Is self-killing a sin in your tradition?

[Xeno.of.athens]

Suicide is a delicate issue, many of us know a person or persons who have either attempted suicide or carried it out to completion. The word is a Latin derivation into English, it means in English deliberate killing of oneself. In the Catholic Church suicide is considered, or at least has been considered, a mortal sin. Being a mortal sin, it may not be left unconfessed, but if one succeeds then earthly confession seems impossible. In your tradition how is suicide seen?

---

suicide (n.) see here​

1650s, "deliberate killing of oneself," from Modern Latin suicidium "suicide," from Latin sui "of oneself" (genitive of se "self"), from PIE *s(u)w-o- "one's own," from root *s(w)e- (see idiom) + -cidium "a killing," from caedere "to slay" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike").

Probably an English coinage; the word was much maligned by Latin purists because it "may as well seem to participate of sus, a sow, as of the pronoun sui" [Phillips, "New World of Words," 1671].

The meaning "person who kills himself deliberately" is attested from 1728. In Anglo-Latin, the term for "one who commits suicide" was felo-de-se, literally "one guilty concerning himself." It was used occasionally as a verb 19c.

Even in 1749, in the full blaze of the philosophic movement, we find a suicide named Portier dragged through the streets of Paris with his face to the ground, hung from a gallows by his feet, and then thrown into the sewers; and the laws were not abrogated till the Revolution, which, having founded so many other forms of freedom, accorded the liberty of death. [W.E.H. Lecky, "History of European Morals," 1869]

In England, suicides were legally criminal if of age and sane, but not if judged to have been mentally deranged. The criminal ones were mutilated by stake and given degrading burial in highways until 1823.

Suicide blonde (one who has "dyed by her own hand") is attested by 1921; OED defined it as "especially" one with hair dyed "rather amateurishly." The baseball suicide squeeze play is attested from 1937.

also from 1650s

 

[Grip Docility]

Suicide is a delicate issue, many of us know a person or persons who have either attempted suicide or carried it out to completion. The word is a Latin derivation into English, it means in English deliberate killing of oneself. In the Catholic Church suicide is considered, or at least has been considered, a mortal sin. Being a mortal sin, it may not be left unconfessed, but if one succeeds then earthly confession seems impossible. In your tradition how is suicide seen?

---

suicide (n.) see here​

1650s, "deliberate killing of oneself," from Modern Latin suicidium "suicide," from Latin sui "of oneself" (genitive of se "self"), from PIE *s(u)w-o- "one's own," from root *s(w)e- (see idiom) + -cidium "a killing," from caedere "to slay" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike").

Probably an English coinage; the word was much maligned by Latin purists because it "may as well seem to participate of sus, a sow, as of the pronoun sui" [Phillips, "New World of Words," 1671].

The meaning "person who kills himself deliberately" is attested from 1728. In Anglo-Latin, the term for "one who commits suicide" was felo-de-se, literally "one guilty concerning himself." It was used occasionally as a verb 19c.


In England, suicides were legally criminal if of age and sane, but not if judged to have been mentally deranged. The criminal ones were mutilated by stake and given degrading burial in highways until 1823.

Suicide blonde (one who has "dyed by her own hand") is attested by 1921; OED defined it as "especially" one with hair dyed "rather amateurishly." The baseball suicide squeeze play is attested from 1937.

also from 1650s

I hope this is a sufficient answer, though it doesn't directly answer the OP.

It is a horribly sad thing when it occurs. Trials and troubles, failings and misery can bring a person so low that they think that way out will take their pain. This breaks my heart, because Sheol is a place of consciousness and that soul will be in pain, even there. If they Loved Jesus Christ and what was their heart, and how does Jesus deal with these matters is beyond my true paygrade of knowledge.

I simply want to share a story in response to this. My father was a minister of a very legalistic group of individuals for many years. One day, the phone rang and he found out that somebody's son had thought that they were alone and in too much emotional pain to go on. This person's son had ended their life. The friend of my father that made this call wasn't a member of my father's particular group, but they felt impressed by God to contact him to do the funeral. My father obliged.

I showed up to that funeral and saw the faces of hundreds of weeping people that the boy who had given up, must not have understood, genially had cared for him. This, in it's self was heart breaking.

My father began to give a sermon of compassion. He then read of Sampson's death, which was caused by his own act of pushing the pillars apart. He picked Sampson up in Hebrews chapter 11 (Heroes of Faith) and read that he had been saved and was with Jesus Christ.

I wept, because I knew that if the group he was a minister of had heard his sermon, he would have been chastised, yet there he was sharing Love and Compassion with this broken family. It is said that when people lose family to such a horrible death, that they are inclined to consider the same exit. In my heart, I believe that God stilled the hands of that young man's family, through the compassion that God showed through my father's sermon, that day.

All Love in Jesus Christ to you, my wonderful Sibling in Jesus

 

[eleos1954]

I hope this is a sufficient answer, though it doesn't directly answer the OP.

It is a horribly sad thing when it occurs. Trials and troubles, failings and misery can bring a person so low that they think that way out will take their pain. This breaks my heart, because Sheol is a place of consciousness and that soul will be in pain, even their. If they Loved Jesus Christ and what was their heart, and how does Jesus deal with these matters is beyond my true paygrade of knowledge.

I simply want to share a story in response to this. My father was a minister of a very legalistic group of individuals for many years. One day, the phone rang and he found out that somebody's son had thought that they were alone and in too much emotional pain to go on. This person's son had ended their life. The friend of my father that made this call wasn't a member of my father's particular group, but they felt impressed by God to contact him to do the funeral. My father obliged.

I showed up to that funeral and saw the faces of hundreds of weeping people that the boy who had given up, must not have understood, genially had cared for him. This, in it's self was heart breaking.

My father began to give a sermon of compassion. He then read of Sampson's death, which was caused by his own act of pushing the pillars apart. He picked Sampson up in Hebrews chapter 11 (Heroes of Faith) and read that he had been saved and was with Jesus Christ.

I wept, because I knew that if the group he was a minister of had heard his sermon, he would have been chastised, yet there he was sharing Love and Compassion with this broken family. It is said that when people lose family to such a horrible death, that they are inclined to consider the same exit. In my heart, I believe that God stilled the hands of that young man's family, through the compassion that God showed through my father's sermon, that day.

All Love in Jesus Christ to you, my wonderful Sibling in Jesus

Anyone arguing that a person will not experience eternity with Jesus based on his or her last act does not understand salvation. Salvation is not based on the merits and acts of the individuals, but on the merits and acts of Jesus. Salvation is not determined by a person’s last deed.

Please hear me: God does not desire that a person takes his or her own life. Jesus wants to rescue us from despair and hopelessness and pain now, not just in the life to come. Jesus’ view of suicide is not positive. Suicide is not a noble way of dying, but it is not outside of God’s grace.

God's judgement is righteous judgement ... it's up to Him.

We should encourage people to have a relationship with Christ because in Him is life ... He will help us through our darkest storms ... people should always choose life .... regardless eternal life is up to Jesus ... only He knows the secret things ... and we shouldn't suppose that we do ... including the cases of suicide.

Life can be difficult ... very difficult ... may the Lord give us all strength to endure difficult times. In Jesus name ... Amen.

 

[ozso]

I heard about an actor who was suffering so badly from horrific pain caused by late stage terminal cancer, he committed suicide. And it made me wonder how much of a sin suicide is in a situation like that.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

The responses provided are accurate; the tragedy of suicide lies in the individual's perception during severe depression, where they envision the future as an extension of their current profound sorrow and despair, leaving them without hope or a path forward through the sadness. However, reality is more forgiving than their despair permits them to see. Regarding suicide as a mortal sin, it is acknowledged that circumstances can mitigate the severity of many grave sins, reducing them from mortal to less serious transgressions.

 

[The Liturgist]

In Orthodoxy, suicides cannot have an Orthodox funeral unless the suicide was a result of mental illness. Which most of them are, naturally.

 

[RileyG]

Yes, but most of it occurs because of mental illness. God is merciful and is not a monster.

 

[RileyG]

In Orthodoxy, suicides cannot have an Orthodox funeral unless the suicide was a result of mental illness. Which most of them are, naturally.

That's how it used to be in the Catholic Church, although it has changed over the years.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Suicide is a delicate issue, many of us know a person or persons who have either attempted suicide or carried it out to completion. The word is a Latin derivation into English, it means in English deliberate killing of oneself. In the Catholic Church suicide is considered, or at least has been considered, a mortal sin. Being a mortal sin, it may not be left unconfessed, but if one succeeds then earthly confession seems impossible. In your tradition how is suicide seen?

---

suicide (n.) see here​

1650s, "deliberate killing of oneself," from Modern Latin suicidium "suicide," from Latin sui "of oneself" (genitive of se "self"), from PIE *s(u)w-o- "one's own," from root *s(w)e- (see idiom) + -cidium "a killing," from caedere "to slay" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike").

Probably an English coinage; the word was much maligned by Latin purists because it "may as well seem to participate of sus, a sow, as of the pronoun sui" [Phillips, "New World of Words," 1671].

The meaning "person who kills himself deliberately" is attested from 1728. In Anglo-Latin, the term for "one who commits suicide" was felo-de-se, literally "one guilty concerning himself." It was used occasionally as a verb 19c.


In England, suicides were legally criminal if of age and sane, but not if judged to have been mentally deranged. The criminal ones were mutilated by stake and given degrading burial in highways until 1823.

Suicide blonde (one who has "dyed by her own hand") is attested by 1921; OED defined it as "especially" one with hair dyed "rather amateurishly." The baseball suicide squeeze play is attested from 1937.

also from 1650s

Going all the way back to Luther, the Lutheran tradition has maintained that suicide is a delicate pastoral issue that we cannot make sweeping generalizations over.

So official synodal positions put forward by various Lutheran synods tend to avoid anything overly general; and instead put these issues into the hands of individual pastors. General sentiments tend toward a discretion of mercy. As Luther himself expressed saying, "I don't have the opinion that suicides are certainly to be damned. My reason is that they do not wish to kill themselves but are overcome by the power of the devil."

I would maintain that, in suicide we are dealing with a victim, rather than perpetrator. There is a mental and spiritual suffering, the mental certainly comes from the flesh as all maladies do (mental sickness like bodily sickness is the result of our fallenness in a fallen world) and must be addressed with healing of the mind; but the spiritual side requires the spiritual healing of Christ the Good Physician; which is why pastors must act like spiritual physicians and handle the medicine of God's Word and Sacraments. Because apart from the health that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord, the devil prowls and poisons, spreading his lies.

The Church must, in all ways, concern herself with the whole person: body, mind, and soul. And since suicide is something that, ultimately, involves all of those things, the Church must be a minister of Christ to the one suffering; and in response to suicide be a minister of mercy and delicately handle the situation with all love. Rather than passing judgment where only Christ is fit to Judge, instead preach mercy, and console those who are left with the kindness of Christ.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[RileyG]

Going all the way back to Luther, the Lutheran tradition has maintained that suicide is a delicate pastoral issue that we cannot make sweeping generalizations over.

So official synodal positions put forward by various Lutheran synods tend to avoid anything overly general; and instead put these issues into the hands of individual pastors. General sentiments tend toward a discretion of mercy. As Luther himself expressed saying, "I don't have the opinion that suicides are certainly to be damned. My reason is that they do not wish to kill themselves but are overcome by the power of the devil."

I would maintain that, in suicide we are dealing with a victim, rather than perpetrator. There is a mental and spiritual suffering, the mental certainly comes from the flesh as all maladies do (mental sickness like bodily sickness is the result of our fallenness in a fallen world) and must be addressed with healing of the mind; but the spiritual side requires the spiritual healing of Christ the Good Physician; which is why pastors must act like spiritual physicians and handle the medicine of God's Word and Sacraments. Because apart from the health that is found in Jesus Christ our Lord, the devil prowls and poisons, spreading his lies.

The Church must, in all ways, concern herself with the whole person: body, mind, and soul. And since suicide is something that, ultimately, involves all of those things, the Church must be a minister of Christ to the one suffering; and in response to suicide be a minister of mercy and delicately handle the situation with all love. Rather than passing judgment where only Christ is fit to Judge, instead preach mercy, and console those who are left with the kindness of Christ.

-CryptoLutheran

Very well said and written.

In the 2003 movie Luther, there’s a fictional scene where Luther buried a suicide victim. He didn’t see him as damned.

 

[The Liturgist]

By the way, Canon I of the Council of Nicaea prohibits ordaining anyone who has castrated themself or had themselves castrated for reasons other than medical necessity, on the basis that this makes them a self-murderer.

 

[zippy2006]

The modern error, present in this thread, is that suicide is by its very nature a non-culpable act (e.g. a mental illness, Satan-induced, etc.). This is another example of mercy gone awry, and the traditional Christian teaching is much more sound. Suicide is a serious sin. Do not do it. The fine print reads: "exceptions are possible." It does no good to make the exceptions the rule.

Suicide need not be non-culpable, nor the strictures that enable it in places like Canada. Satan's crowning move is not to induce a suicide, but to convince the world that suicide is not a sin. That is the way he lures many, many more into suicide.

The idea that, "Suicide cannot be a sin lest we be too harsh," is premised on the idea that acknowledging and repudiating sin is harsh. Sin must always be handled delicately, but it must never be denied.

 

[zippy2006]

As Luther himself expressed saying, "I don't have the opinion that suicides are certainly to be damned. My reason is that they do not wish to kill themselves but are overcome by the power of the devil."

The devil accosted them that they might be damned. This is poor reasoning, akin to the idea that there can be no freedom in sin because it is bound up with concupiscence/servitude, and therefore there can be no sin.

The poor reasoning can also be seen by the fact that Luther's reasoning does not lead to his conclusion. The conclusion of Luther's reasoning is that, "Suicides are certainly not to be damned," not that, "Suicides are not certainly to be damned."

 

[The Liturgist]

This is another example of mercy gone awry,

To clarify: the ancient canons themselves made exceptions for cases of mental illness regarding suicide. The Orthodox Church will refuse to perform a funeral for someone who kills themselves, unless it was accidental or due to mental illness and thus devoid of personal culpability.

Thus where suicide becomes unacceptable is as a form of euthanasia, which is inherently sinful, but someone who kills themselves involuntarily due to mental illness, which can be inducded, for example, by traumatic brain injury or by certain medications (for example, if one is prescribed legitimate medications, occasionally these are known to have side-effects which can cause suicidal ideation and behavior).

Thus, suicide is a sin, but only where the decision to terminate life is voluntary, for example, in some cases of euthanasia. Or if someone ends their life for reasons of misguided curiosity.

 

[The Liturgist]

Now here’s an interesting question: is it a sin, and is that sin suicide, if someone engages in an existing high risk activity like extreme sports, but furthermore does so in a particularly reckless manner, disregarding known safety procedures in an attempt to set a record et cetera, and in so doing fails, and dies? I don’t think anyone would accuse an astronaut or military pilot or oceanographer who died due to equipment failure of suicide, but what about someone engaging in recreational activity which does not advance human knowledge?

I myself am inclined to say no, because if we said yes, we would have to start regarding all errors of judgement leading to death as suicidal.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Now here’s an interesting question: is it a sin, and is that sin suicide, if someone engages in an existing high risk activity like extreme sports, but furthermore does so in a particularly reckless manner, disregarding known safety procedures in an attempt to set a record et cetera, and in so doing fails, and dies? I don’t think anyone would accuse an astronaut or military pilot or oceanographer who died due to equipment failure of suicide, but what about someone engaging in recreational activity which does not advance human knowledge?

I myself am inclined to say no, because if we said yes, we would have to start regarding all errors of judgement leading to death as suicidal.

I've known four people who have committed suicide for various reasons, which I won't go into here. But your post reminded me of a story my old pastor told me not long after I became a Christian. Incidentally the pastor's eldest son comitted suicide (he's one of the four, but I didn't know him well) as he had what they used to call manic-depression. One of his brothers told me that when he was 'down', he was really 'down'.

But to move on - I found that if the pastor said he thought something would happen, it eventually did. One example (and I could give others) was "I don't think your sister will live very long. I think she'll get leukemia". He would have said that circa 1990 as he died himself in 1992 from cancer. Sure enough she died from leukemia in 2005 aged 45 ('not long')

To get onto your topic, he said one of his young male parishioners had a motor bike and was driving it recklessly, stupidly. He said it was obvious to everybody, not just him. But he said he'd wished he'd warned him in a different fashion. He felt a bit guilty because he said that things he said seemed to happen. What he said was "If you don't smarten up and ride your bike more sensibly you won't last two weeks!!"

He buried the young bloke two weeks later to the day.

I can imagine the young bloke, no doubt a Christian, fronting up to God who will say to him "Well that was a waste. What have you done with your life besides throw it away riding stupidly on a motor bike?"

What would have happened after that I have no idea. But I found the pastor was accurate when he said he thought something would happen, including my becoming Catholic. It could take a bit of time and I'm still waiting for a few things to happen, but a number of events have already occurred. Like the young motor cyclist, it was a good idea to heed the pastor's warnings.

 

[Strong in Him]

Suicide is a delicate issue, many of us know a person or persons who have either attempted suicide or carried it out to completion. The word is a Latin derivation into English, it means in English deliberate killing of oneself. In the Catholic Church suicide is considered, or at least has been considered, a mortal sin. Being a mortal sin, it may not be left unconfessed, but if one succeeds then earthly confession seems impossible. In your tradition how is suicide seen?

A tragedy.

At Samaritans we don't use the phrase "commit suicide", simply because it's not a sin. We talk about people taking, or ending, their own lives.
If you believe suicide is a sin no doubt the phrase commit suicide is apt. But what would happen if the attempt were to fail - would you arrest or treat them?

 

[The Liturgist]

A tragedy.

At Samaritans we don't use the phrase "commit suicide", simply because it's not a sin. We talk about people taking, or ending, their own lives.
If you believe suicide is a sin no doubt the phrase commit suicide is apt. But what would happen if the attempt were to fail - would you arrest or treat them?

In Orthodoxy we differentiate between those who end their lives because of mental illness, who are blameless (and constitute everyone who your organization and related charities help with, which we support) and those who are not mentally ill but commit what the canons call self-murder, in many cases intentionally, or under conditions of negligence, which does happen; but which is less common (I would say most cases of it involve people thinking they are making a rational decision to avoid pain due to some external condition, or people engaging in high risk behavior without an understanding of the extreme risks in pursuit of fame or fortune, for example, the large number of people who have been seriously injured or killed in dangerous stunts done for attention on social media (some of whom are mentally ill, but others who are not) or in certain parts of the world, for instance, among the non-Orthodox of Japan, where fortunately we have a growing church, but unfortunately far fewer Japanese have converted to Christianity as a percentage of the population than in Korea, the Republic of China, the PRC, Hong Kong and Viet Nam), due to pernicious cultural beliefs about bringing shame to one’s family. It should be noted while the most prominent example of these is in Japan, they are not exclusive to Japan by any means, and we see traces of this pernicious ideology even in Europe.

The fictional suicide at the end of the ballet Swan Lake, interestingly composed by Tchaikovsky, who was Orthodox and no doubt familiar with our approach to suicide (which was also that of the ancient church) would be another example of suicide by rational individuals.

One thing that has changed, is that while in Orthodoxy we continue to adhere to the clear Patristic doctrine that suicide, or self-murder, that is, when a rational person not suffering from mental illness ends their life, that is sinful, but when a mentally ill person ends their life, that is tragic, and thus, people in the latter category are afforded a full Orthodox funeral and people in the former category receive only the Trisagion prayers, is that the standards for recognizing mental illness in cases of people who end their life have been changed across increasing numbers of canonical jurisdictions, with most bishops (since ultimately, the responsibility for the determination falls on the diocesan bishop), aware of the fact that the majority of cases where someone does tragically end their life are either directly due to mental illness or are related to mental illness or in mentally ill people who are suffering from some condition which cause suicidal ideation or results in disinhibition. Likewise, it is because of the dangers of substance use disorder that the Orthodox Church strongly urges its members to avoid the use of illicit substances (and also marijuana and being drunk with alcohol).

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

A tragedy.

At Samaritans we don't use the phrase "commit suicide", simply because it's not a sin. We talk about people taking, or ending, their own lives.
If you believe suicide is a sin no doubt the phrase commit suicide is apt. But what would happen if the attempt were to fail - would you arrest or treat them?

The Catholic Church holds that life is a sacred gift from God, and therefore, taking one’s own life is considered morally wrong. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, suicide contradicts the natural inclination to preserve life and is a grave offence against love of self, neighbour, and God. However, the Church’s view has become more nuanced and compassionate in recent decades.

While suicide is still regarded as a serious moral disorder, the Church recognises that psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. In other words, not all suicides are considered mortal sins, especially when mental illness is involved.

Importantly, the Church no longer teaches that those who die by suicide are automatically damned. Instead, it entrusts them to God’s mercy and encourages prayers for their souls. Catholic funerals and burials in consecrated ground are permitted for those who have taken their own lives.

Pope Francis has also spoken strongly against euthanasia and assisted suicide, calling them “a sin against God,” but he emphasises pastoral care and accompaniment for those who suffer.

 

[The Liturgist]

Pope Francis has also spoken strongly against euthanasia and assisted suicide, calling them “a sin against God,” but he emphasises pastoral care and accompaniment for those who suffer.

Pope St. John Paul II and Blessed Pope Benedict were also extremely opposed to euthanasia and abortion, and this represents a shared value between the Roman Catholics and the sui Juris Eastern Catholic churches in communion with Rome, the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, the Assyrian and Ancient factions of the Church of the East, the conservative Old Catholics of the Union of Scranton, and the traditional liturgical Protestants such as Evangelical Catholic Lutherans and the Continuing Anglo Catholic Jurisdictions.