Cremation and Christianity

Different Christians, Different Views

Both of my parents were cremated. Both had been born Christian but became agnostic so there were no religious questions involved. My father died at home in Hawaii and my mother brought his ashes to the mainland in a cardboard box and no permits (not legal). We scattered his ashes on the slopes of Mt. Shasta. My mother also died at home in Hawaii. Part of her ashes were taken out to sea and part were scattered on Mt. Shasta. We had memorial services for each parent and found the scattering the cremated remains with our own hands a profound and comforting experience.

Modern cremation was developed in 1870 and the first cremation was done in that same year. The ceremony included quotations from Darwin and from Hindu scripture.

Both the Greeks and the Romans practiced cremation while early Christians placed the body in a catacomb or buried it. Cremation was shunned as being a pagan practice.

Today, cremation is becoming more popular with 28% of all remains being cremated and this figure is growing rapidly. The main reasons for this increase are cost and concern for the environment. The cost of cremation runs from about $500 to $2000 compared to the average cost of a funeral at $6000, not including the burial plot.

In cremation, the body is placed in a wooden box or casket and then put into the crematorium where temperatures are 1400 to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. The cremated remains consist of bone fragments and particles. These are then finely ground.

Different Christian organizations have different beliefs about cremation but it would be fair to say that all have some degree of distaste for it. All the mainstream Protestant churches allow it while fundamentalist, Catholic, and Orthodox churches have a variety of stances.