letters to surfers
Question : What do you think about cremation as opposed to burial in
a cemetery?
by Robert Brow (www.brow.on.ca)
I have changed my mind about this, and I now emphasize the huge changed
that occured immediately Jesus died. His first act was to call out the
Old Testament believers from the abode of the dead and empty sheol (Hades
- wrongly translated "hell" in older translations of the Apostles'
Creed) of its contents for ever. "The hour is coming when all who
are in their graves will hear his (my) voice and will come out to the resurrection
of life" (John 5:24-29, see Ephesians 4:9, 1 Peter 3:18-19).
The
evidence of this is that even while his corpse was still hanging on the
cross: "The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were
opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised
, they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to
many" (Matthew 27:52-53). The Messiah did not want his earthly body
to remain in a tomb to be venerated. So before appearing to his disciples
on Easter day he came and disintegrated the body he had left behind (the
grave clothes just fell to the ground, John 20:5-6).
It now seems to me that the Old Testament practice of burial symbolized
the hope of being raised from sheol, Hades. But now there is no
religious significance to a burial service. In the instructions I have
left with my family I want my body to be taken straight from the hospital
morgue to the crematorium - no need of embalming, or a coffin, pall bearers
and funeral procession, or any kind of tomb stone, and I don't want my
ashes put in an urn and buried. What I want people to know is that I have
gone to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-8), and that can be
celebrated in a memorial service. Death is not going into cold storage
to await a resurrection some time in the future, nor do I like the term
"resting." I don't want to lie doing nothing for ever, but rather I expect
to be having a wonderful time in the heaven that Jesus has prepared for
me.
model theology home | essays
and articles | books
| sermons | letters
to surfers | comments