It’s old time teaching because a lot of pagans used to dispose of bodies by burning them. The Bible talks about when Christ returns and the bodies being raised, therefore, a lot of people believe if the body is cremated there won’t be a body to raise which wouldn’t allow one to be with Christ in Heaven. There are a few problems with that teaching. First, the Bible tells us to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ (for the believers). So, how can one be present with Christ, the second they die, but then suddenly be removed from His presence once the family cremates the body? Also, what if a person wanted to be buried but the family cremates them instead? Is God going to say “sorry, you don’t have a body now, you got to go”. Not hardly. Another issue, as mentioned above, look at all the people that have drowned, died in 911, been dead and rotted long ago, etc…. Where are their bodies? The Bible tells us even the sea will give up the bodies. If Christ formed us out of dust, he can raise a rotted body back out of dust if we need one. Personally, if it were up to me, I’d be cremated and spread in the Gulf of Mexico, but the wife isn’t crazy about it. I told her to do what makes her feel best.
