I was just wondering about the morality of cremation from a Christian perspective, and I found an excellent position paper on it here, by a pastor from Grace Presbyterian.

As I wonder about this, my reflections constantly acknowledge the fact that the Christian faith is not entirely about rituals and customs and traditions; not so much as it is about the kingdom of God and the redemption that comes through Jesus. Our sights as Christians should be set on the eternal perspective; on what happens to our immortal souls, not just our mortal bodies. From that view, cremation is not a crucial moral decision that should affect our salvation.

At the same time, however, we have to consider the example of the bible, where nominal Jewish and early Christian custom shunned cremation as a defilement of the body and of tradition. The Testaments’ standard, then, leans toward burial, but without any outright statement directly prohibiting cremation.

I’ev been leaning towards the desire to be cremated when I die. Should I rethink that?

For some strange reason, this is one of the most depressing news items I’ve ever read in my life. I already feel bad for Tiff that she dreams about nothing but work. Rats, too?

The Dalai Lama condemns religious conversions to Christianity and Islam? “I always believe it’s safer and better and reasonable to keep one’s own tradition or belief,” he says. I wonder how he feels about Hindus who proselytize Christians?

Imagine, if you will, oh great Dalai Lama, a God who no longer requires a system of rituals and traditions to cleanse us of our sin. We no longer need to bathe in an icy river, or deliberately divest our lives of worldliness, or struggle to clear our minds to purify ourselves and attain the ultimate; because the ultimate Himself has already come to meet us personally. In His mercy and love he has given us Himself as His Son, who by His sacrifice purifies us from the stain of the world.

We Christians need not wash ourselves in an earthly river to cleanse ourselves of sin; already we have been washed in a stream of living water: God Himself, who freely gives us his grace and puts us in robes white as snow. Is this deceptive enticement, or God’s revealed truth? If it is the latter, then we cannot be faulted desiring to share it with the world! It is the ultimate truth, by which we are redeemed, and we are commanded, even compelled by the love in our hearts, to spread it.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!” (Romans 10.11)