If you or a loved one is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Hotline.) Help is available and only one phone call away.

***Trigger Warning: The content in this post may be triggering to some. This post addresses suicide; please exercise caution before continuing to read***

Suicide is a major problem facing humanity, and one that nobody enjoys discussing. For many of us, this topic strikes close to home. Some of us have loved ones who have acted on taking their life. We see news frequently about people ending it all. In the United States, suicide is a leading cause of death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates from 2000-2021 increased 36%; it is among the nine leading causes of death in the US.¹ There is a certain religious stigma of suicide that we urgently need to address.

In 2021, about 12.3 million American adults seriously considered suicide. I am one of them. I struggled with suicidality from a young age; twelve to be exact. I struggled with suicidal ideations for much of my childhood and into my teenage years. Nine years later, I ended up in the emergency room after trying to drink myself to death. As you may recall, I attempted again earlier this year.

Do Christianity and Suicide Intersect?

For as long as I have struggled with this disease, I felt that it was a character defect. To even think of ending my life, I was a sinner. I contemplated—and attempted—the “ultimate sin.” I never felt it safe to discuss my feeling. As I write this post, I struggle with mustering the strength to admit that I have been in that dark place for much of my life. And religious legalism is the vilest salt in the wound.

Fundamentalist stalwart John Macarthur is one example of how contemporary Christianity fuels the negative stigma of suicidality. MacArthur says, “We question the faith of those who take their life or even consider it seriously–it may well be that they have never been truly saved.”²

According to MacArthur, if you are a Christian and you struggle with mental illnesses, you are not truly Christian. One who considers suicide is actively “practicing sin in his heart.”³ And of course, he offers his advice: “Someone considering suicide should be challenged above all to examine himself to see whether he is in the faith.”⁴ The gall of such a pathetic man, the instigator of multiple controversies, to tell someone facing a crisis they need to go back to Bible school before seeking professional help.

MacArthur is not alone in his wicked theology. In fact, the issue goes back to the late ages of Classic antiquity. The condemning nature of the church’s attitude towards suicide began with the famed church father Saint Augustine of Hippo. Augustine presented the following view on Christianity and Suicide in his book City of God, composed in the early 4^th century CE:

“no man ought to inflict on himself voluntary death . . . for those who die by their own hand have no better life after death” (ch. 26) and “it is therefore wicked to kill oneself” (ch. 27)⁵

Thankfully, modern churches have been addressing the issue with a bit more empathy. However, there are still numerous churches teaching that suicide is an “unforgivable sin.” The church I attended with my family during middle and high school is one of them. To be only twelve years old and contemplating suicide is a terrifying thought alone; enter my youth pastor affirming that people who commit suicide go straight to the furnace. I was supposed to trust this man; instead, he made me feel that I would spend eternity in hell for even thinking such thoughts.

Ancient Solutions to Modern Problems

As the world progresses and more people raise awareness for suicide, the church has done a much better job of addressing the suicide epidemic than, say, 50 years ago. But there is still plenty of progress that needs to be made. In particular, the church should be addressing mental health. Instead, churches either deride mental health as a “progressive substitution for faith” or they simply do not discuss it at all. This should not be. It was not until my first time in a mental health facility that I truly felt a spiritual connection with God. It was not within the church; it was in a facility with fellow addicts seeking help for substance abuse.

According to multiple studies, attending weekly religious services is shown to be an effective protection against suicide.⁶ Why is this so? For one reason that I have not fully addressed in any posts yet: religious involvement provides unmatched community and fellowship. This was the hardest part of converting from Christianity to spiritualism for me; I lost the most (or only) beneficial aspect of religion, which is community. It is not the sermons that prevent suicide; it is not the cheesy worship songs that prevent suicide; it is belonging to a community of fellow, likeminded humans.

So, why do I have a problem with Christianity’s stance on suicide? Let’s examine a few reasons.

1) Christianity views suicide as a sin

Despite the church becoming more empathetic to suicide in the last century, the core “theology of suicide” is that it is a violation of God’s will. The Bible never explicitly states that suicide is a sin. However, Christian doctrine holds that murder is a violation of the sixth commandment (Ex. 20:13). Christian theology views suicide as “murder of the self.” It likewise believes that suicide is a violation of the sanctity of life. These are rational and logical points, but how is this going to prevent someone contemplating suicide from completing the act?

I think we need to change our perspective on this. Firstly, the Bible never says sinners go to hell. There is no such place in the Bible. Second, while the act of suicide may be considered a sin, we need to exercise caution in how we convey this message. People who experience suicidal ideations are not trying to violate Scripture out of a bitter heart; they are in a crisis. They do not want to suffer any more.

Those who contemplate suicide do not need a sermon. They do not need a systematic lesson on sin and God’s will. They need love. They need to know that their life matters. As one researcher keenly identifies, “Suicide is more than a public health crisis; it is often a cry for help.”⁷ Medical intervention is necessary, but the suicidal mind does not immediately think “I need a doctor.” Instead, it thinks, “I need someone who will listen to me, hear my cry, and support me.” This is where clergy and members of the congregation have a crucial role to play.

2) The stigma is largely created by the idea that suicide is a sin

Suicide is most certainly a taboo topic. It is nothing that anyone wants to discuss. Why? Because for centuries, suicide was viewed as an unforgivable sin. Unforgivable because “the person who did it could not have repented of doing it.”⁸ To this day, it is viewed as a sin. Because suicide violates the sanctity of life, it is a contaminant. As such, “The feeling of disgust is associated with a feeling that something pure has been degraded”⁹ And thus, stigma is bred.

3) Christianity does not talk about suicide

Tying in closely with the previous point, silence on the matter is both toxic and deafening. When suicide is not discussed, people fear judgment for even mentioning the word. One participant in the previously mentioned study explained, “Unless we talk about help-seeking regularly and about suicide more than occasionally, we develop or reinforce a culture of not seeking help.”¹⁰ The silence promotes a feeling that the topic should never be brought up. As a result, when one struggles with suicidal ideations, they feel that they cannot reach out for help.

4) The church is more focused on people leaving the service with good feelings

This is perhaps my biggest issue with the business aspect of church. It is all a show. Churches thrive on people leaving a service with a spiritual high. Pastors in the 21st century are little more than motivational speakers. As such, the church avoids discussing real issues for the sake of pleasing its congregants. This should not be the case. We do not live in a fairytale. Suffering is real and suffering is a problem; and sometimes, a sufferer pays the ultimate price to remove the pain. If we do not acknowledge the multitude of horrors in this life, then we promote a false sense of reality.

The result of not discussing the topic is ignorance.¹¹ Suicide is a topic that affects each of us, and we should not be ignorant of it. We never know when someone may come to us seeking help. Likewise, we never know when we may be caught in this snare. When we have heard nothing but silence on the matter, what are we to do?

Conclusion

Suicide is a topic very close to my heart. I have never felt safe to discuss the fact that I have been suicidal because it is a taboo subject in our society. Nobody wants to talk about it; but Christians have an obligation to. As Lewis B. Smedes noted over two decades ago, “[A]s Christians, we should worry less about whether Christians who have killed themselves go to heaven, and worry more about how we can help people like them find hope and joy in living.”¹²

A single post here will not allow a full treatment of this topic. I have much more to say than I have included in this post. I would like to conclude on a happy note: I found the help I needed. I did not find it within the four walls of a church. I found it in a mental health facility with others struggling with the same ideations. And I am alive! Not only so, but I am happy. Seven months ago, I would not believe that I would recover from such depravation of my mind. But I made it, and now, I have an opportunity to help others fighting similar battles. You can too.

Raise awareness. Talk about suicide. But do it in a loving manner. The love you show someone has the potential to save a life. Suicide is a leading cause of death; but it does not have to be. This season is a season of joy, peace, and happiness to most. But to some, it is heart wrenching and brutal. Show love to every person, because you never know what they may be going through. And let me reiterate: you have the potential to save a life. You cannot do it by sitting on the sidelines.

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1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Facts about Suicide” https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html

2. John MacArthur, “Can someone who commits suicide be saved,” Grace for You, https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA143/can-one-who-commits-suicide-be-saved

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. John Potter, “Is Suicide the Unforgivable Sin? Understanding Suicide, Stigma, and Salvation through Two Christian Perspectives.” Religions 12, no. 11 (2021): https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110987

6. Karen Mason, 2021. “Suicide Stigma in Christian Faith Communities: A Qualitative Study,” Religions 12: 540, 1. https://doaj.org/article/1cd5bb3966184d858d0d807084ef0982.

7. John Potter, “Is Suicide the Unforgivable Sin? Understanding Suicide, Stigma, and Salvation through Two Christian Perspectives.” Religions 12, no. 11 (2021): 987, 1.

8. Lewis B. Smedes, “Is Suicide Unforgivable?” Christianity Today, Jul 10, 2000. 61, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/is-suicide-unforgivable/docview/211906085/se-2.

9. Mason 2

10. Ibid., 6.

11. Ibid., 11.

12. Lewis B. Smedes, “Is Suicide Unforgivable?” Christianity Today, Jul 10, 2000. 61