I Don't Know

Recently the comedian/actor Robin Williams committed suicide. This has set off intense discussion in the United States about suicide, depression, and several other mental health issues. And, of course, those in the religious community are right in the middle of the discussion.

There is little unanimity or consensus among declared believers about some of these issues. One of the most argued questions is, “What if a born-again believer commits suicide?”

The fast response is that a born-again believer would not commit suicide because suicide indicates despair and hopelessness and a failure to trust in God to be in control of any situation. Also, suicide can be understood as the sin of self murder.

Early Christians believed that suicide was blasphemous. In the sixth century, suicide was declared to be a secular crime. Statement  2281 of the Cathechism of the Roman Catholic Church states that “Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.” Many, but not all, Protestants would agree that a true believer will never commit suicide.

There are numerous questions which have arisen out of this discussion.

1.     Are not all of our sins washed clean forever at the moment of our salvation?

2.     If one is truly born again, can they ever be lost again?

3.     Is despair truly a rejection of Jesus and a rejection of our salvation or merely an intense emotional state? Can despair possibly be the result of a physiological imbalance and, therefore, out of our control?

4.     Repentence for suicide is not possible because one is dead.

5.     If, as some assert, there is an after-life period of Purgatory, can one atone for the sin of suicide?

6.     What if the suicide is to prevent torture or to escape a painful, slow death by disease? Some women have committed suicide to avoid rape.

7.     What about participation in mass suicide to prevent oneself from being forced to violate one’s religious beliefs?

8.     Can suicide be a form a mental illness?

There are seven suicides presented in the Bible but truly definitive answers to all the questions raised by  suicide do not seem to be presented. One’s personal understanding on this issue would seem to fall into the category of a persuasion or opinion, often strongly held.

Some persons insist on a definitive answer to every subject as if any ambiguity threatens to collapse the entire “house of cards.” I think this belies a lack of grounding on their part. Christianity is not an unstable house of cards. There is an extremely strong rational and historical basis for our faith. I would suggest that they read Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict (1972) and other Christian apologetic works.   

“I don’t know” is a valid answer to some questions.  God is just and He knows the answers.

An Armed Man Walks Into Your Church ...

Last Sunday a man armed with an assault rifle and multiple other weapons walked into a church service in Fairhope Alabama (USA) and sat down, with his wife, in one of the pews.  Naturally this stirred some alarm among the congregation and someone used their cell phone to notify the local police.

The man was arrested and carried to the local jail, but his wife was not charged.  The man was found to have controlled drugs in his possession and had numerous other unregistered weapons in his home.

How would your church respond, especially if the man had begun to shoot?  What about armed men attempting to steal the morning’s collections?

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/jul/02/6/armed-daphne-man-arrested-church-ar-4073647/

The case has caused a lot of discussion.  Here are some of the opinions:

1.     Armed guards should be posted at the doors of the church.

2.     There should be no armed guards, but the church members should carry concealed weapons.

3.     The church should affirm its refusal to allow weapons within its premises.

4.     The church should provide self-defense classes.

5.     The church should discuss the issue and decide on evacuation routes and defensive measures.

6.     Arming the church will probably result in accidental shootings.

7.     Totally banning weapons may result in legal challenges.

8.     Do we really want to kill someone in our church?

9.     Does the Christian have a right to self-defense?

10. Would church members reject being “saved” by an armed security guard?

11. It is better to have an electronic security and alarm system than an armed guard.

12. Should Christians be entirely pacifist?

13. Is there a difference between “murder” and “kill”?

14. Could not fifty unarmed men (or women) overpower one man with a gun?

15. 2 Corinthians 2:10

16. Should we fear man or fear God? Proverbs 29:25

17. We are called to be an example of Jesus.

18. Jesus was never armed.

What do you think? 

Arguments Within the Church Over Homosexuality

Yesterday, I posted about newspaper columnist Leonard Post having insulted conservative, traditional Christians by, at least indirectly, saying that they are bigots for opposing same-sex marriage.  Homosexuality is one of the many subjects which cause intense arguments within the Church.  My understanding is that the subject of homosexuality falls under the category of a Persuasion.  Very few doctrines should fall under the category of Conviction, doctrines over which we should utterly break all fellowship and, in effect, to use an old theological term, declare anathema (ἀνάθεμα, Greek for "cursed" or "accursed.").  Anathema applies to the doctrine or attitude, not to the person, who, of couse, can change their mind.

Convictions: Examples include the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the Virgin Birth of Christ, and salvation by grace through faith; matters crucial to salvation. Acts 10:1-35 is an example of a conviction level argument, over the doctrine of salvation by grace and not by works.  These are matters over which Christians must be willing to fight and permanently separate if necessary.


Persuasions: Examples include millenial views, the age of the Earth, the exact nature of Heaven and Hell.  In Romans 14:5, Paul talks about Persuasion level beliefs, in which each man may "be fully persuaded in his own mind" but remain in unity with other believers who disagree. "Persuaded" or "convinced" is a translation of plerophoreistho (πληροφορείσθω), from the verb plerophoreisthein, "to be fufilled," "to be fully convinced." The believers may choose to worship separately while recognizing that the others are also Christian, because we "all stand before the judgement seat of God." 


Opinions: Individual preference. Examples include the best Bible translation, the proper model for church government, whether or not to use music in church services, whether or not women should "cover" their heads in church, whether or not to use real wine in the Lord's Supper, where Cain got his wife, should Christians smoke. Paul speaks of this level of belief in 1 Corinthians 7.