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.
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