Why do Christians believe burning your cut off hair is a sin?

Question

I heard somewhere that they believe the hair is needed when they die, but I don't understand why.

Answer 1

We don't.You may want to check your sources for this nonsense.

Answer 2

Hi there. I am a Christian, (have been for 20 years) and my husband is a pastor. There is no biblical evidence that burning your cut hair is a sin, and we've never even heard of that before, so you must be thinking about a different religion.

If you'd like to know more about Christians, though, visit www.theseeksite.com. Make sure your speakers are on!

Good luck with your quest for knowledge.

Answer 3

My goodness I've never heard such a thing. There are some who believe that women shouldn't cut their hair because "a woman's hair is her glory and her covering. Meaning by nature women usually have longer hair. And a man taking a specific vow unto God called the nazarite (not nazerene see Numbers 6) vow were not to cut their hair so that people could see them and know they had taken this vow. This is why Samson had such long hair. It wasn't his hair that gave him strength God Gave him that strength the hair was just a symbol of the vow he took and when it was cut off it was a symbol of his disobedience to God.
Christians believe that when we are brought to heaven we we will be given "glorified bodies" meaning that these frail and flawed bodies of ours that fall to age disease and are tempted so easily will be gone and we will be given Holy and perfect bodies. I've never heard of burning cut off hair as being a sin. The only reason I can see that... ok how do I explain this. In the Old testament Tattoos are forbidden because at the time the only reason to get a tattoo was to show your allegance to a pagan god. Sooo if there is something in there about burning your hair the only reason it would be forbidden it would be because some pagan religion required that as a show of faith in some god. As far as your hair being needed when you die... well think about it as most people get older they loose their hair. And when someone is Ill thier hair is usually effected. If we needed our hair in heaven... we'd keep it till we die naturally... instead of nature showing the body was dying by the loss of hair... does that make sense?

At the very least you shouldn't burn hair cuz well it stinks :D

Answer 4

I believe that it is not a generality of Christianity, per se , but a belief adopted by some sects of the Christian and Catholic church. These beliefs were tied into occultism and voodoo where such practices as burning hair and nail clippings were prevalent ritualistic rites. There are other religions that also prohibit such practices for similar reasons.

Answer 5

Sin is what you call it when you do something bad to another person.

When you burn your hair off of your own body, you're hurting yourself. Well, unless you like that sort of thing.

So I don't get the sin part.

However, there are some verses in the OT that say things like, "don't trim the corners of your hair", "don't get tattoos", etc. These were statements made to Jews advising them how to live. Christians aren't obligated to follow the Jewish law, but some do.

It's unfortunate they would try to make you feel guilty about it.

Answer 6

Hm. So far the only thing I have come across about burning hair was an Eastern practice of *always* burning hair so that it could not be picked up by mice or birds and made into nests, which could cause headache. http://home.swipnet.se/roland/burninghair.html

The only other reference was a claim supposedly by Madelyn Murray O'Hare's son that his grandmother read tarot cards and burnt human hair to send demons after people. I'd take it with a grain of salt, but here it is: http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/whatkind.htm

Hope that helps. You've certainly got me curious now.

Answer 7

That's interesting. I'm a Christian and I've never heard of burning cut hair as a sin. No, when I'm dead I'm pretty sure I won't need my hair. I bet it smells bad if you burn it anyway.

Answer 8

The only time burning of hair is mentioned in the bible, God told Ezekiel to burn his hair as a sign that Jerusalem would be burned to the ground. No other references to hair burning exist for Christians. Someone is pulling your leg.

Answer 9

I'm a Christian and I do not believe this nor have I ever even heard this....where do these things come from?

I also wish people would say "Why do some Christians believe..." because like every other group of people on the planet we are not all alike...we are all individuals and have different views on things.

Answer 10

This is not a christian custom but if my memory serves me correctly, many cultures buried their dead with their hair or cut off hair in a pouch so black magic practitioners could not use it to control or curse the deceased.

Answer 11

Never heard that, who would want to burn hair anyway? My mom is a bible study teacher and used to cut my hair all the time as a kid and never once burnt it.