Posted by Doug Showalter on March 14, 1998 at 21:18:55:
In Reply to: depression posted by anonymous on March 14, 1998 at 08:44:32:
Dear anonymous,
Your message concerns me. You say that your question is academic. However, you title your message "depression" and sign it "anonymous." If you are in trouble, please get help. There are people who care, who can help you. First, I would encourage you to seek out a medical doctor and/or a professional counselor. There are medicinal and/or psychological treatments which can be very effective. Second, you might also want to call the "Samaritans." They are a telephone "hotline" manned by volunteers–day and night, I think--who are trained to help people anonymously, and particularly with suicide issues. They are very good. Although they are located in Massachusetts, they receive phone calls from people all over the United States. Their number is 1-508-548-8900. Their toll free number--only in Massachusetts I believe--is: 1-800-893-9900.
To answer your question. The sanctity of human life has long been an important principle within Christianity. Theologically speaking, Christians have placed this high value on human life, because they believe it is a gift from God, which they are called to treasure and be good stewards of.
Down through the centuries, the Christian Church has often been very harsh on those who WILLFULLY TOOK their own lives. In Christian thinking, this form of suicide has usually been distinguished from those [like Jesus and early Christian martyrs] who simply RELINQUISHED their lives to powers beyond themselves, in order to serve a higher cause [assuming they had absolutely no choice other than their own deaths, in order to serve those higher causes].
In the past, the bodies of suicide victims were often not allowed to be buried in church cemeteries–on consecrated ground. I don't know if any Christian churches still practice this exclusion today. I certainly hope not. In symbolic terms, part of this historic Christian rejection of those who committed suicide, may have gone back to Judas, who is depicted in the New Testament as having taken his own life.
What do I believe? I believe that God loves each and every one of us. I also believe that people who are so driven as to take their own lives, should be looked upon with compassion. And of course, they should given help whenever possible, so they do not choose that self-destructive option in a desperate moment.
Are those who commit suicide ultimately condemned by God? In trying to answer questions like this one, I always go back to something that Jesus told his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount:
Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! [Matthew 7: 9-11]
In my view, if we humans can have compassion for someone who willfully takes their own life, then certainly God can be [and is] even infinitely more compassionate–and forgiving.
Of course, if someone commits suicide it is an additional cause for sadness for those who are left behind. It can often bring a great wound upon loved ones, who may not understand why the person committed that act, or who may blame themselves somehow for the person's death. Nonetheless, as far as my mainline Protestant theology and church are concerned, the funeral services for such persons are held with just as much dignity, and with just as much hope for their afterlife with God, as are the services we hold for others who die.
I hope this is helpful.
Doug Showalter