Living in a multicultural and multi-faith society here in Australia, we have different attitudes and beliefs about death, and the disposal of the dead.
Among a few of the religions and most of the secular people the idea of cremating the dead seems simple and proper in their eyes and, therefore, is practiced widely.
Since we Orthodox Christians also live amongst these people it is quite natural that some of their ideas may rub off on us. One of the questions asked of us clergy today, is whether cremation is proper for disposal of the dead, or not, and if not, why not?
Burial has been the traditional way of disposing the dead for thousands of years. This is proven by the fact that we find graves of all sorts, ranging from pyramids to the simplest kind. Most of them include various artifacts from the dead people's everyday life, which tells archaeologists that they had a belief in the afterlife and eternity, or at least the continuation of life to a certain degree after death.
The Old Testament, which for Christians is an "educator in Christ", contains many references to the subject of burial. For Israel, the "chosen people" of God and also for the surrounding tribes and nations, it was considered a terrible misfortune for someone to be denied burial (Psalm 78:3 Sept.), and one of the worst punishments which the prophets foretold, would take place for sinners (3 Kings 14:11 also Jeremiah 22, 18:19 Sept.). The Israelites took great care, whilst living, to prepare and have things ready for their burial. The sons of the dead person had the obligation of properly burying their parents. It was a sign of respect which was obligatory to the army, at a time of war, and to every faithful Israelite.
The New Testament also talks about burial. The contemporaries of our Lord Jesus Christ kept this tradition of the Old Testament for burial; a good example is the case of Lazarus. Jesus Christ does not condemn this practice, even when He stressed that it was more important to follow Him than to perform this holy obligation of burying one's father ("...leave the dead to bury their own dead" Matt. 8:22). He Himself was aware that He would die a dishonourable death as a criminal, without funerary honours ("she [the sinful woman] undertook to anoint my body with myrrh for my burial" - Mark 14:8, John 12:7). Even though the Lord died a death on the cross He was buried and not left on the cross as was normal for those executed as criminals. The early Christians in the catacombs, following the evangelical example, also buried their dead rather than cremate them.
This practice of burying the dead is held by all Orthodox Christian Churches throughout the world. It follows in the steps of our faith, of the resurrection of the bodies together with the souls. Other religions (Buddhism etc.) teach that the bodies should be burnt to release the soul which is imprisoned in the body, but this is not the Christian teaching. For Christians, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and we await the resurrection of the body. Therefore, the Orthodox Church does not permit cremation, as it is a denial of the resurrection of the body and the dignity of the body as created by God.