Suicide - What do you believe?

Question

If someone commits suicide, do you believe they are going to Hell? What if that person is mentally ill? What if they ask for forgivness before they do it? No I am not thinking of doing it, just a question I've always wounder about. I love my life.

Answer 1

It is NOT such a black and white concept as some people would have us believe. Your example of a mentally ill person is a great example of someone who may not be morally culpable for his "sinful" actions.

Another good example is some martyrs of the Church who are considered Saints. One woman, I do not recall the name, jumped off of a cliff to her death at hearing that she would be raped by her captors before they killed her themselves. She considered her virginal purity as being worth more than her biological life. And the Church has always considered her as a truly holy woman who is now with her Lord precisely becuase of her suicidal act.

I don't think that we can ask for forgiveness before we commit a wrong deed, whatever it might be. Asking forgiveness presumes repentance, and repentance means turning away from the (past) sin. This being so, if we truly repented before we were about to commit some wrong, we would in fact have to NOT do it.

Answer 2

If you accept that there is an omniscient God, then I would assume that he would know what was in your heart and mind when it happened (would know if you were mentally ill and couldn't help yourself, etc.) However I don't think asking for forgiveness beforehand would work because it implies that you know you're doing something wrong but are doing it anyway. That said, I also think that any all powerful being worth a darn should be able to take things on a case by case basis. I've been working with terminally ill, miserable, pain riddled people for years now, and I've become a fan of the Idea of dying with dignity. I don't believe that a loving god wants anyone to live day after day in a bed, unable to move, covered in pressure sores. If ever I am diagnosed with something that will end up like this, I may very well take myself out before it can get that bad and pray that I'm right about this.

Answer 3

There is no such things as a sin that God won't forgive, except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Suicide attempts are forgiveable.
Drawn out suicides may be forgiven if the person comes to his/her senses soon enough to ask God to forgive them.
Successful suicides when the person dies immediately gives the person no chance to ask for forgiveness, so they will die in a sinful state.

Suicide is the most selfish act that a person can commit.

Answer 4

If Their mentally ill they probably don't know God so how would they ask for forgiveness. Their going to Hell

Answer 5

I don't believe everyone who commits suicide is going to hell.If you have a mental condition and aren't aware of reality all you want to do is die to be free of this life and to be with God I think you will go to Heaven (if you was a believer in your right state of mind beforehand).In my opinion this would be the only way.

Answer 6

Most people even bad ones, don't go to Hell right off, God is very compassionate, perhaps these are the negative people that are the ones, ghost that are stuck here on earth, most are afraid to go to the light, because of negativity, they can be lead to the light and some go to heaven, but usually they are giving this chance to learn in time, they still can change, God is still giving them a chance.

Answer 7

The Responsible, Scriptural View of Life

Life is a gift from God, not something to be abused or to end at one’s own hand. (James 1:17) Hence, the Scriptures encourage us to see ourselves, not as immortal souls, but as valuable creations of the God who loves us, who treasures our being alive, and who looks forward with joy to the time of the resurrection.—Job 14:14, 15.

Love strengthens our recognition that suicide—though evading one’s own burdens—only heaps more problems on loved ones left behind. As far as the one who rashly took his own life is concerned, we humans cannot judge as to whether he will get a resurrection or not. How reprehensible was he? God alone searches ‘all hearts and every inclination of the thoughts.’ (1 Chronicles 28:9) But we may be confident that ‘the Judge of all the earth is going to do what is loving, just, and right!’—Genesis 18:25.

A Merciful Opportunity

Stunned friends of a suicide victim may thus take comfort in knowing that “Jehovah has shown mercy to those fearing him. For he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:10-14) Only God can fully understand the role of mental sickness, extreme stress, even genetic defects, in a “suicidal crisis,” which, the National Observer noted, “is not a lifetime characteristic [but] often a matter only of minutes or of hours.”—See Ecclesiastes 7:7.

Granted, one who takes his own life deprives himself of the opportunity to repent of his self-murder. But who can say whether one driven to suicide might have had a change of heart had his fatal attempt failed? Some notorious murderers have, in fact, changed and earned God’s forgiveness during their lifetime.—2 Kings 21:16; 2 Chronicles 33:12, 13.

Thus, Jehovah, having paid “a ransom in exchange for many,” is within his right to extend mercy, even to some self-murderers, by resurrecting them and giving them the precious opportunity to “repent and turn to God by doing works that befit repentance.”—Matthew 20:28; Acts 26:20.

Answer 8

I've been taught that a person who commits suicide goes to Hell, but I like to think that God forgives such people.

Answer 9

If Your Asking For Forgiveness Before You Commit Suicide, Then Why Kill Yourself! If You Die, There Is Noone There To Forgive! Why Do It?

Answer 10

There is no hell, as someone else said, hell is something that was made up tp scare us. As to suicides, who can say. I just believe they have to reincarnate imediately to relearn what they did not learn from the life they chose not to live.