SUICIDE AND CHRISTIAN TEACHING 

The thought of suicide brings shock and horror. Why would anyone want to end his own life? What brings a person to such a desperate act?

Unless it is forced upon our attention, suicide is very likely something we avoid thinking and talking about. We try to ignore the fact that suicides occur. Yet suicide is one of the leading causes of death among young people in the United States and the statistics seem to be rising. But suicide statistics, as shocking and frightening as they are, are only the “tip of the iceberg”; they include only known suicides and do not account for some suicides that are reported as accidents, cases in which suicide is suspected but not proved, or the many unsuccessful suicide attempts.

In the climate of our society we can no longer continue to ignore suicide. It is not the rarity we would like to believe it is. It is becoming more and more a considered option and is even gaining a degree of respectability. There are organizations advocating the right of an individual to take his own life; there are even “how-to” books to help the would-be suicide choose the most effective way of killing himself! More and more people of all ages and in all circumstances think about suicide at one time or another in their lives; this includes young adults, teenagers and even children! 

As evidence of the idea that even children think about suicide, I need only to look at my own son, Jimmy. Jimmy and I took a walk one beautiful, sunny day. Spring was in full bloom. The crocuses had faded and died, but the tulips and daffodils still held their blossoms proudly tall. The flowering crabapples, the redbuds, and the magnolia lent softness, color and fragrance to the sky. The sun was warm, the breeze was chill, and the birds were singing. In the middle of all this, my five-year-old son turned to me and said, “Mommy, I wish I could die!”

“Why in the world would you want to die? Look at the beautiful world around us; why would you want to leave it?”

“I don’t like this world. It has tornadoes and hurricanes. There are storms and floods. People get hurt and get killed. Why did God make a world like this?”

Jimmy has long been aware of the dual nature of creation – its beauty, joy and laughter; its destruction, fear and horror. Fall and winter follow every summer; the most beautiful summer day can quickly yield to a frightening thunderstorm; the spring flowers already carry the beginning of their own death. We are powerless in the face of the fury of a tornado, a raging flood, or a howling windstorm. Horror and destruction can take over our day, and we are powerless to stop it or even to understand it. Nature is capricious; she smiles on us one minute and frowns the next. Without warning, natural forces can sweep away all we care about and have worked for, all our dreams and plans; this destruction is meaningless and random.

I can identify with Jimmy’s feelings and his statement. I too have rebelled at living in a world where sixty-mile-an-hour winds can obliterate the hard work of many years, where the twenty-six-year-old mother of two toddlers can get leukemia and die within six weeks, where men and women can be treated as objects and become pawns in the power struggle between opposing political groups. Sometimes I feel like telling God, “If this is the best You can do with this world, count me out! I refuse to participate in Your creation if You can’t manage it any better than this!” 

THE FRAME OF MIND 

Usually these feelings are momentary and pass. Often they are accompanied by other signs and feelings of depression. Yet there are times in the lives of many when the desperation and hopelessness of personal life seem echoed in the meaninglessness and absurdity of the universe and the only sensible solution seems to be to end it all – to die and be rid once for all of problems, frustrations, helplessness and despair. 

The person who chooses suicide is generally in this frame of mind. Everything is hopeless, out of control, and in a mess. His personal life seems futile and useless, without meaning or direction; the world itself is a confusing mixture of good and bad, with the bad seeming to overpower and outweigh the good. Suicide seems the only possible solution, a lone sane act in an insane world.

In my opinion, suicide is always a decision reached in an “unsound mind.” It is an _expression of acute mental anguish. It is a distortion and misapprehension of facts. The weight of despair is so heavy that no gleam of hope or possibility of change can be felt or even imagined by the person. It often represents a tension between the feelings “I’m no good, and everyone would be better off without me” and “I don’t deserve to suffer like this, and I can’t stand it any longer.”

Suicide is a final, violent protest by an individual – a protest against anonymity, against meaninglessness and absurdity in his life and his universe, against frustration, helplessness and loss of control. It is an attempt to regain control in some way; it is an attempt “to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them” (Hamlet’s Soliloquy). It can also be an angry statement roughly equivalent to the child playing ball who says, “If you won’t play my way, I’ll just take my ball and go home!” At times there may be a component of revenge in the suicide: “When I’m dead and gone, then you’ll be sorry!”

Suicidal thoughts are frequently a part of severe depression. Both depression and the thoughts of suicide may recur in some people. Jimmy’s _expression, “I wish I could die,” has been uttered at times other than that springtime walk with me; he has even asked how he could kill himself. (I have told him very firmly that this is information I refuse to give him in that I believe it would be dangerous to him!) Some people are more prone than others to consider suicide because of their tendency to depression; this tendency also shows some evidence of running in families, possibly being an inherited trait. 

THE SCRIPTURAL VIEW 

I am utterly appalled by some of the current attempts to make suicide an acceptable option, even a “reasonable” choice. This view necessarily accepts the suicidal person’s view of the world and his own life as meaningless, hopeless, and absurd; it agrees with him that this is the “only way out” of a situation.

This is completely opposed to the scriptural view of the world, man, and God. The Bible responds to the suicidal person by saying, “Hang in there! There’s hope for you and for the world as well.”

***Quote from Job???

God is presented in Scripture as the Author and Giver of life, its Sustainer, and the One Who determines its longevity. Scripture also offers many examples and statements that indicate there is a meaningful universe, plan and design in a person’s life and value and purpose even in experiences of pain, anguish and suffering. The Bible repudiates the statement, “I can’t take any more, so I’m going to end it all,” with the assurance that God never allows us more difficulty or trouble than we can bear and that He Himself can and will provide us with grace and strength to endure

Although I know of no place in the bible where suicide as a particular instance of killing is specifically prohibited, the body of scriptural teaching opposes the view that it is an option for the Christina. This interpretation of the biblical message has its roots in Judaism and is continued throughout the history of the Christian church. God is in charge of His creation. He brings rains and springs of water to nourish the grass and the trees; He provides food for the beasts of the field, and gives them life or takes it away (Pss. 103, 104); He has known us from the moment of our conception, and we are made according to His plan (Ps. 139:12, 15-16), a knowledge that includes our psychological and emotional make-up as well as our physical bodies; He knows us intimately, even knowing what we will do or say before we have done or said it (Ps 139:1-6). There is nowhere we can hide from God or be hidden from His view, His love, and His care (Ps. 139:7-12); and our death is precious in the sight of the Lord (Ps 116:15). Children of God, born into His family by faith in Jesus Christ, are addressed even more specifically in terms of His plans and purposes. He has known us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29); we are His workmanship, and He has created us for good works, prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Eph. 2:10). Furthermore, the feeling and belief that suicide is the “only way out” is contradicted in 1 Corinthians 10:13, where we are clearly told that God has provided a way of escape from our temptations, a way that will make them bearable.