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What does the Bible say about cremation?

John MacArthur

Grace to You

Actually, the Scriptures do not say anything about required modes of burial for believers. Standard practice among Old Testament and in the New Testament was burial. Saul and Jonathan were cremated by the Israelites after their deaths, but this was not normal practice in Israel. Their bodies were mutilated by the Philistines, thus the decision was made to cremate, then bury the ashes (1 Samuel 31: 8-13). Achan, and his family, were cremated upon their execution for sinning against Israel, which again appears to be an exception to normal burial practices among the Israelites.

This article originally appeared here at Grace to You.

Copyright 2007, Grace to You. All rights reserved.

For further study, consider John MacArthur’s book The Glory of Heaven

Most Recent User Comments

lefftylucy

4/24/2008 1:49 PM

i was gonna have my body creemated when i cross over, but now i get the feeling it is wrong. i want to be cremated and my ashes blown in the country. i don't want a funeral by the standard way. just my family going to the country . would it really be wrong if i did it this way? lefftylucy

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glory_2god@hotmail.com

4/23/2008 12:06 AM

yes i agree with the doc on the matter of creamation,our spirits leave the dead body and go to heaven after we die,where we are excepted or we are judged and await the second death,which is the lake of fire this is eternal damnation for ever.our great GOD can do or perform any miiacle HE wants,just look what HE did when HE made the world in seven days.

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Helen6454

3/11/2008 6:15 PM

I agree with Dr. MacArthur's comments, and since there is no specific teaching on the subject, I, therefore, tend to go by
the examples of burial that we are shown in the Scriptures - that of burial, of which there are many examples, including the body of Jesus Himself. Helen Pierce

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