Christians: Do you consider death by smoking, drugs, eating disorders, etc. to be suicide?

Question

I've struggled with this for a while. My grandmother died (we believe) from emphysema, and I've always wondered if that is considered suicide (albeit, a slow) in God's eyes? Or, what about a woman that dies from anorexia after years of warnings and knowing that she can, and probably will, die from her disorder? I know we're supposed to take care of our bodies (temples), so I wonder if doing things that we KNOW are harmful and potentially fatal can be considered suicide if we die as a direct result of our behavior?

Answer 1

It depends on what you believe about free will and about sin in general.

We all do things which are destructive and are far from God's ideals for our lives.
You could extend your question by asking if it's suicide to eat "bad" foods and to be sedentary rather than a person who gets daily exercise. Or by saying (if it's a person who was adopted) if you don't have a full understanding of your medical history and your family's medical history, is it suicidal to not find out this information and have yearly EKG's, for example (if cardiac abnormalities run in your fmaily)?
IMO, the answer is of course not. It's not suicide to be human, and act on human impulses, even the ones that are "bad" or "wrong"....
We can't judge how hard it may be for the smoker to stop smoking, or for the anorexic to stop starving and exercising...that is not ours to judge....
The only thing that really saves any of us is belief in the One who saves.

Later: Great answer above mine. I absolutely agree. It's not up to anyone on this earth to say who gets into heaven and who doesn't. Martin Luther said the person who commits suicide "is no more guilty than the man who is set upon by robbers in the woods and killed."

Answer 2

Only God knows each individuals heart. If in your Grandmother's heart she wanted to die and was doing what she could to do so, then yes. There are choices that people make that are not healthy, but not condeming either, and that's probably what happened. She made a choice a long time ago to smoke or others who become trapped in annorexia, that did not intend on dieing for their decision, they just got trapped in a disorder or addiction that was difficult to come out of. Annorexia is a dangerous disorder, but people who fight this disorder need medical attention and counseling as well as a strong support group to help overcome the disorder.

Answer 3

Let me try to answer this question and the one you did not mention.

No I don't and I don't believe God does either. No one starts those behaviors because they want to kill themselves. They start those behaviors mostly due to peer pressure. The kid who wants to look like an adult, starts to smoke then he gets hooked on the nicotine.

The girl who wants to be pretty, decides to loose a few pounds and then thinks that if losing 5 pounds makes her look more attractive, losing 10 would make her still more attractive. Then there is also the control issue which young girls get into.

I had a mother who died from complications from smoking just 4 years ago, but she started smoking when she was in high school back in about 1935 long before anyone suspected how bad smoking really is.

Once we knew in 1960 that it caused cancer, my Mom was already hooked. She tried to quit many times but could not.

Speeding while behind the wheel of a car, or drinking and driving has also killed people, but that is rarely called suicide.

Now for the next question which you did not ask but I suspect is really what you are concerned about:

Is Suicide the unpardonable sin?

The answer to that is absolutely not.

There is one large denomination which teaches that, but that's a logical result of the their own non biblical version of how a person gets saved by Jesus.

They teach a person gets grace from God by received "Sacremants" administered by this one "church".

They teach that murder is a mortal sin, and course the Bible says nothing about "mortal sins" vs. "venial sins", that's just some bad man made theology without any basis from the Bible.

So if you kill yourself, that's murder, and since you can't repent after that, you can't go thru the "Sacrement of Pennance" afterwards, if you take your own life you are lost.

That's non Biblical teaching.

Its absolutely cruel to tell a family who just had a member take their own life, that that person can't be buried from church or buried in the family cemetary plot.

There is no doubt in my mind that the leaders of that religion who came up with that logic where wicked and cruel and without an ounce of compassion or love for their neighbor.

Its man made teaching, which does not come from the Bible.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Suicide is a depirate act of a hurting person and I believe God loves and is compassionate towards those people as everyone else.

The question of salvation, for the person who dies via suicide vs. the one who dies another way is exactly the same.

What was that person's relationship with God thru Jesus Christ during their life time?

Where they trusting in Jesus' death on the cross to cover their sin debt or not.

Had they asked Jesus to fortive their sins or not?

If a person is a genuine Christian, by God's definition, not by my defination or your definition or the Pope's defintion or the definition of the Southern Baptist Convension, then when they die they will be saved and go to heaven, no matter if their life ended via natural causes or if they died at their own hand.

If they were not a genuine Christian, then they won't go to heaven no matter how they died or why.

My church has handled funeral arrangments for suicide cases where their church turned the family away. And those cases are very tragic indeed.

Pastor Art

Answer 4

We all die as a direct result of our behavior. Sooner or later, we all die. Some suicides are more obvious, like when a note is left. Some suicides are hardly recognizable.

Answer 5

I am not christian, but if I were..from christian point of view I would probably think that thats some form of er going against God. You are supposed to treat your bodies as a temple. Not harming them unecessarily. Only drinking, for example, for health reasons and not to get smashed. I would assume the same goes for cigarettes. Unless they are prescribed by your doctor (which they can be for stress reasons), God probably sees no reason why you should be polluting your body.

Answer 6

There is a difference between doing something despite the knowledge that it's "bad for you" and deliberately choosing to take your own life.

Sitting in your chair and typing on a keyboard is bad for you, eating doughnuts is bad for you, putting a loaded shotgun in your mouth and pulling the trigger is suicide.

See what I'm saying?
Doughnut = Oh well, you only live once!
Shotgun = Oh well, you only die once!

Answer 7

You've obviously never smoked, or had an eating disorder, or been hooked on drugs. You can't just stop it whenever you like. You can tell me that it's bad and I need to quit, but it's a lot harder for me to actually follow through with it. And eating disorders are serious diseases.

Answer 8

It could be construed as such, but the one dying of such disorders probably doesn't look at it that way. The thing is, you can let others know the outcome, but they have to change if they want. We cannot force them, although we would like to sometimes, ay?

Answer 9

I think that just because a death is self-inflicted doesn't mean it's suicide. Suicide is last-resort attempt to end suffering. Dying because you did something to yourself, because of bad choices or illnesses doesn't necessarily constitute suicide.

Answer 10

Sorry about you Granny but anyway I consider things such as this controllable so yes I do consider it suicide...God gave us the body he did not say waste it away on something that tells you on the side of the box that it could kill you...cigarettes on the side tells you all the effects...but if that's what they want to do then its them my Uncle smokes and it hurts me to watch him tear away his body..SMILE you just don't do it and I promise you will live longer...don't allow my answer to make you think that your Granny is in trouble now GOD is in control not me and he said his thoughts and ways are different from ours as high as the heaven is from the earth so that means totally different maybe maybe so who knows,,,SMILE,,,