 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; as said at internment -- Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

First, anything coming from a funeral director is biased and suspect. Many of the laws today concerning burial of a body come from the funeral directors association and some them really make no sense.

Second, burial and disposing of the deceased has roots into prehistoric times with various rituals included. Burial and preservation of the body has been found in ancient Chinese and Inca cultures. The most well known is in the ancient Egyptian culture. Therefore, if anything, preservation of the body is more pagan than cremation.

Fear of the unknown is part of the human psyche. We have this determination to live even though the promise of a better life in the afterlife. Some years ago, a song* was written and the main point of the song was, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die to get there”. I think there is a collective consciousness of fear of the earth or soil. Dirt is associated with being “dirty” to be associated with being unclean. However, the earth should not be feared because it is the source of life, Adam was created from the earth and to which we return.

I have witnessed loved ones on their death bed and it is difficult to see a life end because of our own self centeredness. For the elderly, most have welcomed death because they have outlived their loved ones and it is a blessing to see them go home to their eternal peace with the Father. The young is much more difficult to deal with. The grieving process is very important to letting go of the past.

Christianity has incorporated rituals and traditions from the Jewish and other cultures, which may have been incorporated from the Egyptians while they were enslaved. Today most of the Jewish faith does not allow embalming and that burial is required within twenty-four hours.

Death of the body and the soul and spirit moving to a higher plane is very significant to the American Indian. European culture has developed its own traditions regarding the respect of the body and preserving it for the after life. Embalming was started during the Civil War as a way to preserve the body to be transported back to the family after death. Abraham Lincoln is the first president to be embalmed.

As Americans have prospered, preserving the body as we age has become like the search for the fountain of youth. Some have used cryogenic methods to preserve the body for some possible scientific break through and possibly bring the body back to life and healed.

I am not certain as to exactly what the afterlife will be; however, I do not believe that we will not be recognized in our earthly bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:44-46 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.  46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.  We will be spiritual bodies and that is what the church here on earth is to prepare us for. Preparing our spiritual bodies and not to be concerned with our earthly bodies, which is vanity.

In conclusion, the church has a bigger role in the saving of souls not how one’s body should be discarded. If tradition is a major part of the church community experience, then one should abide by that tradition if one is willful participant in that church body. If a member does not want the embalming process and desires cremation, either that person should find a different church community, or the church should respect the wishes of the departed soul. If we would think more in line of the church member as a soul rather than human flesh, then many arguments might be settled in a more Christ centered vision of the church.
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* Peter Tosh a Jamaican reggae artist