John Piper: Should Christians Cremate Their Loved Ones?

…of the Biblical case for burial. Not an explicit command, but it is something that does speak volumes about our theology.

I have always found the theology a bit weak. Most of it takes how we should view the body when we are alive and transfer that to how we should treat the body in death. “Dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” The spirit it key. The earthly body no matter how hard we try will just return to the dust in which it was created. At the end of life, it begins its natural progression to rapidly return to dust. Cremation speeds the process, but doesn’t alter it. I don’t see where cremation shows a poor theology or is sinful.

Heirs should follow the directive of the deceased but sometimes the dead:

• Don’t provide a directive nor …
• The means

My mother died in May.

Just the embalming: $8500

Cremation: $995

Where’s the theology in that?

For us, the decision was about available funds and not our eschatology or theology of man or creation.

I’ve never understood why this is a difficult issue for Christians. I see no problem, or deeper cause for concern, with cremation. I understand if people wish to find theological reasons for a traditional burial. But, regardless of the method, I’m certain Christ will find each of us in the end - no matter what state our former bodies are in!

[TylerR]

I’m certain Christ will find each of us in the end - no matter what state our former bodies are in!

I agree. One of the funny things is when people argue this, whose theology is a problem? The families, or the dead person? The way the argument goes is that the “poor” theology is more impactful on the dead person and not the family. Yet the dead person has no control over it the poor theology. In the end, God will still be raising “dust”, whether it was a normal or an accelerated dust conversion process.

Mark, just for kicks, I looked up the typical price for embalming, and it’s $200-1000. It’s only about two hours worth of work (yes, I looked these things up due to the issues with COVID, call me weird, that’s OK). I think you chanced upon a funeral home that was pushing cremation hard by overpricing traditional burials. Typical total cost for a standard burial is only $6500.

I don’t discount the economic motive here, but the gap isn’t as big as you were told.

My oldest brother Jim died in August. He was cremated per his request. The difference in price between cremation and burial with all the bells and whistles was over 10k. We had a nice memorial service and plan to scatter his ashes at the Skyline Drive next spring per his request where we often rode our motorcycles together.

My wife and I have already decided to donate our bodies to science. They come pick up the body and return the ashes, if wanted, from anything not used. The request is revocable. But once I’m gone I don’t really care what they do with my body. A nice memorial service with a photo is fine as long as the gospel is preached. I’m not a fan of wakes or viewings with embalmed bodies in caskets. At my mom’s funeral years ago I hardly recognized her. It’s not the last image I wanted of her. https://www.sciencecare.com/

I do not consider this a biblical issue on which believers need to take a position.

[Bert Perry]

Typical total cost for a standard burial is only $6500.

If you found a funeral for $6,500 you better lock into that. We just buried my grandfather, and I was in charge of everything, and it was closer to $10,000 and we went the cheap route. There were caskets over $10,000. But most that we were looking for was around $4,000 to $5,000.

…was hoping to avoid that, actually. That noted, my grandmother is 101 and is not doing terribly well with her dementia, so I am bracing for that.

Regarding the costs, here’s an interesting possibility. Yes, you need to be creative, and yes, you need to watch Wal-Mart quality, but hey, the thing needs to hold something that’s not going to be moving for a couple of days, no? There’s another one made by monks. (h/t Jim Peet for finding this a few years back, I believe)

Either way, $8500 for embalming alone is still pretty excessive, don’t you think?

1. To eliminate straw-men and unnecessary objections, I don’t think cremation is sinful as such; nor, of course, is God unable to perfectly resurrect a cremated body.

2. Traditionally it has been understood as dishonorable to the body to burn it (not problematic if you belong to a religion where the body is essentially a skin-prison) and I do not believe that symbolism can be so lightly swept aside. Nor should it.
In my opinion, cremation should not be a Christian’s first choice.

[Bert Perry]

…was hoping to avoid that, actually. That noted, my grandmother is 101 and is not doing terribly well with her dementia, so I am bracing for that.

Regarding the costs, here’s an interesting possibility.

Costco has some of the best prices on caskets. And I did look into this. The problem always is, do I really want to buy some caskets and have them sitting around, and when someone does die you usually have a day or two to get the cakset. It is typically hard to order one from an online site and get it in quickly enough. But it is an option.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0301-funeral-costs-and-pricing-ch…

See Simple Pine Box ($ 625): https://simplepinebox.com/

Nicer: https://trappistcaskets.com/simple_rectangle/

Major costs:

• Grave site. Go for rural for lower cost
• Marker: Order online: https://legacyheadstones.com/flat-grass-level/single-grass-level-headst…

Have minimum charges and all kinds of fees.

[Mark_Smith]

Have minimum charges and all kinds of fees.

….but ethical businessmen do not do a 1000% markup. That’s traditionally left to the Gambinos, Colombos, and the government.

Sorry, Mark, but your figure is either nonsense or a funeral home that flat out tried to gouge you. Mark and avoid, and warn your friends.