Billy Graham's Answer
Reprinted with Permission, for the Ohio Cremation & Memorial Society, Inc.

Q: My husband and I are considering cremation. Is cremation against the teaching of the Bible? Will those cremated also be resurrected? - T.L.

A: The aspect of cremation that worries some Christians is the thought of the total annihilation of the body. We need to get our thinking In a right perspective here. The body is annihilated just as completely in the grave as it is in cremation. The graves of our ancestors are no longer in existence, and soil in which they were buried has long since been removed elsewhere. We must therefore accept that what happens to the body or to the grave cannot be of any significance so far as the resurrection is concerned.

Our resurrection is related to that of Christ's in 1 Corinthians 15, and we must realize that the resurrection of Jesus was quite different from that of, say, Lazarus. Lazarus needed the body that had been buried, but when Jesus came forth from the tomb, his body was so changed that he could not be easily recognized.

In that chapter, Paul states of the burial of our bodies: "Thou sowest not that body that shall be" (v.37). The body that rises is not made of the same substances as the one that was buried, but is immortal and incorruptible.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul makes the contrast between living in a tent, a temporary home that can be pulled down and put away, and living in a permanent home that will last forever. Our bodies are our temporary tents. Our resurrected bodies will be our permanent homes. They are similar In appearance but different in substance. Cremation is therefore no hindrance to the resurrection.