If You Are a Born Again Christian and Commit Suicide

Religious views on suicide

Painting by Giotto depicting a person committing the sin of desperatio, the rejection of God'southward mercy, considering while choked they are unable to inquire for repentance.^[one]

There are a diverseness of religious views on suicide.

Aboriginal Pagan religions [edit]

In general, the pagan world, both Roman and Greek, had a relaxed attitude towards suicide.^{[2] [three] [4]}

Dharmic religions [edit]

Buddhism [edit]

In Buddhism, an individual's past acts are recognized to heavily influence what they experience in the present; present acts, in plough, go the groundwork influence for future experiences (the doctrine of karma). Intentional actions by listen, body or spoken communication have a reaction. This reaction, or repercussion, is the crusade of conditions and differences one encounters in life.

Buddhism teaches that all people experience substantial suffering (dukkha), in which suffering primarily originates from past negative deeds (karma), or may upshot as a natural process of the cycle of birth and death (samsara). Other reasons for the prevalence of suffering business organization the concepts of impermanence and illusion (maya). Since everything is in a constant state of impermanence or flux, individuals experience dissatisfaction with the fleeting events of life. To break out of samsara, Buddhism advocates the Noble Eightfold Path, and does not abet suicide.

In Theravada Buddhism, for a monk to so much as praise death, including dwelling upon life's miseries or extolling stories of possibly blissful rebirth in a higher realm in a way that might condition the hearer to commit suicide or to pine abroad to death, is explicitly stated as a alienation in one of highest vinaya codes, the prohibition against harming life, one that will result in automated expulsion from Sangha.^[5]

For Buddhists, since the starting time precept is to refrain from the destruction of life, including one'south cocky, suicide is seen as a negative act. If someone commits suicide in anger, he may be reborn in a sorrowful realm due to negative final thoughts.^{[6] [vii]} Nevertheless, Buddhism does not condemn suicide without exception, but rather observes that the reasons for suicide are often negative and thus counteract the path to enlightenment.^[8] With that said, in thousands of years of Buddhist history, very few exceptions are plant.

But in the Buddhist tale of a bhikkhu named Vakkali who was extremely ill and racked with excruciating pain. He was said to have died by suicide when most death and upon making statements suggesting he had passed across desires (and thus perhaps an arhant).^[9] Self-euthanasia appears the context for his death.

Another case is the story of a bhikkhu named Godhika, also beset by affliction,^[nine] Suicide as a Response to Suffering]</ref> who had repeatedly attained temporary liberation of mind merely was unable to proceeds terminal liberation due to disease.^[nine] While assertive himself again in a state of temporary liberation it occurred to him to cut his own pharynx, in hopes thus to be reborn in a high realm.^[ix] The Buddha was said to have stated:

Such indeed is how the steadfast human activity:

They are not attached to life. Having fatigued out peckish at its root

Godhika has attained last Nibbaana.^[9]

Ultimately, tales like these could exist read every bit implying past Buddhist beliefs that suicide might be acceptable in certain circumstances if it might lead to non-zipper. In both above cases, the monks were not enlightened earlier dying by suicide but they hoped to become enlightened following their deaths.^[x]

The Channovàda-sutra gives a third exceptional instance of ane who died by suicide and subsequently attained enlightenment.^[xi]

In an entry in The Encyclopedia of Religion, Marilyn J. Harran wrote the post-obit:

Buddhism in its various forms affirms that, while suicide equally self-sacrifice may be advisable for the person who is an arhat, one who has attained enlightenment, it is still very much the exception to the rule.^[12]

Sokushinbutsu in Japanese Buddhism involves asceticism to the bespeak of death and entering mummification while alive.^[13] This is done to attain Buddha-nature in one'due south torso.

Hinduism [edit]

In Hinduism, suicide is spiritually unacceptable. Generally, taking your own life is considered a violation of the lawmaking of ahimsa (non-violence) and therefore as sinful as murdering some other. Some scriptures state that to die by suicide (and any blazon of vehement death) results in condign a ghost, wandering earth until the time one would have otherwise died, had i not died by suicide.^[14]

The Mahabharata talks of suicide, stating those who commit it can never attain to regions (of heaven) that are blessed.^[15]

Hinduism accepts a person's correct to end one's life through Prayopavesa.^[16] Prayopavesa is for old age yogis who have no desire or ambition left, and no responsibilities remaining in this life.^[xvi] Some other example is dying in a battle to salve one's honor.

Swami Vivekananda reached both Moksha and suicide during meditation- means he attained Mahasamadhi and died simultaneously on 4th July 1902 willingfully.^[17]

Jainism [edit]

In Jainism, suicide is regarded every bit the worst class of himsā (violence) and is not permitted.^{[ citation needed ]} Ahimsā (nonviolence) is the fundamental doctrine of Jainism.

According to the Jain text Puruşārthasiddhyupāya, "when death is near" the vow of sallekhanā (fasting to death) is observed by properly thinning the body and the passions.^[18] It too mentions that sallekhanā is not suicide since the person observing it is devoid of all passions similar zipper.^[19]

Abrahamic religions [edit]

Christianity [edit]

There is no express biblical warrant condemning and prohibiting suicide, and there are persons mentioned within the Bible who die by suicide.^{[twenty] [21]} Depending on a denomination'due south canon of books, at that place are 6 or eleven suicides mentioned in the Bible.^[22] On the other mitt, the descriptions of people in the Bible who died past suicide are negative. Major contexts include betrayal (Ahitophel and Judas)^{[23] [24]} and divine sentence resulting in military defeat (Saul and Abimelech). In particular, Bible (Male monarch James) Psalm 37:xiv-fifteen describes the "wicked" every bit falling on their own swords, and Zimri is described as having "died for his sins which he committed, doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh" (s:Translation:one Kings#Affiliate 16:18-19). Many Christian theologians take an unfavorable view of suicide.^[25]

Psalm 139:8 ("If I ascend upwardly into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou fine art in that location.") has often been discussed in the context of those who commit suicide.^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}

According to the theology of the Roman Catholic Church, suicide is objectively a sin which violates the commandment "Thou shalt not kill".^[thirty] Nevertheless, the gravity and culpability for that sin changes based on the circumstances surrounding that sin. The Catechism of the Cosmic Church (1992), Paragraph 2283 states: "Nosotros should not despair of the eternal conservancy of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church building prays for persons who have taken their ain lives." Paragraph 2282 as well points out that "Grave psychological disturbances, ache, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the ane committing suicide." The Catholic Church used to deny suicides a Catholic funeral mass and burying. Even so, the Church has since changed this practice.^[31]

Protestants such as Evangelicals, Charismatics, Pentecostals, and other denominations accept often argued that suicide is cocky-murder, then anyone who commits it is sinning and it is the same every bit if the person murdered another human being beingness. An additional view concerns the act of asking for salvation and accepting Jesus Christ as personal savior, which must be done prior to expiry. This is an important aspect of many Protestant denominations, and the problem with suicide is that once dead the individual is unable to accept conservancy. The unpardonable sin then becomes not the suicide itself, but rather the refusal of the gift of conservancy.

Suicide is regarded by and large within the Eastern Orthodoxy tradition as a rejection of God'southward souvenir of concrete life, a failure of stewardship, an act of despair, and a transgression of the 6th commandment, "You shall not impale" (Exodus xx:13). The Orthodox Church ordinarily denies a Christian burial to a person who has died by suicide. However, factors begetting on the particular case may go known to the priest who must share this information with the diocesan bishop; the bishop will consider the factors and make the determination concerning funeral services. All the same, the Eastern Orthodox Church shows compassion on those who have taken their ain life because of mental affliction or astringent emotional stress, when a md can verify a condition of impaired rationality.

In early Christian traditions, the condemnation of suicide is reflected in the teachings of Lactantius, St. Augustine, Clement of Alexandria, and others. Among the martyrs at Antioch were three women who died past suicide to avoid rape; although professor William E. Phipps gives this every bit an case of virtuous early Christian suicides, Augustine declared that although they may have done "what was right in the sight of God," in his view the women "should not have assumed that rape would necessarily have deprived them of their purity" (equally purity was, to Augustine, a land of listen).^[32]

Some other denominations of Christianity may not condemn those who commit suicide per se as committing a sin, even if suicide is not viewed favorably; factors such as motive, character, etc. are believed to exist taken into account. I such example is The New Church.^[33] In The Church building of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), suicide is generally viewed as wrong, although the victim may not be considered responsible for the act depending on the circumstances.^[34]

Islam [edit]

Islam clearly forbids suicide as a poetry in the Quran instructs:

"And practice not kill yourselves, surely God is about Merciful to you."

The prohibition of suicide has also been recorded in statements of hadith (sayings of Muhammad); for example:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell-Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide past stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire."

Many Muslim scholars and clerics consider suicide forbidden, including suicide attacks.^{[36] [37] [38]}

Judaism [edit]

Suicides are frowned upon and buried in a carve up function of a Jewish cemetery, and may non receive certain mourning rites. In practise, every means is used to excuse suicide—usually by determining either that the suicide itself proves that the person was not in their right mind, or that the person must have repented after performing the deadly act simply shortly earlier death occurred. Taking one's own life may be seen as a preferred alternative to committing certain cardinal sins.^[39] Most authorities hold that it is non permissible to hasten death to avoid pain if one is dying in whatever event, only the Talmud is somewhat unclear on the affair.^[40] Nevertheless, assisting in suicide and requesting such assistance (thereby creating an accomplice to a sinful act) is forbidden, a violation of Leviticus xix:14 ("Exercise not put a stumbling block before the blind"), which is understood every bit prohibiting tempting to sin equally well as literally setting up physical obstacles.^[41]

Biblical and other Jewish accounts of suicide include those of Samson and the woman with seven sons. Although the Jewish historian Josephus described a Jewish mass suicide at Masada,^[42] according to the archeologist Kenneth Atkinson, no "archaeological testify that Masada's defenders committed mass suicide" exists.^[43]

Neopagan religions [edit]

Wicca [edit]

In Wicca as well every bit numerous other Neopagan religions, there is no general consensus apropos suicide. Some view suicide as a violation of the sanctity of life, and a violation of the most fundamental of Wiccan laws, the Wiccan Rede. Yet, as Wicca teaches a belief in reincarnation instead of permanent rewards or punishments, many believe that suicides are reborn (like every i else) to endure the same circumstances in each subsequent lifetime until the chapters to cope with the circumstance develops.^[44]

See likewise [edit]

• Church of Euthanasia
• Prayopavesa
• Sallekhana
• Seppuku
• Sokushinbutsu
• Voodoo death

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

1. ^ Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology, pp. 108–9.
2. ^ Danielle Gourevitch, "Suicide among the sick in classical antiquity." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 43.half-dozen (1969): 501-518.
3. ^ John D. Papadimitriou, et al. "Euthanasia and suicide in antiquity: viewpoint of the dramatists and philosophers." Journal of the Royal Society of medicine 100.1 (2007): 25-28. online
4. ^ Anton J. L. Van Hooff, From autothanasia to suicide: Cocky-killing in classical antiquity (Routledge, 2002).
5. ^ Pruitt & Norman, The Patimokkha, 2001, Pali Text Order, Lancaster, Defeat 3
6. ^ 千萬不要自殺﹗--悔恨千年剧烈痛苦!
7. ^ 珍惜生命（墮胎與自殺的真相）
8. ^ 論佛教的自殺觀
9. ^ ^{a b c d due east} Attwood, Michael. "Suicide as A Response to Suffering". Western Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 5 Baronial 2021.
10. ^ Buddhism, euthanasia and suicide at the BBC
11. ^ Damien Keown. "Buddhism and Suicide The Instance of Channa" (PDF). Periodical of Buddhist Ethics. 3 (1996): 19–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-11-29 .
12. ^ Mircea Eliade (2005). The Encyclopedia of Religion (vol xiv) . New York: Macmillan. p. 129. ISBN978-0-02-865733-2.
13. ^ Jeremiah, Ken. Living Buddhas: The Cocky-mummified Monks of Yamagata, Japan. McFarland, 2010
14. ^ Hindu Website. Hinduism and suicide
15. ^ Mahabharata section CLXXXI
16. ^ ^{a b} "Hinduism - Euthanasia and Suicide". BBC. 2009-08-25.
17. ^ Ross, June (1998). Field Notebook: United states 1998b. [s.n.] doi:10.5962/bhl.title.148235.
18. ^ Suicide and Jainism
19. ^ Jain, Vijay Chiliad. (2012), Acharya Amritchandra's Purushartha Siddhyupaya, Vikalp Printers, p. 115, ISBN978-81-903639-iv-5, Non-Copyright Alt URL
20. ^ "Is Suicide Unforgivable?".
21. ^ Neil M. Gorsuch (12 April 2009). The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. Princeton University Press. p. 25. ISBN978-0-691-14097-1.
22. ^ Elisabeth Brockmann: Selbsttötungen in der Bibel, in: AGUS (ed.): Kirche – Umgang mit Suizid, p. xviii-20.
23. ^ Pulpit Commentary on 2 Samuel 17: "Hither Ahithophel is almost certainly intended"
24. ^ Eugen J. Pentiuc, Judas' Contour in the Psalms: Meditation on the Holy Wednesday, accessed five August 2017
25. ^ "What Does the Bible Say Nigh Suicide?".
26. ^ Dowie, J. A. (1902). Leaves of Healing. Vol. v. 11. Zion Publishing House. p. 702.
27. ^ Powell, D. (2017). Entangled: The Treacherous Snare of the Father of Lies. five Fold Media LLC. p. 13. ISBN978-ane-942056-55-3.
28. ^ Clemons, J. T. (1990). Perspectives on Suicide. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 55. ISBN978-0-664-25085-0.
29. ^ Murray, A. (2011). Suicide in the Middle Ages: Book 2: The Curse on Cocky-Murder. Oxford University Printing. Title page. ISBN978-0-19-161399-ix.
30. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2280, 2281".
31. ^ Byron, William. "Practise People Who Commit Suicide Go to Hell?". Catholic Assimilate. Archived from the original on nineteen December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
32. ^ Phipps, William. "Christian Perspectives on Suicide". religion-online. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
33. ^ Odhner, John. "Reflections on Suicide". Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved six July 2012.
34. ^ "Suicide". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-twenty-four hour period Saints. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
35. ^ Quran iv:29
36. ^ "The Hijacked Caravan: Refuting Suicide Bombings as Martyrdom Operations in Contemporary Jihad Strategy", Ihsanic Intelligence
37. ^ Noah Feldman, "Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age", New York Times, Oct 29, 2006
38. ^ David Bukay, From Muhammad to Bin Laden: Religious and Ideological Sources of the Homicide Bombers Miracle, 2011.
39. ^ See Talmud Bavli Gittin, 57b.
40. ^ See Talmud Bavli Avoda Zara 18a
41. ^ See Talmud Bavli (B.) Pesachim 22b; B. Mo'ed Katan 5a, 17a; B. Bava Mezia 75b. and B. Nedarim 42b.
42. ^ Masada and the showtime Jewish revolt against Rome Archived 2009-10-sixteen at the Wayback Motorcar: Near East Tourist Industry, Steven Langfur 2003
43. ^ Zuleika Rodgers, ed. (2007). Making History: Josephus And Historical Method . Brill. p. 397.
44. ^ "Pagans and Suicide".

forrestertakedent.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_suicide

Share this post