If you commit suicide, do you go to Hell?

I always wondered this due to the fact that i know of some religious people who committed suicide. I was more shocked then anything as to how the bible doesn't really give a concrete yes or no on the subject. I'm pretty sure that the bible does talk about people committing suicide, just not what their consequences for doing it was.

I've looked on the internet, and talked with some people out of pure curiosity because i was worried about the people's well being in their after-life. So what are your thoughts? Do you think they go to hell? Go to heaven? Or are they stuck in some purgatory?

Thanks

p.s. i am not thinking about suicide just in case you may be thinking that

reply to post by baseball101




I think heaven and hell are places on earth or states of mind.

I don't think you would go to hell for doing it...

Didn't jesus die so that all your sins were forgiven...?

i understand what you're saying, that could be true, just looking for other possible explanations ... i have just always wondered, the bible's kind of vague on some subjects and this just happens to be one ... yeah and that's what i thought as well, but the thought that he died for our sins means that the people who died before his existence and were evil are the only one's there, but the one's who died after doesn't matter what they do go to heaven? just doesn't make sense to me ...

Originally posted by baseball101
the bible's kind of vague on some subjects and this just happens to be one ...

Just SOME subjects ....?

yeah and that's what i thought as well, but the thought that he died for our sins means that the people who died before his existence and were evil are the only one's there, but the one's who died after doesn't matter what they do go to heaven? just doesn't make sense to me ...

Yeah.... i don't think it's supposed to make sense... that's the point.
You just gotta have faith man....

Not my words i hasten to add.....

Originally posted by blupblup

Just SOME subjects

....?

Haha okay i myself was a little vague there, there are a lot of subjects that are vaguely discussed in the bible

Not my words i hasten to add.....

i understand that only the big man knows what the bible's truly trying to say ... i do have faith, just was wondering if anyone had some insight to what suicide really is, in the religious sense.

reply to post by baseball101


I shall cease my sarcasm and leave you to it.

I hope you get the answers you're looking for man.


Peace

reply to post by baseball101
No you do not go to heaven or hell if you commit suicide. Your soul leaves this material dimension and moves into a spiritual one no matter how you die.
The time, date and nature of your death is mapped out at conception that's what I believe anyway.
Why all these suicide threads-- I replied to another one on here earlier very similar to this.
My mum killed herself----she did not go to hell. I can sometimes sense her precence.It's a peaceful feeling .Full stop.

I tend to think that, if kill yourself - you were already in hell. You will just be forcing others to join you.

Suicide touched my extended family a few months ago. It was selfish and ugly. There are not words to describe the pain and chaos left behind.

As for what happens to the person who dies, who can really claim to know? Obviously, the person who kills themselves doesn't care so why should the living worry themselves over it?

Suicide falls under the category of murder.

It's self-murder, since you can't be punished for it, because your dead.

Killing ones self is a mental and emotional breakdown of the highest type

Romans 6 verse 7
Weymouth New Testament
for he who has paid the penalty of death stands absolved from his sin.
another version
For he who has died has been acquitted from [his] sin.

from sin-literally, "justified," "acquitted," "got his discharge from sin." As death dissolves all claims, so the whole claim of sin, not only to "reign unto death," but to keep its victims in sinful bondage, has been discharged once for all, by the believer's penal death.

God forgives them and they are covered by the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So the answer is no, but then again hell doesn't exist, sheol and hades do though but that's a different topic.

thank you all for your replies, very interesting to read the differing opinions ... if any one else has any other thoughts, please feel free to add!

reply to post by baseball101


Hi baseball101/
Suicide in itself is taking your own life in your hands,you are deciding that you own the right to choose when you die.
we do not have the right to take our own lives, life is a gift from God which we are called upon to preserve.
eg/ you are commiting an act of murder ...bodily harm.
When suicide happens and the person is not in their right of mind(God only knows),then it is not our judgement to make on where that soul goes.
There are exceptions as to prayers been said on their behalf, as there are all prayers said on all those that die whilst the faithfull remain on earth to pray for them...this goes back to the Old Testament on which prayers were always said to benefit the dead.
There also remains facts unknown to us prior to the suicider's thoughts whilst they are dying and whether they made good with God or asked for their sins to be forgiven...

reply to post by baseball101


I've always longed for death but I don't want to die for nothing. I like to die for something like a hero that died to save the day

I don't think that would be suicide because in such case, I chose to save a person who will die in fear with my life. Dying in fear is a bad thing.

I think suicidal motivations are highly energetic thoughts. Rather than kill yourself or someone, use that energy to help, save, rescue..

[edit on 21-4-2009 by ahnggk]

Originally posted by kosmicjack
It was selfish and ugly. There are not words to describe the pain and chaos left behind.

Can you even imagine the pain that the person who ends their own life feels?
I never get it when people say they are selfish for killing themselves....i mean, i get why they think that.... but imagine how low and shi**y you must be feeling to have to end your own life..?

The torment and anguish you have been through to actually arrive at that point?

Obviously, the person who kills themselves doesn't care so why should the living worry themselves over it?

And you should care because it's someone who may have been close to you or whatever.
People should care because it's the right thing to do.... have compassion and feel sorrow for the passing of another life.

Perhaps if we looked out a little more and spoke to people we knew were really down and got them the hep they needed...... so many wouldn't feel the need to end their lives?

Originally posted by blupblup

Originally posted by kosmicjack
It was selfish and ugly. There are not words to describe the pain and chaos left behind.

Can you even imagine the pain that the person who ends their own life feels?
I never get it when people say they are selfish for killing themselves....i mean, i get why they think that.... but imagine how low and shi**y you must be feeling to have to end your own life..?

The torment and anguish you have been through to actually arrive at that point?

Obviously, the person who kills themselves doesn't care so why should the living worry themselves over it?

And you should care because it's someone who may have been close to you or whatever.
People should care because it's the right thing to do.... have compassion and feel sorrow for the passing of another life.

Perhaps if we looked out a little more and spoke to people we knew were really down and got them the hep they needed...... so many wouldn't feel the need to end their lives?

Wow....good on you and I truly mean that. That's awe-inspiring and it's nice to see someone beat me to it. I think suicide is selfish because we as the living can't understand the suicidal. It's happened to me in my life. When it did I WAS very angry. I was calling him selfish and at the time I meant it. Nowadays I apologize profusely for saying so. Truth is, I was the selfish one.

Well said

-Kyo

reply to post by blupblup


It's so easy to be judgmental when you don't know all of the facts.

A man with a good job and friends/family/support killed himself on the day before his wife was scheduled to begin an often postponed and desperately needed bone-marrow transplant, which then got postponed again. She had to drive six hours back from the cancer treatment center with the catheter still inserted in her chest to make arrangements for the burial.

She couldn't make arrangements to reschedule her transplant until the insurance company and the doctors were satisfied that she was still covered by the policy and her physical condition was optimal for success.

He was found by his mentally handicapped thirteen year-old daughter who will now likely be an orphan as the mom is out of remission due to the stress of the ordeal.

So, No - No worries about where he will spend eternity - heaven, hell or elsewhere. Only worries for the thirteen year old and her older brother who will now be raising his sister when he should be starting his own life.

No matter where the dead man is, the living that are left behind are surely in hell. So no, I won't concern myself with him, only the victims he left behind.

Well perhaps his mind is so clouded and he is in such unreal pain. We'll never know but how can we judge them for it?

thing is, humans do get blinded. We ALL do. We get blinded by pain sometimes and when you do it is awful hard to think of others. When I am in deep-seated depression, I'm sorry if I don't think of others first at that moment. Maybe there is some pain I can't handle and it terrifies me to ask another.

Look I am not saying it's good. Suicide is horrid but to call it selfish is just as horrid to me. Maybe there is that unreal pain that we've probably never felt. Maybe that person has a chemical inbalance and can't control it.

I have never been in severe depression myself but I have had it fairly bad. I am fine now and clearly I am still alive. The thing is, when you are in intense pain, sometimes the last thing you are thinking about is anyone else.

My wife had a kidney stone pass once. Women who have had them say it is far worse than childbirth. It is one of the worst pains a human can physically go through. So no she doesn't think of others at that time.

Mental/emotional pain can be equally debilitating. So Again, I think suicide is horrible but I think it's an abomination to think we are good enough to say "they should have gotten it fixed" or to pretend we know what they were feeling.

I mourn the loss...always will but it's a death to me...not a murder

-Kyo

reply to post by kosmicjack


Um..... can you point out to me where i was being judgmental?

I thought that it was you who were being judgmental if anybody.
All I'm saying is that it's not an easy decision and every single case is different.

Yes, there are victims who are left behind to pick up the pieces and yes people are scarred for life.
Not everybody is wired the same and not everybody can just pull through their grief...or depression and they feel that ending it is the only way out.

As i said.... to actually get to the point where someone feels the need to kill themselves is a pretty awful thing all round.
For everyone concerned.

To say it's selfish and you don't care about the person, is IMO, just as selfish.



[edit on 22/4/09 by blupblup]

Originally posted by kosmicjack
It's so easy to be judgmental when you don't know all of the facts.

Well, after re-reading my post I must admit that does cut both ways. Yes, I am judging too. We humans do that I suppose.

But, as such, I can discern and judge the difference between a confused or troubled teenager, a clinically diagnosed mentally ill person and an adult with relationships, responsibilities and obligations who chooses to walk away from it all because it's too hard or complicated.

No, I can't imagine the pain he was in, as he didn't tell anyone

I tend to think one of the hallmarks of unhappy people is selfishness. They can't get past their own feelings and discomfort. They are consumed with their own situation until, as in this case, it literally then consumes them.

reply to post by helen670
suicide is NOT an act of murder.
It is a state of mind where you have reached the end and feel unable to continue.
Please answer me this----you're saying my mum commited murder by taking her own life because she could'nt live without her soul mate --my dad who died a few weeks before her?
What God would judge a heartbroken soul to be a murderer?
He would certainly be one lacking in compassion thats for sure.

But, as such, I can discern and judge the difference between a confused or troubled teenager, a clinically diagnosed mentally ill person and an adult with relationships, responsibilities and obligations who chooses to walk away from it all because it's too hard or complicated.

But maybe you and I judge wrong. What you see as a teenager who needs to grow up could be a teenager in desperate panic and pain. Maybe that teen was raped, preganant with the rapist's child...

Maybe the adult who walked away had really good reasons. Maybe he was in dire pain as well.

I tend to agree that when a person reaches suicide, there is something terribly wrong. Clearly their thinking isn't healthy.

You can discern all you want about that teen and that adult but it sure doesn't mean you are right. On the other hand, I could be totally wrong too but either way I tend to think something is awfuly wrong if they have reached that point.

-Kyo