Editing Cremation (section)

== Religious views ==
=== Christianity ===
{{Main|Cremation in Christianity}}

In Christian countries and cultures, cremation has historically been discouraged and viewed as a desecration of God's image, and as interference with the resurrection of the dead taught in Scripture. It is now acceptable to some denominations, since a literal interpretation of Scripture is less common in modern reformist traditions.<ref name="GassmannLarson2001">{{cite book|last1=Gassmann|first1=Günther|last2=Larson|first2=Duane H.|last3=Oldenburg|first3=Mark W.|title=Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Htz8M1Xlqi4C&pg=PA48|access-date=22 April 2014|date=4 April 2001|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810866201|page=48|quote=Cremation was unheard of from the time Charlemagne outlawed it (784) until the 17th century. At that point, the practice was urged primarily by those opposed to the church, and for a long time cremation was forbidden by Roman Catholicism and practiced only reluctantly by a few Protestants who did not believe in the literal resurrection of the dead. Recently, these strictures have eased, less interpret Scripture literally and more and more churches have established columbaria or memorial gardens within their precincts for the reception of the ashes by the faithful.}}</ref>

==== Catholicism ====
Christians preferred to bury the dead rather than to cremate the remains, as was common in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] culture. The early church carried on Judaism's respect for the human body as being created in God's image, and followed their practices of speedy interment, in hopes of the future resurrection of all dead. The [[Roman catacombs]] and Medieval veneration of [[relics]] of [[Roman Catholic saint]]s witness to this preference. For them, the body was not a mere receptacle for a spirit that was the real person, but an integral part of the human person.<ref>Robert Pasnau, in the introduction to his translation of ''Summa Theologiae'', says that Aquinas is "...quite clear in rejecting the sort of substance dualism proposed by Plato [...] which goes so far as to identify human beings with their souls alone, as if the body were a kind of clothing that we put on," and that Aquinas believed that "we are a composite of soul and body, that a soul all by itself would not be a human being." See {{cite book| last = Aquinas| first = St. Thomas| others = trans. Pasnau| title = Summa Theologiae 1a, 75–89| year = 2002| publisher = Hackett Publishing| isbn = 0-87220-613-0| page = xvii }}</ref> They looked on the body as sanctified by the [[sacrament]]s<ref>Davies & Mates, "Cremation, Death and Roman Catholicism", p. 107</ref> and itself the temple of the Holy Spirit,<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|6:19|ESV}}</ref> and thus requiring to be disposed of in a way that honours and reveres it, and they saw many early practices involved with disposal of dead bodies as [[Paganism|pagan]] in origin or an insult to the body.<ref>{{cite book| last = Prothero| first = Stephen| title = Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America| year = 2002| publisher = University of California Press| isbn = 0-520-23688-2| pages = 73–74| quote = To the traditionalists, cremation originated among "heathens" and "pagans" and was therefore anti-Christian.}}</ref>

The idea that cremation might interfere with God's ability to resurrect the body was refuted by the 2nd-century ''[[Octavius (dialogue)|Octavius]]'' of [[Marcus Minucius Felix|Minucius Felix]], in which he said: "Every body, whether it is dried up into dust, or is dissolved into moisture, or is compressed into ashes, or is attenuated into smoke, is withdrawn from us, but it is reserved for God in the custody of the elements. Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from sepulture, but we adopt the ancient and better custom of burying in the earth."<ref>The full text of ''Octavius'' is available online [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-34.htm from ccel.org]. See also Davies & Mates, p. 107-108.</ref> A similar practice of [[Mos Teutonicus|boiling to remove flesh from bones]] was also punished with excommunication in a 1300 decree of [[Pope Boniface VIII]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia = Catholic Encyclopedia| title = Cremation| publisher = The Encyclopedia Press| url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04481c.htm}}</ref> And while there was a clear and prevailing preference for burial, there was no general Church law forbidding cremation until 1866. In [[Medieval Europe]], cremation was practiced mainly in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a [[battle]], after a [[Epidemic|pestilence]] or [[famine]], and where there was an imminent fear of diseases spreading from the corpses, since individual burials with digging graves would take too long and body decomposition would begin before all the corpses had been interred.

Beginning in the [[Middle Ages]], and even more so in the 18th century and later, non-Christian rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation again as a statement denying the resurrection and/or the afterlife,<ref>Prothero, p. 74-75</ref> although the pro-cremation movement often took care to address these concerns.<ref name="prothero-p74">Prothero, p. 74.</ref> Sentiment within the Catholic Church against cremation became hardened in the face of the association of cremation with "professed enemies of God."<ref name="prothero-p74" /> When Masonic groups advocated cremation as a means of rejecting Christian belief in the resurrection, the [[Holy See]] forbade Catholics to practise cremation in 1886. The 1917 Code of Canon Law incorporated this ban. In 1963, recognizing that, in general, cremation was being sought for practical purposes and not as a denial of bodily resurrection, the choice of cremation was permitted in some circumstances.<ref name=McNamara>McNamara, Edward (2014). [https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/mixing-ashes-of-the-dead-4718 "Mixing Ashes of the Dead"], EWTN.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rkdocumenten.nl/rkdocs/index.php?mi=600&doc=4933|title=Piam et constantem – Over de crematie – RKDocumenten.nl|website=Rkdocumenten.nl|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref> The current [[1983 Code of Canon Law]], states: "The Church earnestly recommends the pious custom of Christian burial be retained; but it does not entirely forbid cremation, except if this is chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4A.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1176 §3] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008214742/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4A.HTM |date=8 October 2014 }}; cf.  [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm#2301 ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 2301].</ref>

There are no universal rules governing Catholic funeral rites in connection with cremation, but [[episcopal conference]]s have laid down rules for various countries.<ref name=McNamara/> Of these, perhaps the most elaborate are those established, with the necessary confirmation of the Holy See, by the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]] and published as Appendix II of the United States edition of the ''Order of Christian Funerals''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWCREMA.HTM|title=LITURGICAL NORMS ON CREMATION|website=Ewtn.com|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-resources/cremation/cremation-and-funerals.cfm|title=USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, "Cremation and the Order of Christian Funerals"|website=Usccb.org|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref>

Although the Holy See has in some cases authorized bishops to grant permission for funeral rites to be carried out in the presence of cremated remains, it is preferred that the rites be carried out in the presence of a still intact body. Practices perceived as showing insufficient respect for the ashes of the dead, such as turning them into jewelry or scattering them, are forbidden for Catholics, but burial on land or sea or enclosing in a niche or columbarium is now considered acceptable.<ref name=McNamara/>

====Anglicanism and Lutheranism====
In 1917, ''Volume 6 of the American Lutheran Survey'' stated that "The [[Lutheran]] clergy as a rule refuse" and that "[[Anglican|Episcopal]] pastors often take a stand against it."<ref>{{cite journal|date=12 September 1917|title=Many Minds of Many Men|journal=American Lutheran Survey|publisher=Lutheran Survey Publishing Company|location=Columbia|volume=6|page=658}}</ref> Indeed, in the 1870s, the Anglican [[Bishop of London]] stated that the practice of cremation would "undermine the faith of mankind in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, hasten rejection of a Scriptural worldview and so bring about a most disastrous social revolution."<ref>{{cite journal|year=1874|title=Contemporary Sayings|journal=Appleton's Journal of Literature, Science, and Art|publisher=D. Appleton and Company|location=New York|issue=276–301}}</ref> In ''The Lutheran Pastor'', George Henry Gerberding stated:

{{quotation|Third.  As to cremation.  This is not a Biblical or Christian mode of disposing of the dead.  The Old and New Testament agree and take for granted that as the body was taken originally from the earth, so it is to return to the earth again.  Burial is the natural and Christian mode.  There is a beautiful symbolism in it.  The whole terminology of eschatology presupposes it.  Cremation is purely heathenish.  It was the main practice among pagan Greeks and Romans.  The majority of Hindus thus dispose of their dead.  It is dishonoring to the body, intended as a temple of the Holy Ghost and to bear the image of God.  It is an insidious denial of the doctrine of the resurrection.<ref name="Gerberding1902">{{cite book|last=Gerberding|first=George Henry|title=The Lutheran Pastor|url=https://archive.org/details/lutheranpastor00gerbgoog|access-date=22 April 2014|year=1902|publisher=Lutheran Publication Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/lutheranpastor00gerbgoog/page/n372 363]}}</ref>}}

Some [[Protestant]] churches welcomed the use of cremation at a much earlier date than the Catholic Church; pro-cremation sentiment was not unanimous among Protestants, as some have retained a literal interpretation of Scripture.<ref>Prothero, p. 77.</ref> The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were built in the 1870s, and in 1908, the Dean and Chapter of [[Westminster Abbey]]—one of the most famous [[Anglican]] churches—required that remains be cremated for burial in the abbey's precincts.<ref>Davies & Mates, "Westminster Abbey", p. 423.</ref> Today, "scattering", or "strewing," is an acceptable practice in some Protestant denominations, and some churches have their own "garden of remembrance" on their grounds in which remains can be scattered. Some denominations, like Lutheran churches in Scandinavia, favour the urns being buried in family graves. A family grave can thus contain urns of many generations and also the urns of spouses and loved ones.

==== Methodism ====
An 1898 [[Methodist]] tract titled ''Immortality and Resurrection'' noted that "burial is the result of a belief in the [[Universal resurrection|resurrection of the body]], while cremation anticipates its annihilation."<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelley |first=William|title=The Methodist Review|year=1898|publisher=Methodist Book Concern|location=Cincinnati |page=986}}</ref> ''The Methodist Review'' noted in 1874 that "Three thoughts alone would lead us to suppose that the early Christians would have special care for their dead, namely, the essential Jewish origin of the Church; the mode of burial of their founder; and the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, so powerfully urged by the apostles, and so mighty in its influence on the [[Christian primitivism|primitive Christian]]s. From these considerations, the Roman custom of cremation would be most repulsive to the Christian mind."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Withrow|first=W.H.|year=1874|title=Withrow on the Catacombs|journal=The Methodist Review|volume=26, 34, 56|page=599}}</ref>

Since at least 1992, the [[United Methodist Church]] does not have a specific official statement that either endorses or condemns cremation, leaving the choice to individuals and families.<ref>{{cite web |title=May we consider organ donation and cremation? |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-are-the-churchs-views-on-cremation-organ-donation |website=Ask The UMC-FAQs |publisher=United Merthodist Church |access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref> Resources within the official ritual refer to the possible use of an urn and the interment of ashes.<ref>{{cite book |title=The United Methodist Book of Worship |date=1992 |publisher=United Methodist Publishing House |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=0-687-03572-4 |page=141 |chapter=Services of Death and Resurrection}}</ref>

==== Eastern Orthodox and other opposition ====
Some branches of Christianity entirely oppose cremation, including non-mainstream  Protestant groups and the Orthodox churches.<ref>{{cite web|title=CREMATION: What does God think?|url=http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/cremation.htm|first=David|last=Cloud|access-date = 3 February 2007|publisher=Way of Life Literature|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124134414/http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/cremation.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=24 January 2007}}</ref> The [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Oriental Orthodox]] Churches forbid cremation. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it cannot be avoided (when civil authority demands it, in aftermath of war or during epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause, such as the discovery of body already in the state of decomposition.<ref>Mckemy, S. (n.d.). RESPECTING THE IMAGE OF GOD An Apology for Traditional Christian Burial (pp. 5–6). Retrieved July 7, 2024, from https://www.orthodoxroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Orthodox-Christian-Burial-McKemy.pdf</ref> But when a cremation is specifically and willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from burial in a Christian cemetery and liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is perceived as a rejection of the temple of God and of the  [[dogma]] of the general resurrection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/death/cremation.aspx|title=Cremation|first=Protopresbyter George|last=Grabbe| access-date=3 February 2007}}</ref>

Most independent Bible churches, free churches, Holiness churches and those of [[Anabaptist]] faiths will not practice cremation. As one example, the [[Church of God (Restoration)]] forbids the practice of cremation, believing as the Early Church did, that it continues to be a pagan practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.churchofgod.net/cremation-a-pagan-practice/|title=Cremation – A Pagan Practice – The Church of God : Official Website|website=Churchofgod.net|access-date=3 October 2017|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003174632/http://www.churchofgod.net/cremation-a-pagan-practice/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints====
[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) has, in past decades, discouraged cremation without expressly forbidding it. In the 1950s, for example, [[Apostle (Latter Day Saints)#Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Apostle]] [[Bruce R. McConkie]]<ref>McConkie, Bruce R. ''Mormon Doctrine, A Compendium of the Gospel'', 1958</ref> wrote that "only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances" would cremation be consistent with LDS teachings.

More recent LDS publications have provided instructions for how to dress the deceased when they have received their temple endowments (and thus wear [[temple garments]]) prior to cremation for those wishing to do so, or in countries where the law requires cremation. Except where required by law, the family of the deceased may decide whether the body should be cremated, though the Church "does not normally encourage cremation."<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook 2: Administering the Church|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|access-date=12 August 2014|chapter=Selected Church Policies and Guidelines: 21.3.2 Cremation|chapter-url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies-and-guidelines/selected-church-policies?lang=eng}}</ref>

=== Hinduism ===
{{see also|Antyesti}}
<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%; border-bottom:1px #aaa solid;" heights="230">
Burning ghats of Manikarnika, Varanasi.jpg|''Burning [[ghats]]'' of Manikarnika, at [[Varanasi]], India.
Cremation at Rajghat.gif|Cremation of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] at [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials|Rajghat]], 31 January 1948. It was attended by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord]] and [[Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Lady Mountbatten]], [[Abul Kalam Azad|Maulana Azad]], [[Rajkumari Amrit Kaur]], [[Sarojini Naidu]] and other national leaders. His son [[Devdas Gandhi]] lit the pyre.<ref>[http://www.upi.com/Archives/1948/01/31/Cremation-of-Gandhis-body/1311719724408/ Cremation of Gandhi's body, JAMES MICHAELS, January 31, 1948]</ref>
Bagmati River, Pashupatinath, Nepal バグマティ川とパシュパティナート火葬場 5790.jpg|Cremation process at Pashupatinath temple.
Bagamati cremation.jpg|A Hindu cremation rite in [[Nepal]]. The [[Samskara (Indian philosophy)|samskara]] above shows the body wrapped in saffron red on a pyre.
2015-03-09Bagmati River, Pashupatinath, Nepal バグマティ川とパシュパティナート火葬場DSCF6170☆彡.JPG|Cremation taking place at Pashupatinath Temple.
</gallery>
[[Indian religions]] such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Sikhism]] practice cremation. The founder of Buddhism, the [[The Buddha|Buddha]], was cremated.

A dead adult Hindu is mourned with a cremation, while a dead child is typically buried.<ref name=olsonant/><ref name=fowler>J Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1898723608}}, pages 59–60</ref> The rite of passage is performed in harmony with the Hindu religious view that the microcosm of all living beings is a reflection of a macrocosm of the universe.<ref name=terje>Terje Oestigaard, in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial (Editors: [[Sarah Tarlow]], Liv Nilsson Stut), Oxford University Press, ISBN, pages 497–501</ref> The soul ([[Atman-Brahman|Atman]], Brahman) is the essence and immortal that is released at the ''Antyesti'' ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory in various schools of Hinduism. They consist of [[Pancha Bhuta|five elements]] – air, water, fire, earth, and space.<ref name=terje/> The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and origins.<ref name=olsonant>Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|978-0813540689}}, pages 99–100</ref><ref name=terje/><ref>{{cite book| author = Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami| title = Living With Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Culture| year = 2001| publisher = Himalayan Academy| isbn = 0-945497-98-9| page = 750 }}</ref> The roots of this belief are found in the Vedas, for example in the hymns of [[Rigveda]] in section 10.16, as follows:

{{Poemquote|
Burn him not up, nor quite consume him, Agni: let not his body or his skin be scattered,
O all possessing Fire, when thou hast matured him, then send him on his way unto the Fathers.
When thou hast made him ready, all possessing Fire, then do thou give him over to the Fathers,
When he attains unto the life that waits him, he shall become subject to the will of gods.
The Sun receive thine eye, the Wind thy ''Prana'' (life-principle, breath); go, as thy merit is, to earth or heaven.
Go, if it be thy lot, unto the waters; go, make thine home in plants with all thy members.<ref>Sanskrit: [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१६ ऋग्वेद: सूक्तं १०.१६] Wikisource;<br />[https://archive.org/stream/rigvedasanhitc06wils#page/38/mode/2up Sukta XVI – Rigveda], English Translation: HH Wilson (Translator), pages 39–40;<br />Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>}}

The final rite in the case of untimely death of a child is usually not cremation but a burial. This is rooted in Rigveda's section 10.18, where the hymns mourn the death of the child, praying to deity [[Mrtyu|Mrityu]] to "neither harm our girls nor our boys", and pleads the earth to cover, protect the deceased child as a soft wool.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/rigvedasanhitc06wils#page/46/mode/2up Sukta XVIII – Rigveda], English Translation: HH Wilson (Translator), pages 46–49 with footnotes;<br />Wendy Doniger (1981), The Rig Veda, Penguin Classics, {{ISBN|978-0140449891}}, see chapter on Death</ref>

Ashes of the cremated bodies are usually spread in rivers, which are considered holy in the Hindu practice. The [[Ganga|Ganges]] is considered to be the holiest river, and [[Varanasi]], situated on the banks of the river, is regarded as the most sacred site for cremation.

==== Balinese ====
[[File:Ubud Cremation 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Cremation of the dead by Hindus in [[Ubud]], Bali, Indonesia.]]
[[Balinese people|Balinese]] Hindu dead are generally buried inside the container for a period of time, which may exceed one [[month]] or more, so that the cremation ceremony ([[Ngaben]]) can occur on an auspicious day in the [[Balinese people|Balinese]]-[[Javanese people|Javanese]] [[Calendar]] system ("[[Saka calendar|Saka]]"). Additionally, if the departed was a court servant, member of the court or minor [[Nobility|noble]], the cremation can be postponed up to several years to coincide with the cremation of their [[Prince]]. Balinese funerals are very expensive and the body may be interred until the family can afford it or until there is a group funeral planned by the village or family when costs will be less. The purpose of burying the corpse is for the [[Decomposition|decay]] process to consume the [[fluid]]s of the corpse, which allows for an easier, more rapid and more complete cremation.

=== Islam ===
{{Main|Islamic funeral}}
Most [[Muslims]] believe Islam strictly forbids cremation. Its teaching is that cremation is not in line with the respect and dignity due to the deceased.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 9, 2001 |quote=Mutilation, and thus cremation, is strictly prohibited in Islam. |pmc=80636 |last1=Daar |first1=A. S. |title=Bioethics for clinicians: 21. Islamic bioethics. Case 1 |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=164 |issue=1 |pages=60–63 |last2=Khitamy |first2=A. |pmid=11202669 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://rogersfrankfort.com/18/Cremation-Services.html |title=Cremation Services |quote=In eastern religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism cremation is mandated, while in Islam it is strictly forbidden. |access-date=2019-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=84867|title=Cremation in Islam|website=Islamweb.net|access-date=3 October 2017}}</ref> They believe Islam has [[Islamic funeral|specific rites]] for the treatment of the body after death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://islam.about.com/cs/elderly/a/funerals.htm|title=Islamic Funeral Rites|website=Islam.about.com|access-date=15 February 2011|archive-date=18 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518141806/http://islam.about.com/cs/elderly/a/funerals.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Judaism ===

The first reference to cremation in the [[Hebrew Bible]] is found in 1 Samuel 31. In this passage, the dead bodies of [[Saul]] and his sons are burned, and their bones are buried.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cremationsocietyofphiladelphia.com/bible-and-cremation/#:~:text=The%20first%20reference%20to%20cremation,and%20their%20bones%20are%20buried. | title=Cremation & Christianity: What the Bible Says About Cremation | date=29 August 2022 }}</ref>

[[Judaism]] has traditionally disapproved of cremation in the past, as a rejection of the respect due to humans who are created in the image of God. Judaism has also disapproved of preservation of the dead by means of embalming and mummifying, as this involves mutilation of the corpse.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.vbs.org/religious/shailos.htm| title = SHAILOS & TSUVAS: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS| first = Harold M.| last = Schulweis| quote = Judaism is a tradition which affirms life. It has struggled from its inception against concentration on death and instead focuses on the celebration of God's gift of life.| access-date = 21 February 2007| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070223131128/http://www.vbs.org/religious/shailos.htm| archive-date = 23 February 2007| df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book| last = Bleich| first = J. David| title = Judaism and Healing: Halakhic Perspectives| year = 2002| publisher = KTAV Publishing House| isbn = 0-88125-741-9| pages = 219 }}</ref> Mummification was a practice of the ancient Egyptians, among whom the Israelites are said in the [[Torah]] to have lived as slaves.

Through history and up to the philosophical movements of the current era [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox]], [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]], [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]], and [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] movements in Judaism have maintained the historical practice and strict Biblical line against cremation and disapprove of it, as [[Halakha]] (Jewish law) forbids it. This halakhic concern is grounded in the literal interpretation of Scripture, viewing the body as created in the image of God and upholding a bodily [[resurrection]] as core beliefs of traditional Judaism. This interpretation was occasionally opposed by some Jewish groups such as the [[Sadducees]], who denied resurrection. The [[Tanakh]] emphasizes burial as the normal practice, for instance Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:23 (specifically commanding the burial of executed criminals), with both a positive command derived from this verse to command one to bury a dead body and a negative command forbidding neglecting to bury a dead body.<ref>Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:23</ref> Some from the generally liberal [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative Jewish]] also oppose cremation, some very strongly, seeing it as a rejection of God's design.<ref>
{{cite web| url = http://www.uscj.org/Cremation_in_the_Jew7234.html| title = Cremation in the Jewish Tradition| year = 1986| last = Shapiro |first=Rabbi Morris M. |editor=Binder, Rabbi Robert | quote = The subsequent weight of opinion is against cremation and there is no convincing reason why we should deviate from the sacred established method of burial.| work = The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070528043355/http://www.uscj.org/Cremation_in_the_Jew7234.html| archive-date = 28 May 2007| df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book| title = A Guide to Jewish Mourning and Condolence| last = Rabow| first = Jerome A.| access-date = 3 February 2006| url = http://www.vbs.org/religious/mourning.htm#The%20Roles| publisher = Valley Beth Shalom| quote = ... cremation is un-questionably unacceptable to Conservative Judaism. The process of cremation would substitute an artificial and "instant" destruction for the natural process of decay and would have the disposition of the remains subject to manipulation by the survivors rather than submit to the universal processes of nature.| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060422002219/http://www.vbs.org/religious/mourning.htm#The%20Roles| archive-date = 22 April 2006| df = dmy-all}}</ref>

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Jewish cemeteries in many European towns had become crowded and were running out of space, in a few cases cremation for the first time became an approved means of corpse disposal among emerging liberal and Reform Jewish movements in line with their general rejection of literal scripture interpretation and traditional Torah ritual laws. Current liberal movements like [[Reform Judaism]] still permit cremation, although burial remains the preferred option.<ref name="aiken" /><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/faqs/life-cycle-events/cremation.html| title = Cremation| last = Rothschild| first = Rabbi Walter| quote = [W]e have no ideological conflict with the custom which is now popularly accepted by many as clean and appropriate to modern conditions.| access-date = 3 February 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061010034033/http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/faqs/life-cycle-events/cremation.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 10 October 2006}}</ref> The [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] has issued a responsa stating that families are permitted to choose cremation, but Reform rabbis are allowed to discourage the practice. However, Reform rabbis are instructed not to refuse to officiate at cremations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ccarnet.org/ccar-responsa/arr-341-348/ |title=100. Cremation from the Jewish Standpoint |publisher=[[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] |accessdate=2023-09-16}}</ref>

In Israel religious ritual events including free burial and funeral services for all who die in Israel and all citizens including the majority Jewish population including for the secular or non-observant are almost universally facilitated through the Rabbinate of Israel. This is an Orthodox organization following historical and traditional Jewish law. In Israel  there were no formal crematories until 2004 when B&L Cremation Systems Inc. became the first [[crematory]] manufacturer to sell a retort to Israel. In August 2007, an orthodox youth group in Israel was accused of burning down the country's sole crematorium, which they see as an affront to God.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">
{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6959892.stm| title = 'Arson' at Tel Aviv crematorium| work = BBC.co.uk| access-date = 23 August 2007| date=23 August 2007}}</ref> The crematorium was rebuilt by its owner and the retort replaced.

===Baháʼí Faith===
The [[Baháʼí Faith]] forbids cremation. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to a National Spiritual Assembly states, "He feels that, in view of what 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said against cremation, the believers should be strongly urged, as an act of faith, to make provisions against their remains being cremated. Bahá'u'lláh has laid down as a law, in the Aqdas, the manner of Baháʼí burial, and it is so beautiful, befitting and dignified, that no believer should deprive himself of it."<ref>he Research Department of the Universal House of Justice (2020) BAHÁ’Í BURIAL and Related Laws: Extracts from the Bahá'í Writings. Bahá’í Distribution Services. p.99 https://bahai-library.com/pdf/compilations/compilation_bahai_burial_laws.pdf

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===Wicca===
Both burial and cremation are practiced by [[Wicca]]ns and there is no set directive on how the body should be disposed of after death. Wiccans believe that the body is merely a shell for the spirit so cremation is not viewed as irreverent or disrespectful.<ref name="Buckland">{{cite book |last1=Buckland |first1=Raymond |title=Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft—From Birth to Summerland |date=2003 |location=New York |isbn=0806538651 |page=224}}</ref> One tradition practiced by Wiccans is to mix the ashes from cremation with soil which is then used to plant a tree.<ref name="MacMorgan">{{cite book |last1=MacMorgan |first1=Kaatryn |title=All One Wicca: A Study in the Universal Eclectic Tradition of Wicca |date=2001 |publisher=Writers Club Press |location=San Jose, California |isbn=059520273X |page=113 |edition=Revised}}</ref>

===Zoroastrianism===
Traditionally, [[Zoroastrianism]] disavows cremation or burial to preclude pollution of fire or earth. The traditional method of corpse disposal is through ritual exposure in a "[[Tower of Silence]]", but both burial and cremation are increasingly popular alternatives. Some contemporary adherents of the faith have opted for cremation. [[Parsi people|Parsi]]-[[Zoroastrian]] singer [[Freddie Mercury]] of the group [[Queen (band)|Queen]] was cremated after his death.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Chinese===
[[Neo-Confucianism]] under [[Zhu Xi]] strongly discourages cremation of one's parents' corpses as [[filial piety|unfilial]]. Han Chinese traditionally practiced burial and viewed cremation as taboo and as a barbarian practice.

Traditionally, only Buddhist monks in China practiced cremation because ordinary Han Chinese detested cremation, refusing to do it. But now, the atheist Communist party enforces a strict cremation policy.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} Exceptions are made for [[Hui people|Hui]] who do not cremate their dead due to Islamic beliefs.<ref>{{cite book| author = Richard V. Weekes| title = Muslim peoples: a world ethnographic survey, Volume 1| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tiOSRAAACAAJ| access-date = 28 June 2010| year = 1984| publisher = Greenwood Press| isbn = 0-313-23392-6| page = 334 }}</ref>

The minority [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]] and their [[Manchu people|Manchu]] descendants originally practiced cremation as part of their culture. They adopted the practice of burial from the Han, but many Manchus continued to cremate their dead.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China|first=Mark C.|last=Elliott|edition=illustrated, reprint|year=2001|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&pg=PA264|page=264|isbn=0804746842|access-date=10 March 2014| ref = {{harvid}} }}</ref>