Why suicide is a sin?

[adamhovey1988]

Because if death is the only way to get into heaven/paradise why would one want to live anymore. The idea was probably brought up in the early days of the church to make sure the converts and flock don’t kill themselves. Bible doesn’t have a say on it.

1. The Bible doesn’t teach sola scriptura (1 Tim 3:15)
2. Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27)

 

[adamhovey1988]

To the OP, I am a recovering cutter and I still have suicidal thoughts, ocasionally. However they are usually fleeting. I think it’s natural to think about death once in a while, but God knew you before he formed you. If you are having this feelings, and they are persisten, please, don’t be afraid to ask for help

 

[BornInMarch]

It is sinful to end an innocent human life, as well as to take the law into your own hands. These rules apply to your own life.

Having said that, the church now understands that culpability for suicide is usually diminished to the point of the sin not weighing against the person because the common causes of suicide (mental illness, diseases such as depression, etc) diminish culpability.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

ANV,
Are you thinking about killing yourself? Are you having suicidal thoughts or feelings? If you are, I would urge you to tell someone you trust (family, spouse, parent, teacher, therapist) and seek help. Or call your local 800 number for suicide prevention. Please do this. If you can’t find a hotline number, please call 911 and ask for medical assistance. If your question was just a “random question”, that’s fine. But I don’t want to miss the obvious or ignore what might be happening behind the question that is being asked. I would also suggest that you read Psalm 139 – your were known and loved by God from the very beginning he knit you together in your mother’s womb. You are cherished and your life has infinite value, even if perhaps you are depressed and do not realize that at this moment. Please get the help you need. Please. I will pray for you. 3 Dog Night

+100

ANV I will pray for you too.

A women I taught last year suicided. So many professionals were trying to reach out to her.

Where could we have made a difference to her. So young, and with children.

Best answer I can think of for why we should not suicide, even though it may seem the best or only option is:

We invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to be our Soul, to guide and educate us.
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, is God. We become a living physical temple to the Holy Spirit. Thus we should respect, cherish, value, treat this like more precious then gold.

When we participate in Holy Communion, we ingest, take internally the body and blood of Christ.

Pray to, and invite the Holy Spirit in.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

To the OP, I am a recovering cutter and I still have suicidal thoughts, ocasionally. However they are usually fleeting. I think it’s natural to think about death once in a while, but God knew you before he formed you. If you are having this feelings, and they are persisten, please, don’t be afraid to ask for help

You are amazing .

 

[Eric_Hyom]

I have come across two women in the process of ending their lives, being able to forgive helped them both find the will to live.

Many years ago I called on a lady, she said, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone, having known her for some time, I thought she was going to tell me some gossip, and agreed.

She said she was in the process of ending her life, she was gradually overdosing on some tablets every day. (I don’t want to mention the name of the tablets.) She knew this would eventually destroy her organs, the damage would be irreversible; and she would suffer a slow and painful death. This seemed like a carefully planned and determined attempt to end her life, but she still chose to tell me about it…

She told me her story, some of which I already knew, she said that everyone who was important to her in her life had used her. Her husband ran of with another woman, her business partner bankrupted her, and her children only came to see her when they wanted something. Then another man did a terrible thing, there was no chance of getting justice, so she decided to end her life.

My response was to say that dying is not the problem, we all die, but leaving this world a bitter twisted and angry woman is not the way to leave this Earth. I talked about finding some way to forgive this person, because it was not in her nature to be bitter and angry. I said, even if you continue taking the tablets, try and forgive, you are a kind and caring person and it is not in your nature to leave this world angry and bitter.

There came a point when she had said all she could, and there was no more I could say, other than its pointless coming back next month to see you. She said come back.

I did phone later, and came back the following month, she’d had her kitchen decorated and was planning to landscape her garden. She never mentioned about ending her life again.

I had left her with a terrible burden, every day she would have to live with the memory of the hurt, and strive to overcome her loss.

Letting go of anger, and striving to forgive, helped this lady find a purpose in life.

 

[Dorothy]

I have come across two women in the process of ending their lives, being able to forgive helped them both find the will to live.

Many years ago I called on a lady, she said, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone, having known her for some time, I thought she was going to tell me some gossip, and agreed.

She said she was in the process of ending her life, she was gradually overdosing on some tablets every day. (I don’t want to mention the name of the tablets.) She knew this would eventually destroy her organs, the damage would be irreversible; and she would suffer a slow and painful death. This seemed like a carefully planned and determined attempt to end her life, but she still chose to tell me about it…

She told me her story, some of which I already knew, she said that everyone who was important to her in her life had used her. Her husband ran of with another woman, her business partner bankrupted her, and her children only came to see her when they wanted something. Then another man did a terrible thing, there was no chance of getting justice, so she decided to end her life.

My response was to say that dying is not the problem, we all die, but leaving this world a bitter twisted and angry woman is not the way to leave this Earth. I talked about finding some way to forgive this person, because it was not in her nature to be bitter and angry. I said, even if you continue taking the tablets, try and forgive, you are a kind and caring person and it is not in your nature to leave this world angry and bitter.

There came a point when she had said all she could, and there was no more I could say, other than its pointless coming back next month to see you. She said come back.

I did phone later, and came back the following month, she’d had her kitchen decorated and was planning to landscape her garden. She never mentioned about ending her life again.

I had left her with a terrible burden, every day she would have to live with the memory of the hurt, and strive to overcome her loss.

Letting go of anger, and striving to forgive, helped this lady find a purpose in life.

Eric,

And God used you as His instrument! And you let Him. Alleluia!

 

[Dorothy]

+100

ANV I will pray for you too.

A women I taught last year suicided. So many professionals were trying to reach out to her.

Where could we have made a difference to her. So young, and with children.

Best answer I can think of for why we should not suicide, even though it may seem the best or only option is:

We invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to be our Soul, to guide and educate us.
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, is God. We become a living physical temple to the Holy Spirit. Thus we should respect, cherish, value, treat this like more precious then gold.

When we participate in Holy Communion, we ingest, take internally the body and blood of Christ.

Pray to, and invite the Holy Spirit in.

Amen! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!

 

[Eric_Hyom]

+100

A women I taught last year suicided. So many professionals were trying to reach out to her.

Where could we have made a difference to her.

That’s very sad, especially if you are in contact with her family and friends. I am not sure if professionals tackle the need to forgive, it is very much a Christian solution.

As well as meeting two people in the process of committing suicide, I have also bumped into a number of other people in very dark places. One man said to me, do you think it is brave to commit suicide?

I asked him if he had the need to forgive someone, or to be forgiven? He said, no.

But after a few minutes of him talking, it turned out to be about the need to forgive. He’d worked under an oppressive boss, who had done some terrible things, and he had been off work for a long time with depression. The only thing keeping him alive was his daughter.

We had the conversation about the person who angers you, controls you. They could be a thousand miles away, but they are making you feel in ways you do not want to feel. They make you want to react in anger, in ways you do not want to act.

The only person who should control what goes on in your head is you. The past is out of your control, but if you learn to forgive and let go, you can find peace. Our two hour encounter ended at four in the morning, with handshakes and hugs.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

That’s very sad, especially if you are in contact with her family and friends. I am not sure if professionals tackle the need to forgive, it is very much a Christian solution.

As well as meeting two people in the process of committing suicide, I have also bumped into a number of other people in very dark places. One man said to me, do you think it is brave to commit suicide?

I asked him if he had the need to forgive someone, or to be forgiven? He said, no.

But after a few minutes of him talking, it turned out to be about the need to forgive. He’d worked under an oppressive boss, who had done some terrible things, and he had been off work for a long time with depression. The only thing keeping him alive was his daughter.

We had the conversation about the person who angers you, controls you. They could be a thousand miles away, but they are making you feel in ways you do not want to feel. They make you want to react in anger, in ways you do not want to act.

The only person who should control what goes on in your head is you. The past is out of your control, but if you learn to forgive and let go, you can find peace. Our two hour encounter ended at four in the morning, with handshakes and hugs.

Thats a wonderful ending.
It can be such a dark place.

 

[adamhovey1988]

You are amazing .

I am just a sinner in need of salvation.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

It is taking of human life.

 

[Aedan382]

Here is the teaching from the Catechism.

I thank you for posting this, as I have had a question I wanted to ask for a long time, but I do not know how to do so, so I am just going to spew it out here, in hopes that it make some semblance of sense.

My grandfather committed suicide. That is the short version. He had just undergone intense chemotherapy for lung cancer, and after a 9 month ordeal, had a “Very Good prognosis” (quoting his oncologist) The downside: He was on many medications, including some that made him severely depressed (we found out about the side effects after the fact) The medications paired with the time of year, which was the 5th anniversary of his wife’s passing, led to the suicide.

I guess I am asking… I do not know what I am asking. Does this constitute consent if he was not of his own mind?

 

[goout]

I thank you for posting this, as I have had a question I wanted to ask for a long time, but I do not know how to do so, so I am just going to spew it out here, in hopes that it make some semblance of sense.

My grandfather committed suicide. That is the short version. He had just undergone intense chemotherapy for lung cancer, and after a 9 month ordeal, had a “Very Good prognosis” (quoting his oncologist) The downside: He was on many medications, including some that made him severely depressed (we found out about the side effects after the fact) The medications paired with the time of year, which was the 5th anniversary of his wife’s passing, led to the suicide.

I guess I am asking… I do not know what I am asking. Does this constitute consent if he was not of his own mind?

Consent is dubious if a person is not in full possession of his faculties.
Trust in the mercy of God. This is one of life’s agonizing situations that defies moral evaluation by outsiders. Trust in the mercy of God.

 

[Rau]

We didn’t choose life, it was imposed on us, why it would be considered a sin to quit something you didn’t choose, that sounds like a dictatorship system, to be given something where the choice of rejecting that “gift” or more likely a hell for many is considered a sin.

It is certainly true that our coming into existence is not something we willed. But all that can be assessed, given we do exist, is whether it is good to will our continued existence or to will our destruction.

I can understand the perspective that says our life is a risky proposition. Things can go badly wrong. And bad behaviours can lead us to eternal ruin.