To Bury Or Burn? Toward An Ethic Of Cremation -- By: David W. Jones

Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 53:2 (Jun 2010)
Article: To Bury Or Burn? Toward An Ethic Of Cremation
Author: David W. Jones


To Bury Or Burn? Toward An Ethic Of Cremation

David W. Jones

David W. Jones is associate professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 120 S. Wingate St., Wake Forest, NC 27587.

The Encyclopedia of Cremation defines cremation as the practice of intentionally heating a deceased human body to “between 1,400 and 2,100 F to consume . . . the body’s soft tissue and reduce the skeleton to fragments and particles.”1 This process, then, produces several pounds of ash that are stored, buried, or otherwise dispersed. Statistics show that while cremation has been a common interment procedure in lands apart from the Corpus Christianum,2 historically speaking, cremation has been sparingly practiced in cultures that have been influenced by a Judeo-Christian ethic. Yet, since the middle of the twentieth century the number of cremations in the United States has been steadily rising to the point where currently, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, between one-quarter and one-third of all corpses are cremated.3

Perhaps because the increase in the number of cremations in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon, a moral discussion of cremation is absent from most major evangelical ethics and theology textbooks. Recently, however, the practice has received some attention from evangelical leaders in both popular and semi-academic media. For example, individuals who have addressed the issue of cremation over the last few years include Timothy George, Norman Geisler, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, and Russell Moore, among others.4 Moreover, Christian periodicals such as World Magazine,

The Banner of Truth, Touchstone, The Christian Century, and Christianity Today have published materials on cremation in the last decade or so.

The fact that the practice of cremation is beginning to receive attention within the evangelical community is an indication that cremation is a topic about which contemporary believers are starting to inquire. Indeed, this is an encouraging sign, for evidence suggests that some who have contributed to the rising cremation rates over the last half century (i.e. those who have consented to, requested, or even facilitated cremation) may have done so without fully weighing the morality of the act. This can be concluded both from the lack of widespread ethical discussion about cremation—especially on an academic level—and from the ut...

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