Hating = murder

[nightflight]

Jesus said if you hate your brother, you are just as guilty of murder than if you had actually killed him. So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

 

[LaSorcia]

Well I suppose so, but I don't think Jesus' emphasis was on the guilt part. Rather, I think it was to focus on introspection rather than outward conformance to rules.

 

[graceandpeace]

Jesus said if you hate your brother, you are just as guilty of murder than if you had actually killed him. So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

I don't think this follows, because it presumes that Jesus actually equates hate with murder. This would be morally problematic, because clearly murdering another person is worse than an emotion. The question then is, what point is Jesus trying to make?

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

Jesus said if you hate your brother, you are just as guilty of murder than if you had actually killed him. So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

Jesus only said that about ANOTHER PERSON. No Christian should truly hate their own life even despite hardships and disease. , for life is a gift from God and you will return to him one day. People who commit suicide are guilty of the act but its Christ on the Cross that qualifies a person to gain entrance to heaven and nothing else.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Many of the things Jesus says in the Sermon are intended for one to look at their own actions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward others. It's about correcting one's own thoughts and behaviors, not assigning blame or guilt upon others. E.g. dealing with the log in our own eye rather than focusing on the speck in our neighbor's eye.

The issue here isn't that hate = murder, but instead to recognize that anger and hatred toward another is a grave wrong that should not be, and that we should instead strive toward the commandment to love our neighbor--including our enemies and those who seek to do us wrong or harm us.

Trying to turn it into a high-handed moralism defeats the purpose of what Jesus is saying.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[nightflight]

Good answers, thanks everybody.

 

[Neogaia777]

Jesus said if you hate your brother, you are just as guilty of murder than if you had actually killed him. So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

Your supposed to go through a period of hating your own life, in your sins, before being born again, your supposed to learn to hate your sin and this is supposed to bring you to repentance, and prepare to meet and walk with Christ...

God Bless!

 

[Sketcher]

The hatred Jesus was talking about is a hatred that has utter contempt for another person who is made in God's image. So it's not just a wrong towards that person, it is also a wrong towards God. Those who physically commit murder then, already have that contempt for the image of God in their hearts. They then took the next steps of planning and killing, but without that level of contempt, they never would have done it.

If someone hates themselves or is suicidal, they are failing to recognize the image of God that they bear. The image of God gives a person inherent value, but they see little to no value in themselves. They need to recognize the value they do have (not arrogantly), and realizing rather than dismissing the fact that they are made in God's image is a big part of that. If anyone doesn't believe that they are made in the image of God, they therefore don't know all of their own value.

 

[Truthfrees]

Jesus said if you hate your brother, you are just as guilty of murder than if you had actually killed him. So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

Actually John said that: 1 John 3:15 - Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Jesus said this: Matthew 5:22 - But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

IMO, what Jesus and John are saying is murder starts with, grows out of hate. Hate fuels murder. Without hate, murder would not happen.

So by that token, suicide starts with self hate. Self-hate fuels suicide. Without self-hate, suicide would not happen.

Good catch.

 

[orangeness365]

wouldn't it be hating yourself instead of hating your life that would be the equivolant?

 

[Truthfrees]

wouldn't it be hating yourself instead of hating your life that would be the equivalent?

Technically yes, I agree with you.

Practically speaking, the two can become inter-related.

People who hate themselves generally do so because they aren't happy with some part of their life (finances, health, work/family/social relationships, etc).

IOW, people with happy lives are generally happy with themselves.

Maslov believed when the 5 basic needs of life were properly met, people could be relatively content.

When one or more of these needs were not being realized, unhappiness grew.

Everything we need can found in Christ and our relationship with God, (through Christ and God's provision for us). Philippians 4:19


An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom[39]
Main article: Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Abraham Harold Maslow (/ˈmæzloʊ/[citation needed]; April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow

 

[Neogaia777]

Actually John said that: 1 John 3:15 - Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Jesus said this: Matthew 5:22 - But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

IMO, what Jesus and John are saying is murder starts with, grows out of hate. Hate fuels murder. Without hate, murder would not happen.

So by that token, suicide starts with self hate. Self-hate fuels suicide. Without self-hate, suicide would not happen.

Good catch.

Who is my "brother"?

 

[Neogaia777]

A person who never goes through a "hating" phase, as long as it's only a phase and say they manage to overcome it, are stronger people than someone who has not, in my opinion... That's why Jesus said some of the things he said about "hating"... Oftentimes one who deeply hated at a period of their life and had a lot of rage and then that person changes, oftentimes the depth of their love and the size of their heart, is correlated with ones past depth of hatred...

God Bless!

 

[Job8]

So my question here is, does it follow that if a person hates their own life, are they guilty of suicide?

No. Hatred directed at another is deemed to be murder. Hatred of your own life means serious dissatisfaction.

 

[Truthfrees]

Who is my "brother"?

I'd say any human being is my brother because we're all made in God's image.

When another human does despicable things, I have to remember to hate the sin but love the sinner.

That's always something I can work on to get better at.