Christianity View of Suicide - Essay Sample

Introduction

More people die from suicide homicide in the current world. Suicide is the act of deliberately causing one's death. Suicide is one cause leading to many deaths among people. The suicide rate tends to increase every year. Suicide is often caused by despair, which frequently attributes to a mental disorder like bipolar, depression, schizophrenia, and drug or alcohol abuse. Christians view suicide as an act of blasphemy or sinful act. However, in the modern church, Cristian also rejects this act, whereby some churches teach differently from others on the act. A problem facing Christians who wish to arrive at a moral sympathetic of rashness is that the bible has given slight details indirectly and directly. Most probably, suicide was a rare event in the ancient Jewish religion.

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The lack of information in the scriptural supervision was unruly in lieu of the initial church leaders who existed indebted to lure upon a fusion of rabbinic and pagan custom in expressing their opinion. Looking clearly, we view that the church's insolence in many areas in shaping society. The society, also characteristics to suicide have modification intensely and still changing. Thus, there lacks constant of the matter that is the reason Christians themselves devise a extensive variety of views on suicide and the reason numerous Christians entities to it as of an emotional viewpoint but still get it tough to around why they justify or not in their opposition in the scriptural dispute. The main aim of this study is to analyze and present the view of suicide in Christianity religion.

Early Views of Suicide

The western cultural heirloom in portion Judaic and Hellenic. Suicide, abortion, and infanticide were extensively practiced in the Roman domain but was mainly popular among the elite. The slaves were prohibited from taking their lives as they were assets for their bosses. Contrary to popular euthanasia, suicide and belie never enjoyed extensive endorsement in the antique Roman domain. The Pythagoreans, who instrumented in the Promise of Hippocratic format, remained conflicting to all systems of recklessness. So remained Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato. The objective that Plato viewed was mainly spiritual, Aristotle's political besides economic. Aristotle's alleged the accomplishment of the humanoid procedure to be of inordinate moral meaning, the obliteration of human lifecycle at stages, thus was ethically penalties and aggressive for undertaking so ought to be classified to the grade too that people have been stretched. When committing suicide, people were also committing an offense. Plato's view was that people did not create themselves, and human beings are God's property; it is consequently presuming of people's desert stations before being pleased.

This supplemented the dominant Judaic assessment resulting from the rabbinic clarification from Jeremiah that states, "A man's Life is not is own, it is hence for man to direct his steps" and in Ezekiel which states that "for every one living belong to me-the father as well as the son." On the other hand, the Talmud states that God determines death period, and hence no one should anticipate what God has planned on someone's life. The holiness of life that is in the Old Testament, ended suicide as an absurd action ant it was one of the most real events in the current primeval society. Suicide appears in the sociological terms inversely relative to adversity and hardship.

Biblical Reference on Suicide

Excluding the Apocrypha suicide, there are six more suicides in the Scriptural, namely; Samson (Jdg 16:28-31), Abimelech (Jdg 9:50-57), Saul's armor-bearer (1 Sa 31:5), Judas Iscariot (Mt 27:3-5), Saul (1 Sa 31:1-4), Zimri (1 Ki 16:17-19), Ahithophel (2 Sa 17:23). All of the cases apart from that of Samson, whose act was considerably and thus condoned to be a military sacrifice. Samson committing suicide was also considered a way of ending the humiliation when his life continued to experience suffering. Suicide was a response to his spoiled ego, a punishment for his enemies who blinded him blind. Saul's amour-carrier, though the author did not destine the suicidal case, the individual was considered as a bad man.

Furthermore, there is the vibrant insinuation in some circumstances that the Lord sentenced their demise. Like in the case of Abimelech, who had killed seventy of his brothers, his death was interpreted as revenge from God. 'Therefore, God reimbursed the mischief that Abimelech had done to his father by killing seventy of his comrades. The murder of King Elah of Israel was due to Ahithophel conspiring with Absolom to overthrow Zimri and David, 'thus he died due to the sins he had stanch, doing the wicked in the lord eyes and rambling in the wrong customs of Jeroboam besides the sins he caused to pledge and the sin he had committed.' Finally, in the New Testament, Judas Iscariot destined himself after betraying Jesus Christ 'I have transgressed by betraying the guiltless, the evil.' The reason Judas committed suicide was he viewed himself as a wicked man.

Jewish Suicide Tradition

The Jews who lived in the period of Jesus Christ regarded suicide as a monstrous sin, is explained by Josephus that the bodies of the individuals who had committed suicide were not buried till the sun had set. They were not given funeral rites as the other people. Talmud's section recognized as Misnah (utmost confirmed in the first era BC) is openly antagonistic to suicide uttering; 'at any time an individual of unconscious awareness takes his individual lifespan, he will not be concerned with at any time. Completed beside the Jewish traditions of aggression to suicide, they had pledge-tradition whereby suicide happened for religious details, containing bulk perversity was viewed with reverence. This reverence is unstated in the setting of the policy of Kiddush, i.e., ' beatification of the holy name' that explained that suicide could be adequate or even worshipping God someone avoided being a vehicle for a violation of God's word in occurrences like slavery, involuntary religious discussions, and rape.

The Early Church

Even though there were no Jewish-Christians Apostles who spoke on anything concerning perversity, it is clear that the initial church adopted the Jewish ways. Conflicting, it attributes to the sacredness of living the excitability of suicide for spiritual explanations. For an instant, the non-Jewish leaders like Clement and Polycarp in the second generation wrote to the conclusion of the first era uttered a pivotal opposition to abortion and infanticide that was not Roman or Greek in origin. Although the initial church observed martyrdom, the border amid it and suicide attested to remain narrower. Tertullian strengthened and encouraged the prisoner Christians who waited for the martyrdom, giving an example of famous suicides like Cleopatra, Lucretia, and Dido. A woman by the name of Domnina and her daughters drown themselves to evade rape. Jerome, too, accepted suicide for spiritual aims and never condemned severities that damaged that constitution that considered slow suicide.

Suicide Offense Against God

Suicide I one of the most common offenses against God. However, in the current world, this argument only bends to people who believe in God as God is the creator of all creation, including human beings created in his likeness and image. When individuals end life or damage life, they are also damaging God's creation, as life is a gift grunted by God. Similarly, ‘God is the owner of life and the Lord of life too’. However, most human beings do not experience life as a gift. They view life as a common thing that happens every day and as the owner of the facility. Regarding creation, this tension is mainly allocated so that ownership of life triumphs as a gift. Consequently, the proprietorship of life is placed in contextual besides the right of God originates to the front. Contingent on God's appearance, the individual will remorse the possession above life has precedence above the life gift appeal.

Secondly, suicide is an offense before God and breaks the fifth commandment in the Old Testament "You should not murder or kill." Usually, the phrase "do not kill" is commonly used, but recently the transition has changed to "you should not murder," which is favored as translators and exegetes find it precise. The differences in the translation are of great reputation in the moral replication. The phrase 'kill' defines the action taken to end someone's life, whereas 'murder' adds somewhat to that action, which is killing that is not vindicated. The unfounded personality is mostly determined by the motive or the intention and by the context or circumstances. This dissimilarity is too established in Christian custom. This distinction has been practiced in killing in war, killing of mortified people, and killing of defense. In the case of suicide, the action is not considered itself but the circumstances and intention. The moral cognitive can be practical to suicide. In specific situations and with a definite aim, the killing of an individual could be vindicated. Likely, those situations and their intention do not repute finishing life as a prejudiced killing for persons with psychiatric defects. However, some exclusions defend killing, the sacredness of life relics, and essential Christian significance. Christian enthused standards, although, are merely obligatory on persons who admit Christian reliance.

Suicide and Divine Forgiveness

Suicide is a big sin amongst humanity as the individual who sins does not get a chance to repent or confess. However, the Bible is not clear if the suicide sin is forgivable or dose; it suggests that suicide unpardonable sin. The only unpardonable sins are committed by individuals who permanently and willfully discard the love of Jesus Christ granted by God (John 3:36). And with no faith, reliance, and confident trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, an individual will face the wrath of God in the hereafter. It is true to argue that God never forgives people who take their own lives. This assertion of clemency in no way overlooks suicide, which is a countless sin. Nonetheless, Jesus' sacrificial demise expiates for every human sin in the future, past, and present (Romans 3:25). However, God will eliminate his merciful love as a mentally ill person; desperation obligates an awful self-destructive action (Romans 8).

Conclusion

Christian views on suicide have altered greatly over time and previously reached no stable point. Suicide is, however, considered to be a sin. Suicide was something that was not just experienced by the wrongdoers but was somewhat proficient by some of the Bible info clearly obtainable in a promising bright one directly of Job, Paul, Elijah, and David. This would cause Christians to condemn Christians who experience suicidal thoughts and despair. Thus, God does not test human beings beyond their own limits. Moreover, the right to live is a contract between a man and God that is not negotiable. This is what distinguishes the voluntary death that Jesus had on the cross, which was different from normal suicide, since God had the power to end his lifetime in that method. Today, Christians face dilemmas concerning their life and the way to live, which gives them the idea of committing suicide. Through the Bible, Christians gain advice that prevents them from taking such actions.

Bibliography

Bazley, Renée, and Kenneth Pakenham. "Suicide prevention training for Christian faith-based organizations using acceptance and commitment therapy: a pilot controlled trial of the HOLLY program." Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 11 (2019): 6-14

Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987.