Questions

Question first appeared on September 28, 2003
What Scripture supports the Orthodox Church=s ban regarding cremation?

Following the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we have God=s final words to Adam: AIn the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.@ (Gen. 3:19) This is seen as the normal end for Aman@ in both the Jewish and Christian traditionsBburial in the ground and natural decay.

Burning the dead was only considered by the Jews to be an extension of the death penalty for an officious crime: AIf a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.@ (Lev. 20:14). Otherwise, to burn a dead body was considered a pagan practice. The Jewish Talmud prohibits the burning of the dead, and according to this practice our Lord Jesus Christ was buried.

Christians and Jews understand that humanity is created in the Aimage and likeness@ of God. And, that creation includes a body, soul and spirit. It would be disrespectful of God=s creation to abuse it by burning. The closest New Testament argument against cremation would be the writings of St. Paul regarding the resurrection of the body (I Cor. 15).

The strongest argument for our practice of burying the dead is the fact that Jesus was buried. And, we anticipate the Aresurrection@ of the dead because Jesus was resurrected. We are treated as Jesus Christ because we are Amembers of His body.@ (Eph. 5:30)

©Very Rev. Fr. Olof Scott, Sunday Bulletin, September 28, 2003

Question first appeared on October 5, 2003
What if a pledged member is financially unable to have a full funeral and chooses cremation instead with a memorial service in the church? Is this permissible?

First of all let me correct a misconception. APledging@ or Apaying@ has nothing to do with who is eligible for an Orthodox funeral in the church. They must have received the sacraments of confession and communion within the past year even if they pledged or paid nothing.

Expanding on what we=ve reviewed previously about cremation, the Orthodox Church holds the Abody@ in high regard, because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ=s body was buried and resurrected. The end of an Orthodox Christian=s life is a Aprocess,@ undergoing a series of prayers and services, inside and outside the church: prayers for healing, Holy Unction, prayers when illness increases, prayers at the departing of the soul from the body, prayers after the departing of the soul from the body, Trisagion prayers for the deceased, the funeral service, Trisagion prayers at the burial, memorial prayers on the 9^th day, 40^th day, and first annual anniversary. And, in continuing memory of our departed, families remember them on the anniversaries of their deaths in the Divine Liturgy as we await the resurrection.

One who is cremated is prohibited from having an Orthodox funeral service in the church. There is no body remaining over which we can pray. And, since the process outlined above has not been respected, why should their family desire a memorial service in the church? We can pray for them as we do for all deceased, but a formal memorial service would be inconsistent with what they have done.

Fr. Nicon Patrinacos in A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy writes: A...the Orthodox teaching regarding the communion of the living and departed members of the Church should be kept in mind. Believing that death is not the end but the beginning of a new life, the Church holds the position of a continuity of life from the moment of birth to the time of the Second Coming of the Lord. Hence, the close bond of the Orthodox between the living and the dead expressed by memorial services, perpetual care of graves and the survival of the names of parents in the persons of grandchildren. The Orthodox Liturgy is offered for the remission of sins of both living and dead, and the eternity it promises extends far beyond the grave not only in terms of time but in terms of the living of the dead in the memory and conscience of the Church.@

Orthodox who contemplate cremation do so because of high costs resulting from a combination of funeral industry services, coffins, vaults, grave sites and the laws/regulations governing burial of the deceased. The only remedy to reduce these costs would be to return to the Orthodox practice of no embalming and burial in a simple casket within twenty-four hours.