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The
WORLD
TOMORROW
A
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Publishing:
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The
PLAIN TRUTH
a Magazine of
ND£1\STANDTNG
Dear Friend:
Is
the practice of cremation wrong? Does it prevent
a
person being
resurrected?
The
practice
of
cremation
15
of ancient origin. It was used
in
the
idolatrous :fire worsh'ip of paganjlsm. Notice what
the
Encyclopedia Americana
says:
"In
primitive cultures which have survived into modern time·s
cremation is widely practiced. Burning is not only supposed to
destroy the dead body most effectively and thus to prevent the
possible return of the ghost, . but since fire serves also as a
purifying agency,
it
is often considered a good means of warding
off evil spirits .... .Besides discouraging the ghost :from haunting
'the
corpse and its former abode , and serving
as a
means of puri–
l'ication from evil spirits
and
the ontamination assoc:i.ated w.:i,th
the dead body, cremation
has
also , in some instances,
as
among
the
Hindus and-- {the]--Chukchi of Siberia , been .associated
with
a bel
1-ef
in a heavenly abode for the spirit of the deceased. The
flames of the Iuneral pyre,
lea~ing
upward , are thought
to
facili–
tate t he ascent of the soul .' ' (Article, Cremation)
Nimrod and Semiramis were the originators of paganism and
it
was
Nimrod who first bore the title of "Moloch. "
In
his bonour children were made
to 'pass through the
flre
to Moloch" (Jer. 32:35)--a pagan practice
that
Got;i
condemned: (Lev . 18:21).
Parents even sacrificed their child.ren to Moloch, '' the belie1' being
cherished
that
the fire that consumed them also perfected them, and made them
meel for eternal happiness .... Both the passing through the fire, and the burn–
ing in the fire , were essential
rites
in
the worship of Moloch or Nimrod" (The
Two Babylons
by
Hislop,
p .
315) .
--
Examples
in
the Bible show t-hat
a
simple burial was the custom of the
Hebrews who lived during that time. (Gen . 25:9; 35:20). Jacob, for example ,
was embalmed (an Egyptian custom) and buried
(Gen.
50:5, 26}. Christ was buried ,
not cremated.' "Burning was looked upon as abominable, as injury to the dead
(.Josh.
7:25; .. . II
Kings
23:20;
Amos
2:1) ....
N'ot
to
be
bu.ried
was a
terrible dis–
grace which one could hardly
wish
even
to
one's greatest enemy . ' ' (Encyclopedia
Bi'blica, Article ,
The
Dead)
It
is our absolute recommendation that the body
be
simply buried,
In
cases
where-a-pe~n
bas no control over the disposition or-the body , however,
we should remem.ber
that
i t
is
not so important what happe.ns to our bodies atte
dea
h
as it is t hat of' having lived
a
new life
a£ter
convers.ion and having died
in
Christ .