Cremation is on the rise, despite being unBiblical

The practice of cremation is on the rise in the United States despite the practice being unBiblical. 

According to the National Funeral Directors Association’s 2017 Cremation and Burial Report, 50.2 percent of Americans chose cremation in 2016, up from 48.5 percent in 2015, while 43.5 percent of Americans opted for burials, down from 45.4 percent in 2015.

In Nebraska, the projected burial rate for 2018 is 45 percent, down from 51 percent in 2015. In comparison, the projected cremation rate for 2018 is 52 percent, up from 46 percent in 2015.

The association contributes the change to the rise of secularism in America. As for Christians who are choosing cremation, being uninformed on what the Bible says about the issue is to blame, according to the CTCR Document on Cremation and the Christian from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. 

According to the LCMS document, the practice of cremation is not Christian in origin, but pagan. Although there is no place in scripture where the practice is expressly prohibited, the practice is also not instituted or endorsed. 

The reverent treatment of the human body after death, however, is repeatedly emphasized throughout scripture. Fire, on the other hand, is most often associated scripturally with the judgement of God. 

According to the LCMS Document, the Christian church has not sanctioned or encouraged the practice, but followed the Jewish burials practice where the body is reverently entombed; its return to dust has been left in the hands of the One who created it. 

To read more of the LCMS report log on to https://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=4174