On Suicide, Part 2
I
am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying
willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do
not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts,
which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be
ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread
of Christ.
~St. Ignatius of Antioch (2nd Century AD)
St. Ignatius and other Early Church leaders often seemed to elevate death, which has given critics ammunition against them as disregarding this life, perhaps giving into the escapism prevalent with the Gnostics (see Part 1). Others embrace their elevation of death as perhaps a passive permission for even suicide.
Superficially, both arguments seem possible, even if these interpretations are implausible within the context of the Early Church. The early fathers' embrace of death was twofold. On one hand, their deaths were immanent, despite some like Ignatius (above) asking that his brethren not attempt a rescue. The rationale was not an escapism, but a testimony to going the distance in faithfulness in Christ. It was both an encouragement to other Christians that death is not a finality and a message to persecutors of the sincerity and commitment of Christians to their God. And on the other hand, there was the belief that the Church was already in the end times and that Christ would be returning even as early as then, so the message was for believers to not hang onto the temporal things of this life, being moot in the immediacy of Christ's return.
None of this seems suicidal, but rather the simple embrace of whatever God willed. Granted, the martyrdom of these early Christians may have been nearsighted somewhat, but it was a testimony to their genuine love of and devotion to Christ. Can any of this really speak to suicide however?
First, we must note that martyrs were not committing actual suicide, but were instead allowing for persecution to be the rub against their detractors and as a means of dying for God in the way he died for us. Reciprocity was an economic tool of the times, whereby a gift given (salvation is a gift according to Ephesians 2:8) demanded the receiver to reciprocate to maintain socioeconomic ties and relationship. In other words, continual reciprocity meant the well being of one another and solidified relationship. It's often said in Protestant circles today that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. Actually it is both, but the point is true that salvation is for union with Christ (2 Peter 1:4) in relationship. The trick was that when a gift is given, the return gift should not be of equal or lesser value, or even a mere thanks, because that would not advantage the receiver and presents no incentive to maintain the relationship. Jesus commanded his followers to take up their crosses and die to themselves (Matthew 16:24) and that authentic worship was a renewing of a person's mind through repentance and offering of a person's body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). In short, the reciprocal gift of a Christian is to give his or her entirety over to Christ as thanks for what he has done, which was his death and resurrection.
The downside is that Christ's death and resurrection was perfect and eternal since he is the eternal God, while we cannot give back greater than what is already perfect. Our deaths and resurrection must be renewed through repentance and self-discipline (giving our bodies over to him). This precludes the oft Protestant claim that salvation only relies on the gift from God, for even as the gift originates with God, it demands reciprocation and the ultimate we can give back is our imperfect self-sacrifice (James 2:14-26). Mere acceptance of the gift or a one time commitment in baptism, communion, and/or repentance is not enough to maintain relationship. Continual re-commitment is necessary. The relationship ought to end in this mode because we can never repay God for being God and doing what we cannot, so our only recourse is to continue to do good works to maintain salvation. This is not earning salvation in so much as it is discipline toward humility. When we give of ourselves for the sake of God and the people he made, we remove the attention from ourselves and are truly living sacrificially as reciprocation. It's not a legalism or a purchase of heaven, but a responsibility to take up our cross and truly partake in the same divine nature that laid it all down for us to begin with.
All that to say, suicide can never be the same kind of death to self that continual martyrdom (repentance and self-discipline) offers. Suicide seeks to escape pain and suffering, whilst active and living martyrdom embraces death and suffering as minimizing or humbling agents to aid it repentance and union with God. Suicide is not even a real escape, since it just prolongs the pains of this side of physical death into the afterlife. And suicide is not truly death to the self, but a temporary and irreverent cessation of body-spirit unity (there will be a resurrection and judgement). Ultimately, suicide is physically dying without resolve, healing, and wholeness... Suicide is failing to recognize that our humanity (our Adam-ness) is made whole in Christ's humanity (the biblical 2nd Adam according to 1 Corinthians 15:45); therefore, suicide is inhuman and inhumane, so it is rightfully deemed murder.
But what of the pains and severity of life that lead people to suicide? Ought there to be any sympathy?
Of course. Suicidal thoughts and mental/emotional illness, as I said in Part 1, should not be stigmatized. But the act of suicide ought to never be commended. It is the killing of something God made and according to Genesis 1, all that God made is good. And if a suicidal person is a Christian, he or she is a new creation and therefore, goodness is based upon the goodness of Christ and our relationship with and in him. We maintain that relationship by our deaths, but not by suicidal death of the body, but rather the humbling death of our rights and comfort in mirror of his death on the cross. This can be physical like the martyrdom of Ignatius (the fulfillment of humility in this life) or continual in self-sacrifice and a changed mind. The latter demands that we embrace our pain and sacrifice as Christ did the cross he carried to Golgotha.
The objective of the Christian then is to die, as is suicide's aim. Yet, the Christian's death is not limited to the physical or a shadowy escape. The Christian's aim is not just to die, but to die well. Death is the last enemy of humanity and was defeated by Christ; however, to be embedded in that victory, death must become us too. Death is necessary for life in Christ, but it can never be self-absorbed as an escape is, nor does it have to be a cessation of breath from the body. Suicide is simply incompatible with the Christian worldview, because it is nearsighted and fails to consider eternity with Christ, instead focusing only on the immediacy of pain, which is really only ever a blip on the radar.
On the Greek monastic hill called Mount Athos, there is an inscription written that says, "If you die before you die, then you won't die when you die." Suicide seeks to circumvent the first death by leaping to the second, yet expecting perhaps that the third will not manifest. Life is hard and full of pain and sacrifice, but persevering yields true life and a fuller humanity, and this will have eternal ramifications without leapfrogging the process. Hang in there my friends... This is only momentary.
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James 1:2-4
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