Cremation is no new idea. For long centuries it was the almost universal custom of Aryan peoples—Indians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Teutons, etc.—to burn their dead. In Britain Druids, Celts, and the early British burned their dead. The practice of cremation was suppressed gradually in favour of Christian burial, where Christianity took root. The teaching of the truth of the resurrection of the body, and the accountability to God resulting therefrom, brought about this change.

In the writer’s young days cremation was quite unknown in this country. Today it seems as if the tide is turning, and cremation likely to supersede Christian burial. Its advocates hint that the day is coming when cremation will be made obligatory by the law of the land, and Christian burial forbidden.

Cross Reach Publications