Once we establish that the Jehovah’s Witnesses eventually accepted cremation, the next question is one that deserves much more attention: Who had the authority to decide that cremation was acceptable for Jehovah’s Witnesses? This question matters because the Bible itself does not contain a statement saying, “Cremation is acceptable for Christians.” The position was reached through an interpretation of Scripture and was then published as the official position of the Watch Tower organization. That distinction is important.

The 1965 Watchtower article is significant because it did not merely report what individual Witnesses happened to believe about cremation. It appeared in The Watchtower, the movement’s principal doctrinal publication, under the heading “Questions From Readers.” The article asked directly, “Is cremation proper for Christians?” and acknowledged that burial was the customary practice among the ancient Hebrews. It nevertheless concluded that the Scriptures continued no express law requiring burial. The article also referred to the account of king Saul and his sons, whose bodies were burned and whose bones were subsequently buried. From this, the Watchtower reasoned that cremation could not automatically be considered wrong. (JW library)

The conclusion was therefore not that the Bible commanded cremation. It was that the Bible did not expressly forbid it. That distinction is fundamental. The Watchtower was making an interpretive judgment: because Scripture did not explicitly prohibit cremation, the organization concluded that an individual Christiaan could choose it.

That raises the next historical question: Who had the authority to make that determination for Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the world? The answer requires separating three things:

1. The Hebrew Bible (Tenakh)
2. The Watch Tower Society as a legal corporation
3. The Governing Body responsible for spiritual and doctrinal direction

1. The Watch Tower corporation was not itself the ultimate spiritual authority

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania was a legal corporation established to serve the religious movement. Its corporate board had legal responsibilities, but Jehovah’s Witnesses eventually made a very explicit distinction between that corporation and the body responsible for spiritual direction. That distinction was formally emphasized at the Society’s annual meeting on October 1,1971. A subsequent Watchtower article explained that the Governing Body was different from the legal corporation and that the corporation was a legal instrument rather than the Scriptural entity responsible for spiritual oversight. This distinction matters when discussing cremation because the 1965 cremation determination predates the 1971 formal separation of the Governing Body from the Pennsylvania corporation. At that earlier time, the movement’s organizational and spiritual leadership were much more closely intertwined.

This creates an important historical qualification when discussing the 1965 cremation decision. We should not simply say: “The governing Body decided in 1965 that cremation was acceptable.” That would impose the later organizational structure too neatly upon an earlier period. A more historically accurate statement is: In 1965, the Watchtower organization published an official interpretation declaring that cremation was permissible for Christians. The organizational distinction between the Governing Body and the legal Watch Tower corporation was formally clarified later, particularly in 1971. That distinction does not weaken the argument. It makes it more precise.

What Kind of Authority Was Being Exercised?

The cremation articled did not claim that God had directly revealed a new command concerning cremation. Instead, the organization examined Biblical examples and principles and reached a conclusion about what Christians could properly do. This is particularly significant because Jehovah’s Witnesses have historically placed enormous importance upon accepting the spiritual direction provided through their organization. The organization therefore was not merely offering an academic opinion about funeral practices. It was establishing what it’s members could regard as acceptable conduct. The 1965 article effectively moved cremation from something that had historically been viewed with considerable reservation within the movement into the category of a personal or family decision.

Later publications made this position even more explicit. Jehovah’s Witnesses came to teach that neither burial or cremation is commanded by the Bible and that the decision can be left to the individual or family, provided that no Biblical principle is violated.

To be continued…