Ángel
Manuel Rodríguez
One
of my best friends committed suicide. Since then I have
wondered what the Bible says about the
topic.
Suicide is usually defined as the taking of one’s own life.
The emotional scars left to family and friends are deep and produce not
only feelings of loneliness but particularly a sense of guilt and disorientation.
In attempting to provide some guidance in answering your question, I must
limit my comments to the following brief observations.
Let’s
first distinguish between suicide and martyrdom, which is the willingness
to surrender our lives for fundamental convictions and values that we
hold nonnegotiable—and heroic acts of self-sacrifice that result
in the preservation of other lives (a soldier throws himself or herself
on a grenade to save others). While suicide is fundamentally a denial
of the value of our present life, the final solution to a life perceived
as unbearable, those other cases are expressions of respect and love for
life.
I
will list the cases of suicide or attempted suicide recorded in the Bible,
draw some conclusions, and make some general comments.
1.
Cases of Suicide in the Bible: Abimelech, mortally wounded by a millstone thrown at him by
a woman, asked his armor-bearer to kill him to escape shame (Judges
9:54
). Saul, after being seriously wounded
in battle, killed himself (1 Sam. 31:4). Seeing what the king did, the
armor-bearer “fell on his own sword and died with him” (verse
5, NIV). This was motivated by fear of what the enemy would do to them.
Ahithophel, one of the counselors of king Absalom,
hanged himself after realizing that the king had rejected his advice (2
Sam.
17:23
). Zimri became
king after a coup d’état, but realizing that the people did not support
him he went into “the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace
on fire around him,” killing himself (1 Kings
16:18
, NIV). Judas was so emotionally disturbed
after betraying Jesus that he hanged himself (Matt. 27:5). Samson took
his own life in battle against the enemy (Judges
16:29
, 30). After the earthquake the
Philippian jailer concluded that the prisoners had
escaped, and out of fear attempted to kill himself, but Paul persuaded
him to the contrary (Acts 16:26-28).
2.
Comments on the Biblical Materials: From the incidents listed above
we notice several things.
First,
most of the suicides took place in the context of war, in which self-killing
is the result of fear or shame.
Second,
other cases are more personal and reflect, besides fear, a low self-image.
All of them take place in the context of a highly emotional state of mind.
Third,
suicide is mentioned without passing any judgment on the morality of the
action. That does not mean that it is morally right; it indicates that
the biblical writer is simply describing what took place.
The
moral impact of suicide is addressed through a biblical understanding
of human life: God created it, and we are not the owners, to use it and
dispose of it as we please; the sixth commandment has something to say
about the topic. Therefore, a Christian should not consider suicide a
morally valid solution to the
predicament of living in a world of physical and
emotional pain.
3. Comments and Suggestions: How
then should we relate to the suicide of a loved one?
First, psychology and psychiatry have
revealed that very often suicide is the result of profound emotional upheaval
or biochemical imbalances associated with a deep state of depression and
fear. We should not pass judgment on the person who, under those circumstances,
opted for suicide.
Second, God’s justice takes into
consideration the intensity of our troubled minds; He understands us better
than anyone else. We must place the future of our loved ones into His
loving hands.
Third, with God’s assistance we can
face guilt in a constructive way. Keep in mind that often those who commit
suicide needed professional help that most of us were unable to provide.
Finally, if you are ever tempted to commit
suicide, there are medications that can help overcome depression, there
are friends who love you and would do all they can to help you, and there is a God who is willing to
work with you and through others to sustain you as you walk through the
valley of death. Never
give up hope!
3/11/04
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