The Suicide Diaries: Part Deux

Written May 5, 2005

June and me are at Crossroads 77, a Christian Community Center. It’s a cool place---literally. We came here for the primary reason of spending some time with God somewhere air-conditioned. The heat kills. They have this prayer room here with carpets and throw pillows and candles and mini fountains. It’s such a serene place, perfect for catching a few moments with the Lord.

Reason # 2: They have this awesome library. Imagine, row after row of Christian literature and then some, all in a cozy reading environment. Since I’m doing this (dare I call it?) research on suicide, I figured here’s a good place to dig up on some information. There’s got to be a book that deals on suicide somewhere in this paradise (more on my “Glory! Glory!” reaction to any place filled with books later).

Well, I went scanning the shelves, which seems so easily said but in reality it’s a real battle: Must…not…get…this or that book just yet. Priorities Kristina!!!

Found this book by Albert Hsu entitled Grieving A Suicide. In its quest to provide bereaved people comfort regarding their loss of a loved one that died at their own hands, the book studies the moral and Biblical implications of suicide. Since I was not in need of the counseling part, I skipped right to the second chapter. My notes:

Christianity’s stance against suicide can be traced back to the influence of the theologian Augustine… he declared that suicide was never justifiable, even for those who killed themselves to avoid being raped during the sack of Rome. Suicide, for Augustine, was self-murder and thus a violation of the sixth commandment.

By the sixth and seventh centuries, the church had officially codified its opposition to suicide. 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas wrote “Suicide is always a mortal sin, as being contrary to the moral law…” The Church excommunicated suicides and forbade Christian funerals for them. In medieval times, suicides’ corpses were publicly desecrated by civil authorities.

Most citizens of medieval Christendom believed that to die unforgiven without confession of sins, leads to damnation or at least purgatory. Based on such understanding, many Christians throughout church history have considered suicide an unforgivable sin because it allows no possibility of repentance.

Does they mean repentance as in confession with the priest in attendance… I think they call that the Sacrament for the Sick. Anyway, this strikes me as a little silly. People don’t ask priests to attend their suicides… And for that matter, what happens to those who die in accidents?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that to expect complete repentance in the final moment of our life is unrealistic, observing “Many Christians have died sudden deaths without having repented of their sins.”

Thank you. So much for the history and discussion of the morality of suicide. As for suicide in the Bible, Hsu continues:

The Bible records seven acts of suicide: Abimelech (Judges 9:52-54), Samson (Judges 16:28-31), King Saul and his armor bearer (1 Samuel 31:4-6), Ahithopel (2 Samuel 17:23), King Zimin (1 Kings 16:18) and Judas Iscariot (Matthew 27:3-5). All these accounts are straightforward narratives; none offers any particular comment on the act of suicide… Even though Scripture does not explicitly condemn suicides, the narratives all depict the suicide’s fate negatively. The stories were meant to be instructive… portraying biblical suicides not as examples to be followed but as cautionary warnings of how not to go. While Scripture casts all suicides in negative light, this does not mean that suicide always eternally separates the victim from God. Samson’s suicidal death did not exclude him from the list of the faithful in Hebrews 11.

Interestingly enough, the Bible also records stories of at least seven people who despaired of life but did not go the way of suicide: Rebekah (Genesis 27:46), Rachel (Genesis 30:1), Moses (Numbers 11:10-15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), Job (Job 6:8-13), Jonah (Jonah 4:3) and Paul (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). These are positive role models for us…we should follow their example.

Hsu writes in Hope for the Suicide, addressing those who grieve a suicide:

…understand that salvation and forgiveness of sins are more a relational matter of being a follower of God than a transactional matter of repenting of every misdeed. Many Christian traditions agree that a person will not be judged on the nature of his or her death but rather on the matter of his or her life. One act does not necessarily in validate a person’s entire life, especially if an act of desperation is completely uncharacteristic of that person’s demonstrated moral identity. God will be fair. He is the righteous Judge. God, infinite in knowledge, knows all of [their] circumstances. He knows [the person’s] heart and commitment to faith. He will respond to [the person’s] life and death with complete fairness and understanding.

The miracle of salvation is that God can forgive even the most heinous sinner (Here, Hsu mentions some examples). No one is beyond hope. Suicide might be a sin, but it’s a sin like all other sins. It doesn’t necessarily mean that this person is in hell.

Christianity affirms that at conversion God forgives all our sins --- past, present and future, once and for all. Christian salvation is not dependent on whether a person was able to “wipe the slate clean” at the moment of death, but rather whether the person was walking in relationship with God in life.

From “Is Suicide Unforgivable?”, Christianity Today, July 10, 2000:

Theologian Lewis Smedes was asked, “Is suicide unforgivable?” his response was, “Will Jesus welcome home a believer who died at her own hands? I believe He will, tenderly and loving. My Biblical basis? It is the hope-giving promise of Romans 8:32 that neither life nor death can separate a believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

Smedes points out that most people who choose suicide do not so much choose death as stumble into it from a steep slope of despair. Many who kill themselves are not people sticking their fists in the face of God. These are children who look at their own faces and hate what they see. We should worry less about whether suicides go to heaven and more about how to help the suicidal find hope and meaning.

Okay, have a lot to go chew on now. Reminder to myself: Look up those bible characters and study them. What made them do it? What kept them from the act? The last guy, Smedes, has a very good point. Lord, keep me sane and clinging like crazy to You.