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Question 327

I'm not a believer but my dad was upset I had my son cremated. I thought the bible says ashes to ashes dust to dust         

 

Answer to Question 327

 

In the Book of Genesis we are told that God “formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his face a breath of life, and the man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7) When man fell from grace God told Adam that he would die and that he would “return unto the ground out of which thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return.” (Gen 3:19) According to which translation of the Bible someone reads, sometimes the word is dust and at other times earth, but they both mean the same. Nowhere in the Bible does it say “Ashes to ashes”. This is from the Anglican Church burial service found in the Common Book of Prayer and is only supposed to be poetic and not to be taken literally as meaning that the body should be burnt to ashes.