Suicide

King Saul committed suicide and [the spirit of?] Samuel had told him the day before that he and his sons would join Samuel, wherever that was, I assume the waiting place of the righteous...

I don't hold to suicide being an unforgivable sin, at all. After homicide I would say it's the next most selfish act.

 

There are those Christ says he will be ashamed of in front of his father. Yet it doesn't say he will deny them.

I think suicide is a selfish act, as well. It is the 100% polar opposite of "girding oneself up", and "be of good cheer". I can't think of a biblical account of suicide as a noble act. (I don't consider Sampson's a "suicide").

 

Scriptures do not teach that suicide is an unforgivable sin.

There is one unforgivable sin. It is blasphemy, ie denial of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which means you are an unbeliever. Unbelievers are not saved.

They remain outside of Christ.

Everyone else is inside of Christ. His past act forgave any sin, no matter when it is committed. I do not even know that one can consider suicide a sin. That's one due for personal asking - it is a final act of desperation when a person is, without question, not capable of clear thought.

Telling people it is an act that will send them to hell may cause some people to reconsider suicide out of fear of hell. It has in some cases. A number of people believe that. I wish I did, simply because it does make people stop and think.

I wish there was something just as strong to cause suicidal people to stop long enough to reconsider, long enough to get help, just long enough to...not. I know I'd personally want to go to my Savior at anyone else's timing but my own. I may not have much to offer him, but at the least, that would be the one thing I could say I did, you know what I mean? I made it, didn't let circumstances win the battle for my mind, I kept breathing. That's a little bit of how I thought of things when I was of that mindset long long ago, but I also, at that time, had been taught people who killed themselves go to hell and that was also in the back of my mind.

I did do a study on it, maybe 10 years ago, but I don't know where it went. It may have been posted on this board. It was somewhere online. If I find it, I'll post it. It went into suicides in the bible and such and directly addressed it as not being an unforgiven sin.

 

There is only one sin that is unforgivable and that is rejecting Jesus as Lord. I do not think a Christian would commit suicide on a normal basis.

 

I don't hold that suicide is the unforgiveable sin.

I do think that some who do have some mental illness.

 

The Catholic religion came up with the idea that suicide is unforgivable--along with other false teachings they have, but the only thing mentioned in scripture as unforgivable is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit--whatever that may entail.

 

As an attempted suicide over the course of much of my life (and thank the good Lord I was lousy at it), I know that most folk who are suicidal are definitely not of sound mind (ie. sane). I believe the good Lord who can see in men's hearts will make the correct judgement even if people do not.

 

Amongst the stoic's it considered a noble end....Google Cato the younger.