Articles
The Body of the Deceased (Part 2)
The Body of the Deceased (Part 2)
Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead? (Acts 26:8)
In the previous article it was pointed out that cremation is projected to be the final arrangement choice for 55 percent of individuals by 2025. Sixty four years ago, the figure was less than 4 percent.
The question under consideration is whether cremation is pleasing, displeasing, or a matter of indifference to God. This issue, like many other questions we might ask lacks a clear New Testament “direct command”. In such cases, we look to the scriptures for principled examples and guidance.
Here we ask two fundamental questions:
- Does the final disposition of the body have any bearing on the resurrection?
- Does the resurrection have anything to do with the body of the deceased?
With regard to the first question, consider the following verses:
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God. (Rom 14:11)
For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2Cor 5:10)
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (Rev 20:12-13)
We readily see that the final state of the body has no influence at all on resurrection or the judgment to follow. All will appear. Whether the body is buried in a tomb, distributed through the sea, or cremated, the resurrection and subsequent judgement will not be hindered.
In addition we know that not all of God’s faithful had any choice in the treatment of their bodies. A song written in 1523 references the terrible history of persecution:
Flung to the heedless winds, Or on the waters cast,
The martyr’s ashes, watched, Shall gathered be at last.
The Father hath received Their latest living breath,
And vain is Satan’s boast Of victory in their death.
Christians were burned, torn apart by teams of horses, dismembered by lions, persecuted and mutilated first by Roman authority, then later by the authority of religious powers conspiring with civil authorities. The hymn writer’s defiant words convey the Christian’s fearlessness over death, over the powers of men, and over the Devil. (One word makes this hymn exceptional to me: watched. Who would watch?)
Jesus taught this fearlessness:
And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt 10:28)
William Tyndale, the man who brought a great blessing to the English world, translated the New Testament into the common English language in approximately 1524. This was done in defiance of a Catholic edict of 1408 against such unauthorized translations. Tyndale was betrayed, apprehended, then strangled and burned at the stake in 1536.
The conclusion is that cremation, whether by choice or against one’s will, makes no difference in resurrection. Likely Christians never doubted this. If cremation is in any way offensive to God then those who did not choose it are of course not accountable for their fate. Again, the question is whether we should choose it, after having considered God’s word.
Question 2: The hymn writer also says the ashes will be gathered. Is this a scriptural teaching or just a sentimental thought? Are the remains of the body involved in the resurrection, or will the new spiritual body be formed without involvement of the old body? It seems that the latter view may have gained some acceptance.
But Paul says:
[The body] is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1Cor 15:42-44)
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Cor 15:50-54)
Paul makes it clear that the flesh will not occupy heaven. Yet he repeatedly makes reference to something being sown and then something being raised and changed from mortal to immortal.
A straightforward reading would have the “it” that is sown (the body in death) being the same “it” that is to be raised, then changed. If the old body is not the object under consideration, then we are hard-pressed to understand what it is, or what is being changed. If the body is not involved in the resurrection, then there is no change from corruptible to incorruptible.
John’s revelation describes the sea giving up the dead as well – unnecessary language if in fact the body remains in the sea. If the body is not in some way involved in the resurrection, then these passages need much explaining away.
The context of the argument in this chapter is that some were saying there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12). Paul teaches Christ’s physical resurrection as the proof that our bodies will be raised as well. The first evidence of Jesus’s resurrection was the empty grave. His crucified body was gone. He appeared again in the flesh, not as some spiritual apparition. When meeting afterward with the disciple Thomas, Jesus proved to him that His body was in fact raised (John 20:27-29).
If our body is not raised, then what was the significance of Christ’s body being raised? His body was raised and so shall ours be raised.
We also know that death is marked by the spirit leaving the body (Eccl 12:7). But the spirit is not dead. So thinking the resurrection of the dead is just a spiritual operation leaves out that which is in fact dead – the body.
As man was created from dust of the earth and into this body breathed a living spirit (Gen 2:7), so shall this body of dust be raised and transformed incorruptible. As Lazarus was called forth (John 12:17) so shall we be (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Could it be that the diminishing regard for life (abortion, euthanasia) and the final disposition of the body are following the same trend lines? The issues of life and disposition of the body are different but there seems to be a common utilitarian attitude between the two. An unwanted pregnancy? Terminate it. Does life fail to measure up to the standards of “quality of life” as some humanist defines quality? If not, end it, because life is no longer meaningful and productive according to “normal” measures. The body of the deceased? Dispose of it. It has no further use. This is pure humanistic, utilitarian thinking and not in accordance with Christian doctrine.
So if the body is raised then it seems contrary to Bible doctrine to regard the body as something that simply needs an efficient method of disposal; whether this is burial, cremation or by any other means. God has a purpose for the body in the resurrection. For some of us, this may change our view of the body in death.
In part 3, we will look at several Bible examples of the treatment of the body: scattering, burning and burial.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Cor 15:55)
Ron
