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Life, Death & Growing
Old
·
Suicide
Philosophical
Considerations
1.
Defining “suicide”:
a.
Standard definition: “A suicidal act involves
the intentional termination of one’s own life.”
i. This
definition is too broad
ii. Does
not match our intuitions about various cases
“When an ethical term is being
defined, a proposed definition should explain the ordinary language intuitions
of people of good will regarding clear and borderline cases of what to count as
acts of suicide.”[1]
b.
Which of the following cases are suicides—and
why?[2]
i. An
elderly man, despairing of life, leaves a note behind and jumps off a bridge.
ii. A
soldier captured in war takes a capsule in order to avoid a torturous death and
to hide secrets from the enemy.
iii. A
truck driver, foreseeing his own death, drives off a bridge in order to avoid
hitting children playing in the road.
iv. A
hospitalized cancer patient with six months to live shoots himself in order to
save his family from unneeded psychological and financial suffering.
v. A
terminally ill patient, realizing death is imminent, requests that she not be
resuscitated again if another heart failure occurs.
vi. A
Jehovah’s Witness refuses a simple blood transfusion for religious reasons and
subsequently dies for lack blood.
c.
Key concepts to consider:
i. Intention: what is a person trying to
do?
·
Truck driver example (iii.)
a. Seeking to
sacrificially preserve life
b.
Truck driver did not desire to die but permitted
his death to save lives.
ii. Coercion: the decision to terminate
one’s life is done under a coercive duress of another or others.
* Soldier situation above (ii.)—“If the soldier were not under coercion
but terminated his life anyway, this would most likely be classified as a
suicide. Thus if an act is
coerced, it probably does not count as a suicide.”[3]
iii. Others-directed: the act of terminating
one’s life is not done from a self-directed motive but, rather, from an
other’s-directed motivation.
1.
Seems relevant for cases (ii.) and (iii.) above.
2.
What about case (iv.) above? J. P. Moreland argues:
“Some philosophers add the
stipulation that other-directed acts are suicidal if they are done for animals
or nonpersonal states of affairs (e.g., wealth). Thus case four is an act of self-destruction for others (a
cancer patient shoots himself to save others economic and psychological
distress) and should be classified as a
suicide because it is not done to save the lives of others, but to realize
a nonpersonal state of affairs.”[4]
3.
The Jehovah’s Witness/blood transfusion case
(vi.) could be seen not as a suicide but as a sacrificial act of martyrdom. Moreland adds:
“An
important issue in this case is whether the Jehovah’s Witness interpretation of
Scripture is accurate. Most
biblical scholars do not think so and thus would have a factual problem with
case six.”[5]
iv. Direct and active means: the person has
a direct and active hand in bringing about their death
1.
The cancer patient shooting himself (case iv.)
would be considered suicide.
2.
Case (v.)—a terminally ill patient with a Do Not
Resuscitate (DNR) order would not be considered suicide. Form of “passive euthanasia” which
seems ethically allowable.
d.
Moreland’s definition:
“An act is suicide if and only if a person
intentionally and/or directly causes his or her own death as an ultimate end in
itself or as a means to another and (e.g., pain relief), through acting (e.g.,
taking a pill) or refraining from acting (e.g., refusing to eat) when that act
is not coerced and is not done sacrificially for the lives of other persons or
in obedience to God.”[6]
Biblical Considerations
2.
Some general biblical principles[7]
a.
Suicide is sin against God as the Creator and
sustainer of life. It rejects
God’s sovereignty and usurps his prerogative in regard to life and death (Job
12.10).
b.
Suicide disregards the image of God and the sanctity
of human life (Genesis 1.26-27; 9.5-6).
c.
Suicide is poor stewardship of one’s body (1
Corinthians 6.19-20).
d.
Suicide demonstrates misdirected love and is
injurious to others (Matthew 22.36-39; Ephesians 5.29).
3.
Suicide is a violation of the sixth commandment—“
You shall not murder” (Exodus 20.13; Deuteronomy 5.17).
a.
Suicide is a form of homicide.
b.
Scripture does present exceptions to the general
prohibition of killing; might suicide fit under these exceptions?
i. Capital
punishment (Genesis 9.6)
ii. Just
war (Genesis 14.1-16)[8]
iii. Defending
one’s own or another’s life (Exodus 22.2-3)
“The common denominator
that connects the three exceptional situations—capital punishment, war, and
defense of life—is that they all spring directly out of profound respect for the sixth commandment itself. All of them reflect the positive side
of the sixth commandment: the sanctity of human life and the duty to preserve
and protect it.”[9]
iv. Suicide
does not advance the good purpose of the sixth commandment.
4.
Biblical examples of suicide:
a.
Abimelech (Judges 9.52-54)
b.
Saul and his armor bearer (1 Samuel 31.3-6; 1
Chronicles 10.3-5)
c.
Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17.23)
d.
Zimri (1 Kings 16.18-19)
e.
Judas Iscariot (Matthew 27.3-5)
f.
Note:
Some add Samson to this list (Judges 16.25-31) but others do not.[10]
5.
Scriptural perspectives to consider:
a.
“Scripture does not say explicitly that suicide
is wrong, but it places the act in a context of shame and defeat.”[11]
b.
“The stories were meant to be instructive to
future generations, portraying biblical suicides not as examples to be followed
but rather as cautionary warnings of how not to go.”[12]
c.
Some experienced such frustrations and pain that
they asked God to take their lives; Scripture implies that these requests were
not godly. God did not grant these
requests.[13]
i. Moses
(Numbers 11.12-15)
ii. Elijah
(1 Kings 19.4)
iii. Jonah
(Jonah 4.1-11)
d.
Job’s extreme adversity made him hate his life
but he did not take his life
i. Job
2.9-10
ii. Job
3.1-26 (cf. 6.8-9; 10.1-22)—Job laments the day of his birth and wishes for
death
Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter of soul,
who long for death, but there is none, and dig for it more than for hidden
treasures, who rejoice greatly, and exult when they find the grave. –Job 3.21-23
iii. “In
his suffering he desired to die at times, yet as a godly man Job refused to
bring about death by his own hand.”[14]
6.
Suffering together… not suicide.
a.
Life is going to include suffering: Romans
5.3-5; 8.18-25; 2 Corinthians 4.16-18; 12.7-10; James 1.2-4
b.
We live in community and need to share each
other’s suffering: Galatians 6.2; Ephesians 4.28; Colossians 3.12-15; 1
Thessalonians 5.14; Hebrews 13.1-3
Bear
one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians
6.2
“We should try to
understand the extremes of sadness, confusion, suffering, and defeat that lead
people to want to take their own lives.
People who contemplate suicide are in special need of the compassion of
the body of Christ and the grace of the cross. Our first approach should not be to judge, but to point to a
better way, as God himself did with his weary prophets. God never forsakes his children. He never leads them to a situation
where sinful self-destruction is the only option (1 Cor. 10:13).”[15]
7.
Suicide is sin… but not unforgivable!
a.
Objection: “Suicide does not allow one to repent
of their sin of self-murder therefore they are lost.”
i. “Many
Christians have died sudden deaths without having repented of all their
sins.” --Dietrich Bonhoeffer[16]
ii. “Contrary
to what Christians have often believed, such rational suicide does not
necessarily damn one. The suicide
dies, so to speak, in the moment of sinning, without opportunity to
repent. But then, so may I be killed
instantly in a car accident while plotting revenge against an enemy of
mine. God judges persons, not
individual deeds, and the moment in one’s life when a sinful deed occurs does
not determine one’s fate.”
--Gilbert Meilaender[17]
b.
“Is Suicide the
Unpardonable Sin?” Theologian Sam
Storms answers:
“People often answer “yes” to this
question because suicide leaves no room for repentance; a person enters
eternity with unconfessed and therefore unforgiven sin. But nowhere does the
Bible say that suicide is an unforgiveable or unpardonable sin. Furthermore,
the Bible teaches that all sin—past, present, and future—is forgiven through
faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One’s eternal
destiny is sealed and set at the moment of justifying faith. Our depth of
intimacy, fellowship, and joy is certainly affected adversely when we fail to
confess and repent of daily sin. But our eternal destiny has already and
forever been determined. We must recognize the distinction between eternal
forgiveness that is ours the moment we embrace Jesus in faith, and that
temporal forgiveness we receive on a daily basis that enables us to experience
the happiness of intimacy with the Father.”[18]
· Importance of the
doctrine of justification by faith: Romans 5.1-2
[5]
Moreland, “The Morality of Suicide: Issues and Options,” 217. For a brief analysis of the Jehovah’s
Witness teaching on blood transfusions see Brian J. Wright, “Jehovah’s
Witnesses and Blood Transfusions: Their Use of Scripture in Their Blood
Doctrine” Christian Research Journal
vol. 37, no. 5. Online: https://www.academia.edu/8728509/Jehovahs_Witnesses_and_Blood_Transfusions_Their_Use_of_Scripture_in_Their_Blood_Doctrine.
[7]
These are taken from David W. Jones “Suicide in Christian Perspective” The Southeastern Center for Pastoral
Leadership & Preaching—Equip Workshop: Death, Dying, & Funerals
(March 25, 2015). Online: http://www.sebts.edu/files/Funeral_Workshop_Notes_Packet.pdf
[8]
For a brief discussion of Just War Theory see my notes posted at: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2016/04/just-war-theory-notes.html.
[10]
Yael Shemesh has Samson on his list of suicides in the Bible (“Suicides in the
Bible,” Jewish Bible Quarterly 37[2009],
157) but John Frame places Samson’s death in the larger category of laying down
one’s life for others. “When he
pulled down the temple of Dagon, killing many Philistines, he accomplished
God’s judgment and empowered the people of God. In this one case, God answered affirmatively a prayer for
death (v. 30). There was indeed
something shameful about Samson’s death, as in the cases of Saul and Judas, for
Samson was often disobedient to God’s will. But his last moments were full of faith. In a small way, he anticipated Jesus,
gaining God’s victory by dying for his friends.” The Doctrine of the
Christian Life (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2008),
739.
[13]
Albert Hsu has a larger list: “Interestingly enough, the Bible also records
stories of at least seven people who despaired of life but did not go the way
of suicide. These include Rebekah (Genesis 27:46), Rachel (Genesis 30:1), Moses (Numbers 11:10-15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), Job (Job 6:8-13; 10:1-22), Jonah (Jonah 4:3, 8) and the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). These are positive role models for us,
in contrast to those who chose death instead of life. ‘Given the clear example throughout the Bible of men and
women who thought about killing themselves and chose not to, we should follow
their example.’” Albert Y. Hsu,
“Is Suicide the Unforgivable Sin?” Family
and Community Ministries 25 (2012), 5 (bold-face added)—Hsu quotes Donal O’Mathuna,
“But the Bible Doesn’t Say They Were Wrong Does It?” in Suicide: A Christian Response, ed. Timothy J. Demy and Gary P.
Stewart (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1998), 362, 366.
[18]
Sam Storms, “Is Suicide the Unpardonable Sin?” Gospel Coalition Website (June 17, 2015). Online: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-suicide-the-unpardonable-sin
