EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND: Will A Person Go To Hell For Being Cremated?

By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

I. NUMEROUS CULTURES HAVE DIFFERENT METHODS OF BURIAL.[1]

A. Burial.

B. Cremation.

C. Cannibalism.

D. Leaving the body out for animals of prey to obtain.

E. Placing the body at the top of a mountain.

F. Mummification.

II. THE BIBLE IS FILLED WITH DIFFERENT METHODS OF

BURIAL. There does not appear to be one set method. It varies in both the Old Testament and New Testament.

1. BURIAL IN A CAVE.

Genesis 23:19 ¹⁹Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

2. BURIAL IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE.

Deuteronomy 34:6 ⁶He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.

3. BURIAL IN THE GROUND.

2 Kings 13:20-21 ²⁰Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. ²¹Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

4. BURIAL IN A TOMB OR SEPULCHRE.

John 19:41 ⁴¹At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.

III. THE BIBLE WAS AGAINST "BURNINGS." But this was referring to burning children alive; in honor of idol gods.

Jeremiah 19:5 ⁵They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.

IV. THERE IS AT LEAST ONE INSTANCE OF CREMATION TAKING PLACE. David even blesses the men for doing it.

1 Samuel 31:12 ¹²all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

2 Samuel 2:5 ⁵he sent messengers to them to say to them, "The LORD bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him.

V. THE BIBLE DOES NOT ADDRESS A PERSON GOING TO HELL FOR BEING CREMATED. It does address a person going to Hell for failing to receive Christ; while they are alive.

John 3:36 ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.

Mark 16:16 ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

VI. WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY AFTER YOU DIE HAS NO BEARING ON WHERE YOU SPEND ETERNITY. Because when you die; you immediately go to whatever destination you are going to. There is no intermediary place (according to the Scriptures) and you cannot make a doctrine out of "prayers for the dead" because there is no explanation or "two or three witnesses."

Ecclesiastes 12:7 ⁷Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Luke 16:22-23 ²²"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 ⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the LORD. ⁷For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the LORD.

VII. GOD IS ABLE TO RESURRECT MATTER AT THE RESURRECTION. Even with the best in embalming & even with mummification; eventually the skin will decay and in a few thousand years the bones will turn to dust.

Job 19:26 ²⁶And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

Daniel 12:2 ²Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Revelation 20:13 ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

Prayer to receive Jesus!^{^[2]}