John Piper: Should Christians Cremate Their Loved Ones?

In the beginning, God created man in His own image. When Christ came to fulfill God’s promises, Jesus became flesh—it’s this very idea that steers pastor and speaker John Piper away from cremation after death.  

“Two focuses of Scripture lead away from burning toward burying. One is the focus on the meaning and importance of the human body, now and in the life to come. The other is the meaning of fire as it relates to the human body, now and in the life to come,” Piper writes in a recent blog post.  

Biblically, Piper writes, the body should be buried to show the belief in the resurrection of the body. He points to both 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.  

“But the main issue was the message of the symbolism about the preciousness of the body now, and the glory of the body at the resurrection. The double symbolism of sowing seed, as though ready to sprout, and laying to rest, as though ready to waken, was the main reason Christians have buried their dead and provided burial for those who could not afford it.”  

Now, though, funeral expenses can break down a family. The average burial service can cost up to $9,000; meanwhile, average cremation costs hover at $1,600. Perhaps that’s why there’s a steady uptick of cremations instead of burials.  

“Every year in America, 2.5 million people die. In 2011, the last year for which numbers are available, 42 percent were cremated, according to the funeral directors association. That’s double the rate of just 15 years ago. In some states, largely in the West, the cremation rate tops 70 percent. In Washington, it’s 72 percent; in Nevada, almost 74 percent. (The lowest rate of cremation, in case you need a great pick-up line, is Mississippi’s, at 15.7 percent.)” according to NBC News. 

But should you put your loved one through fire? 

Piper says no.  

“To be sure, fire is a great gift from God. It warms, and brightens, and guides, and cooks, and refines,” Piper writes. “But in relation to the human body, it is a dreadful thing. It wounds and tortures and kills and destroys.

“This is most prominent in relation to the body after death. As a Christian who believes in the judgment of God after death (Hebrews 9:27), the last symbol we want to use, in connection with death, is fire! Hell (gehenna) is a place of fire (Matthew 5:22; James 3:6). This fire is meant to be felt by the body,” he writes.  

Times are shifting, though. The Catholic Church no longer forbids cremation, though they strongly recommend against it.  

To ensure a burial while combating the rising costs of funerals, Piper proposes the body of Christ intervene.  

“I am encouraging churches to cultivate a Christian counter-culture where people expect simple, less expensive funerals and burials, and where we all pitch in so that a Christian burial is not a financial hardship on anyone. And because of the biblical pointers and the additional reasons above, I am arguing that God-centered, gospel-rooted burial is preferable to cremation. Preferable. Not commanded, but rich with Christian truth that will become a clearer and clearer witness as our society becomes less and less Christian,” he writes.  

Do you agree? Sound off!