Re: [asa] Science & Burial Customs

Until recently the Christian tradition was pretty solid for straightforward burial. (Inhumation, I think. if you want the fancy
term.) In fact that's one way archaeologists in parts of Europe can distinguish Christian from pagan remains with some accuracy.
I don't know about detailed studies on the background of this custom but a major factor was simply differentiation from pagan Roman practice. There is no profound theological reason for preferring inhumation to cremation. Contrary to what is is sometimes thought, even the RC church has not been _dogmatically_ against cremation & has permitted it in cases of epidemics, e.g. In the 18th & 19th centuries some unbelievers chose cremation as a way of proclaiming (rather ineptly) that they didn't believe in the resurrection, & of course that produced Christian reaction against cremation. I've seen tracts condemning cremation on supposed biblical grounds & in fact had to counsel at least one parishoner who was concerned about this.

I would be wary though of things like wearing jewelry made from compressed loved ones. This is susceptible to a lot of New Age nonsense.

One of my occasional tasks when I was on staff at St. Paul's was the burial of ashes in our memorial garden following the commital for funerals I'd officiated at. An interesting & instructive task.

Finally, the pseudo-word "cremains" invented by the funeral industry should be banned from civilized discourse. They're ashes!

Shalom,
George

---- Christine Smith <christine_mb_smith@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Saw this interesting article below on how the "green" movement is changing burial customs (and by extension, how science is enabling this change):
>
> http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/dying.green/index.html
>
> This reminded me of another option I heard of relating to the usage of cremated remains to create artificial diamonds, which are then worn by their loved ones. Amazing stuff, if a bit morbid. I wonder, does Christian theology have anything to contribute to this topic?
>
> In Christ,
> Christine (ASA member)
>
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>
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Received on Tue Feb 17 12:26:35 2009