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Can Christians And Jews Be Cremated?
Hindu tradition vs. my new-found faith
When I became a Christian as a senior in college, one thing I was curious about was whether or not you could be raised from the dead if you were cremated. The reason for this — my parents are from India and practiced cremation.
So I wondered — would a Christian who was cremated be resurrected? And what about those who were buried in ossuaries? In the catacombs underneath Paris, different parts of the skeletons are stacked in different areas.
If a person’s arm bone is in a different location than the skull — will the resurrected body be complete, or be missing parts?
And what about people who were buried so long ago they had become dust, or those who were lost at sea?
These were all questions I asked.
What does the Bible say about them?
Well, first of all — I have been unable to find any reference to cremation in the Bible.
However, in Genesis 3:19 (which is part of the Jewish Torah) it says:
…until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;
for dust you are and to dust you will return.
