Story According to this article "there is simply no evidence in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament to sustain any moral condemnation of suicide."

[KillingPain267]

Suicide in the Bible - Bible Odyssey

The views expressed on this subject are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SBL. Individuals personally struggling with this issue

ww.bibleodyssey.org

Not even self-harm can be said to be a sin. Jesus even suggests cutting off own hands, feet and eyes if they offend us (Mark 9:43-48). Self-harm or self-killing is far different than damaging someone ELSES body parts or killing someone ELSE, which are 100% indisputable sins. Or take stealing "thou shalt not steal". Imagine applying that to yourself to mean you shouldn't steal from yourself. Obviously that makes no sense. It's a weird western thing to be so inwardly self-focused. I'm a useless member of society and a burden to everyone, so it's only better (for others) that I give up and take myself out.

 

[socrates]

St Augustine was the first christian to really come to an anti suicide position. Well at least the first famous one. He argued that since you belong to god you can't kill yourself. Soon after many states made it illegal. They thought that you belonged to the feudal lord or king. Obviously they can't throw a dead person in jail. They are completely free from such savagery. So they would desecrate the body. The Catholic church would not do a funeral for a suicide victim either. This has since changed thankfully. You can get a catholic funeral after suicide.

 

[Agon321]

The topic of suicide is a controversial topic in Christianity and the institution of the church (these are two different things).

In the past, suicides were more condemned by society and if I am not mistaken, they could not be, for example, buried in the same cemetery as others.
Of course, times have changed and so has the interpretation.

I have not read the article you shared, but I once read that according to some interpretations, suicides do not necessarily commit a sin from the perspective of Christianity/Catholicism.
This interpretation said that suicides are not completely aware of their actions and do not fully control them.
Suicide in such a case is not a grave sin.

But this is all a theological topic.
Also, many things in Religion can be interpreted in different ways.
This is one of the many problems I have with religions.

I do not know if you are a Christian, but if so, I think you should be safe in this regard.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

St Augustine was the first christian to really come to an anti suicide position. Well at least the first famous one. He argued that since you belong to god you can't kill yourself. Soon after many states made it illegal. They thought that you belonged to the feudal lord or king. Obviously they can't throw a dead person in jail. They are completely free from such savagery. So they would desecrate the body. The Catholic church would not do a funeral for a suicide victim either. This has since changed thankfully. You can get a catholic funeral after suicide.

that was just one human st augustine who made that up. the OP is correct there is none of that in the Bible nor any mention of Hell in the bible. these people like many others made up things to control others

I'm an atheist. i think a human is just another animal a brain, cells evolved from a single cell as all life did

Hell, as a lake of fire for eternal punishment, does NOT exist in the Bible! — Paul McLellan

The concept of “hell”, as a lake of fire set aside for eternal torment simply is not found anywhere in the Bible. Here is proof that it does not exist but instead of a gross misinterpretation from “Sheol”, “Hades”, “Tartarus” and “Gehenna”!

www.paulmclellan.com

 

[KillingPain267]

that was just one human st augustine who made that up. the OP is correct there is none of that in the Bible nor any mention of Hell in the bible. these people like many others made up things to control others

I'm an atheist. i think a human is just another animal a brain, cells evolved from a single cell as all life did

Hell, as a lake of fire for eternal punishment, does NOT exist in the Bible! — Paul McLellan

The concept of “hell”, as a lake of fire set aside for eternal torment simply is not found anywhere in the Bible. Here is proof that it does not exist but instead of a gross misinterpretation from “Sheol”, “Hades”, “Tartarus” and “Gehenna”!

www.paulmclellan.com

Yes, I believe eternal conscious "hell" is a myth, even as a Christian, because it is actually not in the text if you study closer. Hell (from sheol in Hebrew or hadés in Greek) seems to just be the grave. So when one dies, they go to "hell" meaning the grave, which is the abode of the dead. I also don't believe in the traditional "soul" as in an immaterial substance. The word soul is from Hebrew nephesh and in Greek psyche, and upon studying these terms closely they seem to just mean life or "living beings". That means there is no afterlife in the common sense of ghosts and spirits in unknown invisible places called heaven or hell. But what the Bible DOES teach clearly is that the dead will rise physically from the graves at the last day, and the unrighteous will be punished (but then be burned up and cease to exist, not tormented forever), and the saved will live on with deathless, sorrowless, sinless, painless bodies on the new earth where there is no death or decay anymore.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Christians are so lucky compared to muslims. In islam, suicide is unequivocally a sin and they made suicide a sin because the founders of the religion realised that one could take the religion to its logical extreme by saying "I could just repent and then kill myself to get into heaven". They thought of that through in islam which is why suicide is a sin. Funny thing, I thought of that myself when I was a kid but, nope, they thought about it first

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

Yes, I believe eternal conscious "hell" is a myth, even as a Christian, because it is actually not in the text if you study closer. Hell (from sheol in Hebrew or hadés in Greek) seems to just be the grave. So when one dies, they go to "hell" meaning the grave, which is the abode of the dead. I also don't believe in the traditional "soul" as in an immaterial substance. The word soul is from Hebrew nephesh and in Greek psyche, and upon studying these terms closely they seem to just mean life or "living beings". That means there is no afterlife in the common sense of ghosts and spirits in unknown invisible places called heaven or hell. But what the Bible DOES teach clearly is that the dead will rise physically from the graves at the last day, and the unrighteous will be punished (but then be burned up and cease to exist, not tormented forever), and the saved will live on with deathless, sorrowless, sinless, painless bodies on the new earth where there is no death or decay anymore.

U and I know this because we read some things about it . Imo most people including many Christians believe there's a heaven and hell and a soul even though that is not in the Bible. They just believe anything they see in the movies and TV is the objective truth.

I of course believe there is no soul, hell , heaven because I'm an atheist.

 

[KillingPain267]

U and I know this because we read some things about it . Imo most people including many Christians believe there's a heaven and hell and a soul even though that is not in the Bible. They just believe anything they see in the movies and TV.

I of course believe there is no soul, hell , heaven because I'm an atheist.

Yes, most people do no form of research whatsoever. Over the years I am appalled about how ignorant or gullible 90% of people are.

 

[bandigna]

Yes, I believe eternal conscious "hell" is a myth, even as a Christian, because it is actually not in the text if you study closer. Hell (from sheol in Hebrew or hadés in Greek) seems to just be the grave. So when one dies, they go to "hell" meaning the grave, which is the abode of the dead. I also don't believe in the traditional "soul" as in an immaterial substance. The word soul is from Hebrew nephesh and in Greek psyche, and upon studying these terms closely they seem to just mean life or "living beings". That means there is no afterlife in the common sense of ghosts and spirits in unknown invisible places called heaven or hell. But what the Bible DOES teach clearly is that the dead will rise physically from the graves at the last day, and the unrighteous will be punished (but then be burned up and cease to exist, not tormented forever), and the saved will live on with deathless, sorrowless, sinless, painless bodies on the new earth where there is no death or decay anymore.

So the part in Revelations or hebrews where it says and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever , i Just taken Out ?

Suicide in the Bible - Bible Odyssey

The views expressed on this subject are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SBL. Individuals personally struggling with this issue

ww.bibleodyssey.org

Not even self-harm can be said to be a sin. Jesus even suggests cutting off own hands, feet and eyes if they offend us (Mark 9:43-48). Self-harm or self-killing is far different than damaging someone ELSES body parts or killing someone ELSE, which are 100% indisputable sins. Or take stealing "thou shalt not steal". Imagine applying that to yourself to mean you shouldn't steal from yourself. Obviously that makes no sense. It's a weird western thing to be so inwardly self-focused. I'm a useless member of society and a burden to everyone, so it's only better (for others) that I give up and take myself out.

The bible says murder is sin. Self murder is therefore sin. But talking about sin is Not really the Important thing. Its actually putting your trust in Jesus by accepting him as your Lord and your savior. By accepting that He died for you and took the punishement for you . Everybody is Made for hell because everybody fell short of the glory of god. That means everbody failed before god and deserves hell. Thats why Jesus died 2024 years ago for you or anybody on the cross so that we dont have to Go to hell. I Always believed in Jesus my whole life because i grew Up christian but i never know him. I was really suffering in my basement room in my mums house No way of getting out of the suffering it was getting worse and worse. Then one night at the bottom i thought i Go watch a hypnosis video against porn Addiction because i thought thats where my suffer is coming from . When i opened that video there came a ad . It was a german App about Jesus . Then i saw it a sign because i knew hypnosis is satanic. I opened the App and wrote to a person asking how can i get closer to Jesus . He Said you have to open your heart to him. One night then i Just opened youtube and wrote jesus. Then came a song by Hillsong - i surrender. I opened this song and after the 5th minute i Just opened my hands and Said jesus i love you . Then again but from the heart and then boom i began to cry so strong like never before. I felt a love which was 10 million times greater feeling than any drug . I felt Power flowing trough my arms. Than after that i knew everything is real everything with the bible . Then 2 weeks later Out of nowhere the same Encounter again . So there than i knew Jesus is real, everything is real. Now i know heaven is real hell is real

 

[KillingPain267]

So the part in Revelations or hebrews where it says and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever , i Just taken Out ?

In Revelation it is symbolic. The language of smoke ascending forever is language common in Old Testament judgments of cities, like Sodom or Edom. Forever means it is done for and the cities will never arise again, not that there is literally still smoke in Jordan where Edom was located.

The bible says murder is sin. Self murder is therefore sin.

That makes no sense. When it says "thou shalt not steal" does that then also mean you should not steal your own stuff? Self-stealing? It is absurd.

But talking about sin is Not really the Important thing. Its actually putting your trust in Jesus by accepting him as your Lord and your savior. By accepting that He died for you and took the punishement for you .

I fully agree! Faith alone! I became a believer in 2011 trusting fully in the atonement. So all my sins are covered by His blood shed on the cross for me and everyone. My point was just that the issue of suicide in the Bible is often talked about in absurd ways, and the texts are not clear about the issue. I believe it is because the cultures in Bible times were collectivist and did not have the inward self-focus that individualist cultures in the west today have. Things like self-image or self-harming would be seen in the context of whether or not it would be beneficial for the group (tribe, nation, family name) and not about the individual. The law of Moses was directed towards upholding a nation (Israel).

So there than i knew Jesus is real, everything is real. Now i know heaven is real hell is real

That's good, but keep in mind that Christianity has undergone many interpretations in the last 2000 years. So we must study the texts and see them in context of their times to understand better. Lot of tradition was added by thise in power who misused Christianity to control people, when the gospel is supposed to make us free. Remember Colossians 2:8 says to beware of traditions of men. Every word of Scripture is true for sure, but it must be studied correctly and in their original languages. Once I stopped just blindly following specific pastors, I studied the texts myself and came to the conclusion that what we now call "hell" is a false tradition. Keep in mind hell is a word from pagan Vikings and Saxons. And over time it has been caricatured by Dante's Inferno and misinterpreted by dominant churches until it is unrecognizable from what the Bible actually teaches. Go to the original languages and study how the words are used all throughout the Bible. The words are sheol, hadés, gehenna and tartaros. Those are certainly real, yes.

 

[TAW122]

Even though I'm an atheist, it is a relief that there are articles confirming that CTB is not a sin, at least from the Biblical perspective. I do think that The Church and the people throughout history that interpreted the text interpreted as a 'sin', back when religion had a much larger impact on society (pre-modern times), which sadly, of course led many people to erroneously believe that CTB is a sin when there is no theological evidence that points to it as such.

 

[KillingPain267]

Even though I'm an atheist, it is a relief that there are articles confirming that CTB is not a sin, at least from the Biblical perspective. I do think that The Church and the people throughout history that interpreted the text interpreted as a 'sin', back when religion had a much larger impact on society (pre-modern times), which sadly, of course led many people to erroneously believe that CTB is a sin when there is no theological evidence that points to it as such.

Yes and even the catholic church has recognized since the 80s that not only is it not unforgivable, but that in many cases the church even realized that mental illness is involved and then the suicider is not culpable at all. St. Augustine was the first to formulate an argument for suicide being a sin akin to murder, but he used only one verse as "proof", otherwise he drew heavily rather on Plato's Phaedo to formulate the argument, not the Bible. Established dominant churches simply followed this.

 

[Amarajoy]

Suicide in the Bible - Bible Odyssey

The views expressed on this subject are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SBL. Individuals personally struggling with this issue

ww.bibleodyssey.org

Not even self-harm can be said to be a sin. Jesus even suggests cutting off own hands, feet and eyes if they offend us (Mark 9:43-48). Self-harm or self-killing is far different than damaging someone ELSES body parts or killing someone ELSE, which are 100% indisputable sins. Or take stealing "thou shalt not steal". Imagine applying that to yourself to mean you shouldn't steal from yourself. Obviously that makes no sense. It's a weird western thing to be so inwardly self-focused. I'm a useless member of society and a burden to everyone, so it's only better (for others) that I give up and take myself out.

Not to mention, especially in the case of severe physical suffering, self love would mean exiting the body that is tormenting you and preventing you from connecting with God.

 

[KillingPain267]

Not to mention, especially in the case of severe physical suffering, self love would mean exiting the body that is tormenting you and preventing you from connecting with God.

Good point. Jesus even said to cut off hands and feet if they offend. While not meant literally, it shows that the Bible is not really concerned about self-harm but rather on how we treat others. It could be said that people who self-harm do so only because they were hurt by other humans first, humans who showed hate and abuse rather than Christian love. Even the demon possessed kid who threw himself into flames in self harm was shown love by Jesus rather than condemned as a suicidal "sinner".