Modern Day Church’s View of Suicide as Opposed to Islamic Views Essay

Suicide, the foreknowledge that a persons death impart result from self caused actions, has reached epic proportions in recent decades. The World Health Organization states much people atomic number 18 dying from felo-de-se than from each(prenominal) the armed conflicts near the adult male. (Donnelly, 106). This practice show ups an honourable dilemma that is ultimately a matter of values and how they be reasoned. trust provides a framework by dint of which these views can be expressed. It is especially all-important(a) to understand the Christian and Moslem lieus on self-destruction by ghost their primary text editions and customs dutys.The Biblical View of Suicide As the primary text of Christianity, the Bible has a code of moral instructions, spanning from the Ten Commandments in the elder Testament to the Sermon on the Mount and the great regulations in the revolutionary Testament. What gives moral values such as love and military personnel dignity, and t he pedagogy thou shalt non kill such compelling force is more than the forbidding of murder, so far self-murder. These precepts reveal the obligation to demonstrate practical compliments for the value of human bearing (Mahohel, 2).Although there are several suicides mentioned in the Bible Saul(1 Samuel. 314) Ahitophel(2 Samuel 1723)Zimri (1 Kings 1618) and Judas (Matthew 275), the Bible doesnt specifi accosty condemn suicides. However, it does condemn murder in the 6th commandment and that is what suicide is self-murder. A Christian who commits suicide go forth not lose buyback and end up in hell because toilette 316 demonstrates that a person is eternally secure. Romans 838-39 says that no particular can block beau ideals love to Christians.Therefore, if no created topic can separate a Christian from paragons love, hence a Christian who commits suicide is a created thing and not rase suicide can pr purget matinee idols love. Jesus died for all hellhole. If an authe ntic Christian were to commit that sin, Jesus died for it. Nevertheless, it is self-murder and constitutes a serious sin against God (Stewart, p. 31). Suicide in the Christian Tradition The Christian tradition repects intent. Although the advance(prenominal) church service issued few official dictums against suicide, the prevalent viewheld that suicide was seen as murder and sometimes worse.In the 4th century, Augustine was the early to make that oddmentriction absolute, denouncing it as a detestable and damnable wickedness, (Stewart, 34) echoing the another(prenominal) perform fathers such as Tertullian, Justin Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria, and Lactantius who all rejected suicide. John of Chryostom issued a statement that posited if it were base to destroy others, it was much worse to destroy oneself(Amundsen, 98). Although Christian leaders praised martyrs who held onto their faith as yet unto death, they criticized those who rushed too eagerly to a martyrs death.The go al of martyrdom was to remain faithful, not to have in mind ones death (Ibid, 109-111). Aquinas and the medieval Church expressly revokeed acts of suicide. In his Encyclical Letter (marchland 25, 1995) Pope John capital of Minnesota II states The Churchs tradition has always rejected suicide as a gravely evil choice. The present day Church still adheres to that spatial relation because of two predominant frameworks. The first says that man and adult female are created in the image of God, Imago Deo, (Genesis 326) and as such, share in the Divine likeness.Thus, humans participate in dominion over the rest of the physical creation, commissioned to exercise active stewardship and initiative as Gods vice-regent. Not only are humans Gods creation, they are His property, defined by such terms as potter-clay and shepherd-sheep. Since flavourtime belong to God, it is wrong to take it. Additionally, there is a Christian perspective which states that life is a deliver from God. The ul timate moral foundations of Christian ism creation, sin, salvation and fulfillment reinforce this view. The decision to die is Gods alone (Stewart, 33).The case versus suicide states requires that Gods gift of life is not an outright gift, but a restricted one, and humans are not to consume or destroy it at their discretion. In this perspective God will demand a full account for determine when to choose to end life. The suicide equivocally tells God that He will simply have to take the deeds performed in the body instead of regarding life as a trust, by not abandoning it, or denying that God is worthy. The choice of suicide seems to violate the duty to live life in a way which indicates gratitude towards what has been given ( Camenish, 216).Since God is transcendent, ultimately all things, even suffering will be make well. The Qurannic View of Suicide The Quran expressly prohibits suicide, regarding all life as sacred. The sanctity of human life is accorded a special place. The Qu ran states that the first and foremost basic life of a human being is the right t Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law thereof doth He command you, that you may learn wisdom (Quran 6151) Additionally, the Quran states If anyone slew a person, unless it be for murder, or for spreading mischief in the whole land, it wouldbe as if he slew the whole people-and if any one salvage a life, it would be as if he saved the life of a whole people. (Quran 532) Thus, the Quran is totally clear where it stands on the pickings of life. The Islamic Tradition and the View of Suicide In light of the Qurannic perspective of esteem for human life, how then did the popularity of suicide bombers come to pass? Blowing oneself up and a great deal cleanup position detached victims in such a terrorist manner perfectly refutes the Quran. Yet a religious perspective can suppress the handed-down perspective.This religious perspective is jihad, or the call to a holy war, first issued by the founder of Islam, the prophet Mohhammed. Mohhammed received a naskh, a unexampled revelation which replaced the forward ones in the Quran. Surah 95 cancels all previous revelations, admonishing his adherents to practice war and coercion to the present day. Basically Surah 9 5 posits that Muslims must fight anyone who chooses not to convert to Islam. Because Islam is a religion of works, the jihad is a great duty and honor that aims to convert the hedonist by force. Jihad is behind every suicidal terrorist who commits these acts in the come across of Islam.If doesnt matter if they win or if they die in the jihad, because they will be successful regardless if they win, they receive victory if they die, they are honor by God. Modern jihad came from Sayib Qutb, born in 1906, who visited the U. S. and saw that the Americans were not totally devoted to religion and that the American Muslims also had a lose of conviction. He started the radical Islamic movem ent that reverberates to this day. Bin Laden and Al Qaida learned their suicidal techniques form the movement of jihad in Iran, Eygpt and Sudan (Gabriel, 1).In Haaretz newspaper (December 9, 2001) Sheik Akramek Sabri said that sucide bombers are justified and should be encouraged, critizing other religious leaders who issued an Islamic ruling (fatwa) against suicide attacks. The swain of the Mosque of Cairo ruled that Islamic law does not condone suicide attacks against innocent victims. A prominent mufti in Saudi Arabia issued a similar opinion. However, Omar Rahman, leader of al Jihad and the mastermind behind the World batch Center bombing of 1993, noted that jihad and kill are the promontory of Islam and that if they are taken out, so is the head .By following the doctrine of submission, a Muslim is one who submits to Allah, the suicide attacker appears to be around for a long time(Ibid, December 9,2001). Overview Although both Christianity and Islams official positions pro hibit suicide, the present day outcomes differ. While the Bible has the sixth commandment and other verses and the Quran has 532 and 6151 which respect life, Christianity remains consistent through the ages in viewing suicide as negative. For Christians, life is a gift and then humans are Gods property. Islam , however, has further revelations which supersede the previous ones found in the Quran.These additional revelations include a call to jihad or holy war, thus making self-killing permissible and even honored. Conclusion It is necessary to study the frameworks of both Christianity and Islam to obtain more than a superficial view of their perspectives of suicide. Although Church tradition doesnt change its position of self killing in Christianity, as shown by the early church fathers calling it an abomination and stating that killing oneself is even worse than killing others down to the later medieval church and Aquinas stating that it is unnatural thus forbidding the taking of ones own life. Pope John Paul IIs encyclicalletter states that suicide is a wicked sin, holding life sacred and as a trust. authoritative church traditions, while not as harsh and proclaiming true Christian suicides will go to heaven, nevertheless compare Christians with God as a figure of authority. He is the owner of the Christian, their creator and the potter who molds the clay, the shepherd who guides the sheep. Additionally, God has given all humans the gift of life, which is to be regarded as a sacred trust and not to be tampered with through the early taking of it. Only God, and God alone, can determine when life is over. If a Christian takes their life prematurely,they are robbing God, telling Him He must be quenched with only the works they have performed to that stage. Since Christianity has at its heart the major doctrines of creation, sin, salvation and fulfillment, nothing can separate the Christian from God, either in this world or the world to come. God is both imm anent and transcendent and He will make all things ultimately turn out for the best, thus reassuring the Christian to hang on and not commit suicide. On the other hand, official Islam proclaims one message while practicing another. The Quran states that all life is sacred and that all humans have dignity.Several verses refer to this fact. However, even though Mohammed wrote these verses down, he also wrote additional verses that failed to be consistent with the veritable message. These verses , which he wrote after an added revelation, replace the earlier ones of respect for ones own and other life. Through these additional revelations, Mohammed thus started the concept of jihad, or holy war. Using this concept he encouraged fellow Muslims, who are followers of Allah, and must submit to His teachings, to commit these holy wars, to convert or kill the infidel regardless of whether ones own life was lost in the process.From the early 20th century, when Muslims visited the U. S. and s aw what they perceived as less than perfect devotion, the jihad was operating at full force. Although present day sheiks and muftis in several countries have issued fatwa against suicide bombers and the taking of innocent life, suicidal terrorists continue, thinking that they are honoring Allah and their cause by killing themselves and others.ReferencesAmundsen, C. (1967). Medicine, Society and Faith in the Ancient World. Baltimore John Hopkins. Cavadini,B. (1999). By the reviving of Your Minds, Theological Studies, Vol. 60.Camemish, P. (1998). Suicide, Journal of Religious Ethics,17, no 1, Spring. Donnelly, J. (1998) Suicide Right or Wrong. Amherst, NY Prometheus Books. Gabriel, M. (2005)Islamic Terrorists, CNN Fact File, Virginia Beach, Va. Mahohel, J. (2003). Christian Doctrines and Ethical Issues, Theological Studies, vol. 64 Neusner, J. (2000) Jewish and Christian Doctrine. London Routledge. Pope John Paul II. (1995),Encyclical Letter, Evangelium Vitae. March 25. Terrorism, (2 001). Haaretz newspaper, December 9. Smith, G. (2005). The Insurgent Word Suicide. 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