Suicide

Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of ending one's own life.

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Unforgivable?

Some Christians would deny this, appealing to Matthew 12:31-32 where only blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is "unforgivable".

A form of murder?

In John Bunyan's famous allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, the two characters Christian and Hopeful discuss suicide in the dungeon of the Giant Despair, giving us an insight into Bunyan's views of suicide as a form of murder:

"CHR. Brother, said Christian, what shall we do? The life that we now live is miserable. For my part I know not whether is best, to live thus, or to die out of hand. "My soul chooseth strangling rather than life", and the grave is more easy for me than this dungeon. [Job 7:15] Shall we be ruled by the Giant?

HOPE. Indeed, our present condition is dreadful, and death would be far more welcome to me than thus for ever to abide; but yet, let us consider, the Lord of the country to which we are going hath said, Thou shalt do no murder: no, not to another man's person; much more, then, are we forbidden to take his counsel to kill ourselves. Besides, he that kills another, can but commit murder upon his body; but for one to kill himself is to kill body and soul at once. And, moreover, my brother, thou talkest of ease in the grave; but hast thou forgotten the hell, for certain the murderers go? "For no murderer hath eternal life," &c"

Can a Christian commit suicide?

Many argue that suicide is probably, but not always, a fruit of a non-Christian, citing verses like Exodus 20:13 ("Thou shall not kill"), and Hebrews 10:26 ("If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have recieved knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left"). But much allowance and exception is given for likely reality that some Christians do commit this sin. "A Christian, who in a weak moment, falls into the sin of self-murder cannot be characterized as a habitual murderer." ( source)

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