The Untold Story

Should a Christian be Cremated?

What about the practice of cremation? Is it Biblical in origin?

Should a child of God allow themselves to be cremated when they

die? What is the true origin of this common custom? There is

far more to this story than you may imagine! You may be surprised

at the shocking, incredible truth about cremation!

William F. Dankenbring

A few years ago a special report on television revealed an ugly truth about cremations -- a scandal that would shake up and unnerve thousands of people who have had loved ones cremated when they died. According to the report, many crematoriums have been guilty of dealing fast and recklessly with the ashes of cremated individuals. They have tossed them into a common trash container, and whenever anyone came to get the remains of their beloved, the attendants would simply scoop a cupful of ashes from the garbage can, and bring them out to the relatives in a little urn. No one being the wiser.

The same shocking report showed that many crematoriums also cremate several bodies at a time. It is cheaper to do many bodies at once rather than one at a time, since the same amount of fuel is needed in any case. However, a serious problem arises. The ashes of the different bodies become mingled together!

With all the problems involved in cremation, the supposed remains of "Dear Old Joe" might not be his ashes at all, but those of several strangers intermingled!

Is Cremation a Biblical Practice?

But aside from the problems involved in cremation, what about the practice of cremation itself -- is it Biblical? Is cremation a sin? Should Christians cremate their dead loved ones? Should a Christian be cremated, in order to save money?

Many think it makes no difference. How one's body is disposed of is up to the individual's own wishes. They believe the Bible is silent on the matter, and God leaves the decision up to each one of us. But is this necessarily true?

Solomon wrote under inspiration of God's Spirit, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 14:12). What does the Word of God say

about the death, burial, or cremation of loved ones? The truth may shock you!

According to the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, "The proper interment of the dead was a matter of great importance to the peoples of the ancient Near East. It is attested by frequent references to burial in the Bible and other ancient writings and by the presence of thousands of tombs which modern archaeologists have excavated in Bible lands" (article "Burial," vol. 1, p. 474).

This same reference adds: "The antiquity of burial customs in Palestine is attested in the traditions concerning the cave of Machpelah, where Sarah was buried (Gen. 23:19) and also Abraham (25:9), Isaac, Rebekah, Leah (49:3 1), and Jacob (50:13)" (ibid.).

Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, "If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial, I say, that an untimely birth is better than he" (Eccl. 6:3).

According to the Scriptures, it is a curse for a dead body not to be buried! Isaiah wrote of the king of Babylon, "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned" (Isaiah 14:19-20).

Jezebel, one of the most wicked women who ever lived, who stirred up her husband Ahab to perform incredible evil, was cursed of God. Part of the cursed prophesied by God's prophet Elijah was that she should not be buried, but her body would be eaten by dogs (I Kings 21:23-35). This prophecy was fulfilled in the days of Jehu, the new king of Israel. He saw Jezebel looking out of an upper window, all painted up like whore, and shouted to those who were with her in the window, "Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel" (II Kings 9:33-37).

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible points out:

"Various places of burial, in addition to natural caves, are mentioned in the Scriptures. Frequently only the name of the city or region is mentioned; thus Aaron was buried at Moserah (Deut. 10:6; cf. Num. 33:38, where Mount Hor is named as his burial place); Moses in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor (Deut. 34:6); Joshua in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah (Josh. 24:30; cf. Judg. 2:9); Jephthah in his city in Gilead (Judg. 12:7); Samson between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father (Judg. 16:31); Saul and Jonathan . . . under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh (I Sam. 31:13), their bones later being buried in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish (II Sam. 21:14); David and Solomon in the city of David (I Kings 2: 10; 11:43). The various kings of Israel and Judah are said to have been buried in the city of David (I Kings 15:8, 24; II Kings 8:24; 12:21; etc.), Tirzah (I Kings 16:6), Samaria (I Kings 16:28; 22:37), and Jerusalem (II Kings 14:20)."

For some inexplicable reason, the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible says that Saul and Jonathan were "cremated" by the Philistines. However, this is certainly not true. Rather, as the Biblical account clearly states, "when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

"And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days" (I Samuel 31:8-13).

The Philistines did not cremate them. However, the men of Jabesh burned the bodies, and then buried the bones of Saul and his three sons.

The Origin of Cremation

But notice! The custom in Israel was NEVER CREMATION! Burial was the proper means of disposing of dead bodies, according to the entire record of the inspired Scriptures!

Where, then, did the practice of cremation come from? Says the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, "Cremation was not practiced by Jews or early Christians, as it was on occasion by Greeks and Romans. When bodies were burned, it was a sign of vengeance (I Sam. 31:12), unrighteousness (Amos 6: 10), or punishment of criminals (Lev. 20:14; 21: 9; John. 7:25). The Mishna forbids cremation as idolatry (A.Z.I. 3)" (ibid.).

The World Book Encyclopedia tells us: "Burial is the most common method of disposal in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim countries. Human burial developed from the belief that the dead rise again. Like a seed, according to this belief, a body is planted in the earth to await rebirth.

"Cremation is customary in Buddhist and Hindu nations and is increasing in the United States and Canada" (article, "Funeral Customs").

Lack of proper burial was considered a curse, in the Bible, When a prophet of God foolishly disobeyed the direct commandment of God, he was told by an old prophet in Bethel, "Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers" (I Kings 13:21-22). Because of his disobedience, this prophet was killed by a lion (v. 24); the old prophet from Bethel later took his body and buried it in his own grave, in his own city (Vs. 26-31).

Not to be buried properly is a sign of the displeasure of Almighty God, or an act of foolish ignorance and disobedience. When God curses a nation, and removes His blessing from them, He declares, "For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies. Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them. . ." (Jeremiah 16:5).

States the New Bible Dictionary, "Cremation was not a Hebrew practice, but in difficult circumstances a corpse might be burnt and the remains buried pending proper burial in the ancestral tomb, as with Saul" ("Burial and Mourning," p. 171).

This same authority says, "Jewish practices in New Testament times differed little from those described in the Old Testament" (ibid.). The corpse was first washed (Acts 9:37); then anointed (Mark 16: 1), wrapped in linen garments with spices enclosed (John 19:40), and finally the limbs were bound and the face covered with-a napkin (John 9:44), or turban.

This authority continues, "Cremation was NEVER a Jewish practice " (p. 172).

Even the New Catholic Encyclopedia admits, "The Aztecs were the first to introduce the burning of corpses in Central America, and from their area it spread northward. India, on the other hand, even before Buddhism, became the classic land of cremation. . . . As the burning of the corpse of Buddha by his disciples bears witness, cremation was practiced from the beginning of Buddhism. With the spread of Buddhism as a universal religion,

cremation also spread into the lands of the Far East" (Article "cremation," page 440).

This authority also admits, "From Apostolic times Christians followed the Semitic practice of burial and abstained from cremating their dead, a practice common in Rome during the empire. In the course of the early persecutions the bodies of martyrs were sometimes cremated by their persecutors and the ashes scattered in an indication of contempt. The catacombs give evidence of the care the early Christians took to recover the bodies of their martyrs and to grant them honorable burial."

The Encyclopedia Americana adds: "During the lst millennium B.C., both cremation and burial were practiced in most Italian and Greek cities, and, due to the influence of the Greeks and Etruscans, cremation was adopted by the Romans. It became fashionable among aristocrats throughout the Roman Empire and was the funeral mode of the Caesars" (article, "Cremation").

The Americana relates that cremation was first practiced extensively in India, where the custom may have been introduced along with Hindusim during the second millennium before Christ. There it has always been the prevalent Hindu funeral mode, and whenever possible the ashes are cast ceremonially on the Ganges River. Buddha was cremated in India about 483 BC., and the spread of Buddhism carried the custom to the rest of eastern Asia, including Indochina, Korea, and Japan.

Today, cremation is permitted among three fourths of the world's inhabitants, Reasons often cited for its practice include hygiene, scarcity of land, and overpopulation. During the 1960s, says the Encyclopedia Americana, there were more than 600,000 cremations annually in the United States and Britain; the total for the rest of the world was doubtless many million, says this respected authority.

The Biblical Example and Practice

Regardless of the various customs of pagans around the world, in ancient times, what does the Word of God -- our only true test and authority -- have to say about the proper disposition of dead loved ones? God told the prophet Isaiah, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to THIS WORD, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). God said, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples" (verse 16).

What does the Word of God say? What does the Law of God tell us?

The first five books of the Old Testament are known as "the Pentateuch," or "The Law." In the book of Genesis we read that Abraham, "the father of the faithful" (Gal. 3:9), who set us an example of faithful obedience to God (Gen. 26:5), went to the

children of Heth, after the death of his wife Sarah, and said, "I am a stranger and sojourner with you: give me a possession of a Burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight" (Gen. 23:1-4).

Abraham bought a field, that he might bury Sarah there, the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, and which contained a cave (Gen. 23: 8-17). When Abraham himself died, his sons "Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah . . . there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife" (Gen. 25:9-10).

When Isaac died, "his sons Esau and Jacob buried him" (Gen. 35:29). When Jacob's wife Rachel died in childbirth, she "was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day" (Gen. 35:19-20). When Jacob, whose named was changed to Israel, was about to die, he told his son Joseph, "Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace" (Genesis 47:29-30). Jacob later charged all his sons, "I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought . . . There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah" (Gen. 49:29-31). His sons did so, with great mourning and lamentation (Gen. 50:5-13).

Why does God give us all this detailed information in the very first book of the Bible as to the disposition of the dead? There must be a reason! Obviously this instruction is written down for OUR admonition, as a guide for us, today!

The apostle Paul explained, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).

Paul also told the Corinthians, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11).

Jesus Himself said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

Paul summarized this truth succinctly when he wrote, "ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (II Tim. 3:16-17).

God's way for the disposition of the dead is BURIAL! The practice of cremation is pagan -- idolatrous -- heathenish -- and wrong! The practice of cremation was inspired by no less than Satan the devil and his host of demons, as a part of his diabolical counterfeit superstition involving the belief of reincarnation and the immortality of souls! According to the pagans, the "purifying fires" of cremation prepare the soul for its flight after death of the body. Leslie V. Grinsell, in his book Barrow, Pyramid and Tomb, tells the Story of the Ibn Fadlan who in A.D. 922 was an Arab emissary to Russia from the Khalif of Baghdad. As he witnessed the cremation of a Viking chief on the Volga, he was told, "we burn him . . . so that he enters paradise at once."

Why should pagans believe that burning their bodies is a holy and proper practice? Why do pagans believe the fire of cremation is "holy fire"? What is holy about mere fire? The Scriptures nowhere speak of such" fire" as being in any sense "holy"!

Why does Satan the devil deceive millions around the world into desiring that their bodies be burnt up and turned to ashes? There is a reason! This diabolical deception goes back to the very beginning!

But before explaining the amazing answer, let us notice what God's Law says about this subject, once and for all!

The Laws of God Regarding the Dead

In the book of Deuteronomy, God commanded His people Israel, "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise BURY HIM that day" (for he that is hanged is accursed of God,) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deut. 21.-22-23).

Here is a direct command from God that the dead are to be BURIED! Not cremated! Not disposed of in some other fashion! This is a plain and direct "Thus saith the Lord!"

Even criminals who were judged guilty of the death penalty, were to be buried the same day they were hanged. How much more, then, should the righteous be buried!

Many examples of the burial of both wicked and righteous occur in the book of the Law of God. In the book of Numbers, for example, we read that the children of Israel who fell to lusting after flesh were smitten by a great plague from God (Num. 11:31-33). "And he called the name of that place Kirothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted" (verse 34).

Miriam, Moses' sister, died while the people abode in a place called Kadesh, "and was buried there" (Num. 20:1). When the children of Israel came to Mosera, "there Aaron died, and there he was buried" (Deut. 10:6).

Moses himself, a faithful servant of the Lord, was buried by the Lord himself in the land of Moab. We read in the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sephulchre unto this day" (Deut. 34:5-6). Here, God Himself buried His faithful servant!

Could there be any more powerful, direct example than that?

According to the inspired Word of God, the dead should be buried, to await the resurrection from the dead. They should not be cremated!

Does this mean that any who have been cremated cannot be resurrected? Does this mean that any who die by being cast over-board from a ship during a storm at sea, and who are eaten by sharks, have lost their chance for salvation?

Of course not! God has all power! He can resurrect anyone, no matter what happens to their body! However, those who desire to obey God, and to be found pleasing in His sight, will not choose to have their bodies cremated; they will choose BURIAL, according to the custom and example in the Word of God!

Old Testament Examples

All the mighty men of God of the Bible were buried when they died. We read of the patriarch Joshua, whom God used to command the sun and moon to stand still, "And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash" (Joshua 24:29-30).

And in this same chapter, we read, "And the bones of Joseph, which the children, of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

"And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim" (verses 32-33).

Gideon, the "mighty man of valor" whom God used to deliver his people from the hordes of Midianites, a mighty man of faith and belief in God, also "died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites" (Judges 8:32).

Another man God raised up to be judge of Israel, Tola, "died, and was buried in Shamir" (Judges 10:2). His successor, Jair, died, and was buried in Camon (verse 5). Jephthah was buried in one of the cities of Gilead (Judg. 12:7). Ibzan was buried at Bethlehem (verse 10). Elon was buried in Aijalon, in the country of Zebulun (verse 12). Abdon was buried in Piathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of the Amalekites (v. 15).

The mightiest warrior and strongest man who ever lived, Samson, after he slew thousands of Philistines while blinded, by physically moving the pillars supporting the temple of their god during one of their religious festivals, was taken by his brethren and all the house of his father, and they "buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father" (Judg. 16:31).

Ruth, one of the righteous and holy women of God, told her mother-in-law Naomi, "Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:17).

One of the greatest prophets of God who ever lived. Samuel, "died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah" (I Samuel 15: 1).

One of the servants of king David, the aged Barzilai, who was eighty years old, said to David, "Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother" (II Samuel 19:37).

King David himself, a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), was buried when he died at Jerusalem. "So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David" (I Kings 2:10). The apostle Peter, in the first sermon delivered during the New Testament Church period, on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent down from heaven (Acts 2:1-14), said, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day" (verse 29).

We could go on to give many more examples. It should be perfectly clear that God intends the dead to be buried in a proper buryingplace. Cremation is not of God. It is a sinister plot of the devil to deceive the world as to the true plan and purpose of God for human life!

The Hope of the Resurrection

God intended men and women to be buried when they die, as a symbol of awaiting the resurrection, when they will rise from their graves. The patriarch Job knew this. He exclaimed in living faith,

"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time

will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call (at the time of the

resurrection of the dead!), and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a

desire to the work of thine hands" (Job 14:14-15).

Later, Job exclaimed, "for I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another" (Job 19:25-27).

David also looked forward to the resurrection from the grave. He wrote in the beautiful 16th Psalm, "I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in (Hebrew, sheol, or the "grave" or "place of burial); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption . . . Thou wilt shew me the path of life (everlasting life): in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psa. 16:8-11).

What a hope! What a destiny!

In this same chapter, David was giving a prophecy of the fact that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would rise from the grave; his body would not see corruption (see Acts 2:29-36). However, in type this also applies to David himself, who will be in the resurrection of the righteous, at the end time!

Jesus Christ said, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).

Jesus explained to His disciples, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (or, Greek, judgment)" (John 5:25-29).

Satan, by foisting off on the world the deception of cremation, attempts to hide from making the TRUTH about the RESURRECTION from the dead!

But the Word of God is very clear!

The apostle Paul encouraged early Christians, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [that is, dead and buried], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [i.e., precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (II Thess. 4:13-17).

The whole plan of God revolves around the RESURRECTION from the dead! But Satan the devil has deluded the world, and blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so that they do not comprehend this wonderful, sublime, amazing truth! Satan has blinded them by false religion, and false religious practices such as cremation of the dead! Thus he has held the world in abject slavery, chained in darkness, ignorant of the true light and true knowledge of God!

It is time you understood the diabolical cleverness of Satan's counterfeit plan -- cremation -- and its true consequences and significance!

Paul put it beautifully when he wrote, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be CHANGED, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be changed.

"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 15:50-57).

Did you notice?

Do We Have "Immortal Souls"?

Contrary to Satan's diabolical lie, we are NOT already "immortal." We do not have "immortal souls" which will be released at death. The word translated "soul" in the Old Testament is nephesh and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines this word as "a breathing creature, animal vitality . . . beast, body, breath, creature, life . . ." It literally means "body, corpse."

In Genesis 2:7 we read that God created man, and "formed man of the dust of the ground, and he became a LIVING SOUL." Notice! He "became" a living nephesh or being -- not that he "has" a "soul"!

This same word is translated "body" in Numbers 6:6, 9:6-7, 10, 19:11, 13, 16, in connection with the word "dead" -- as "dead body." It does not refer to some extra-physical, "immortal" component of mankind, but just to his body and life in general, as a fleshly being which needs to breath air in order to live!

In Ezekiel 18:4, we read again of man, that he IS a soul, not that he "has" a "soul." Ezekiel writes, in plain language, "the soul that sinneth, it [the soul] shall DIE"! And again, in verse 20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall DIE."

As human beings, we are mere fleshly creatures, with no spiritual "soul" that lives on forever, conscious and sentient. Not at all! Solomon was inspired to write, "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even ONE THING befalleth them: as the ONE dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a BEAST . . . ALL GO UNTO ONE PLACE; ALL ARE OF THE DUST, AND ALL TURN TO DUST AGAIN" (Eccl.3:19-20).

Solomon also wrote, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor devise, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the GRAVE, whither thou goest" (Eccl.9:10).

In other words, when we are dead, we are "dead all over." Just like "Rover" the dog, we are "dead all over." Mankind has no immortality; however, we are promised that if we obey God, and follow Christ, as our Saviour, and Messiah, that we can RECEIVE immortality as a GIFT from God! That is, we can become truly "immortal beings" -- but only by means of a resurrection from the dead, with a new, spiritual body fashioned by God Himself! Our physical, fleshly bodies will have to be CHANGED!

As Paul wrote to the Philippians, Jesus Christ "shall CHANGE our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:21).

The act of cremation does not release an "immortal soul" into nirvana, or paradise! It is a pagan deception, a Satanic illusion, a masquerade of the devil!

Contrary to the doctrines of Satan's religious institutions upon the earth, the human "soul" is NOT immortal, caged in a fleshly body. Rather, as the prophet Ezekiel declared, quoting the words of God Himself, "Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4) -- that is, the soul itself will DIE! This verse alone proves that souls are NOT immortal, immaterial, composed of spirit. As I mentioned before, the Hebrew word for soul is nephesh and can be translated "body, " "creature," "life," or even "carcass."