The cremation of the wife of the former Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Rt. Rev. Manasses Kuria, shocked and confounded many African Christians. It brought to the fore the question of whether the practice is compatible with African Christianity and culture.
Cremation originated with ancient Greeks who considered it a fitting honour for their national heroes. Because of their belief in the immortality of the soul, cremation was believed to release the soul from the prison of the material body and purify it on its journey to the heavens. The Greeks introduced the practice to the western world around 1000 BC. The practice continued in the Roman Empire until about 100 AD when it was stopped, perhaps because of the spread of Christianity.
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