In the Bible, there are no passages that prohibit or encourage cremation and scattering of ashes. However, many Christian sects believe a burial funeral aligns with best end-of-life practices.
Easton's Bible Dictionary - Ashes
The ashes of a red heifer burned entire ( Numbers 19:5 ) when sprinkled on the unclean made them ceremonially clean ( Hebrews 9:13 ). To cover the head with ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation ( 2 Samuel 13:19 ; Esther 4:3 ; Jeremiah 6:26 , etc.).
The ashes symbolize both death and repentance. During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them.
In 2 Kings 23:16-20, Josiah took the bones out of the tomb, burned them on the altar, and “defiled it.” However, nowhere in the Old Testament does the Bible command the deceased cannot be burned, nor are there any judgments attached to those that have been cremated.
The Bible does not clearly define about cremation as a means to dispose of the dead. However, there is no scriptural prohibition of cremation in the New Testament. The Bible neither favors nor forbids the process of cremation.
A: In the Bible, cremation is not labeled a sinful practice. Frankly, the topic is not dealt with at all in terms of the detailed lists of instructions for living and dying set forth by almighty God in the Old and New testaments. The short answer to your question appears to be no, cremation is not a sin.
No matter what a person's preference is, from the Christian perspective, cremation does not prevent one from going to Heaven.
For most Christians today, the question of cremation is largely left to individual discretion. Many Christians choose cremation as an alternative to burial, while still retaining those aspects of their traditional funeral practices that allow them to honor the lives of their loved ones and glorify God.
They are either to be interred in an urn in a cemetery or sprinkled on consecrated ground, "dust returning to dust," and not stored at home or disposed of in an undignified way. Several littoral parishes do also have consecrated sea areas where the ashes may be sprinkled.
The consensus among most Christian traditions—including evangelicals—is that because the Bible does not directly forbid cremation, it is not a sin. As Timothy George says, “While the weight of Christian tradition clearly favors burial, the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns cremation.”
The Vatican decreed that the ashes of loved ones have no place in the home, and certainly not in jewelry. It urged that cremated remains be preserved in cemeteries or other approved sacred places.
Together we shall be again, ashes mingled with ashes, as together we came out of the stars and earth, stardust and mud, extraordinary and mundane. These ashes are blessed, because these persons' lives were holy, worthy, and meaningful. These ashes are blessed, a reminder of the gift of our beloveds' lives.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from Isaiah 61:3 “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.
Ashes blessed for use on Ash Wednesday as a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality. The OT frequently mentions the use of ashes as an expression of humiliation and sorrow. Ashes for use on Ash Wednesday are made from burned palms from previous Palm Sunday services.
While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In Christianity, on Ash Wednesday, ashes of burnt palm leaves and fronds left over from Palm Sunday, mixed with olive oil, are applied in a cross-form on the forehead of the believer as a reminder of his inevitable physical death, with the intonation: "Dust thou art, and to dust will return" from Genesis 3:19 in the ...
The reunion of believing loved ones
When Paul writes to believers who grieve the loss of a loved one, he offers them this comfort: “We who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17, emphasis mine).
In fact, the Bible indicates we will know each other more fully than we do now. The Apostle Paul declared, "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). It's true that our appearance will change, because God will give us new bodies, similar to Jesus' resurrection body.
A phrase from the burial service in the Book of Common Prayer: 'we therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.
Instead, upon death, the soul is passed on to another body. Therefore, treatment of the remains does not affect the departed soul, so most funerary practices are accepted. Cremation typically occurs within three days from the time of death.
As a Catholic, may I be cremated? Yes. In May 1963, the Vatican's Holy Office (now the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith) lifted the prohibition forbidding Catholics to choose cremation.
While Jesus told Nicodemus, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5), he did not set baptism as a hindrance to salvation but just the opposite. We so often judge things by human standards, but God is not restrained by our standards.
During cremation, the body parts that do burn consist of organs, soft tissue, hair, and skin, while the water in our bodies evaporates. The body parts that do not burn are bone fragments.
There are no set implications of keeping ashes in the house. By keeping ashes in the house, you will be allowing the psychic connection between the deceased loved one and the remaining family members to continue, which often helps grieving families come to terms with their loss.