Posted on 01/27/2012 2:37:35 PM PST by pinochet
The great British preacher John Newton had a friend, a poet by the name of William Cowper, who along with Newton wrote hymns which eventually were compiled in the Olney Hymnal. Cowper’s more noted contributions to this hymnal were “Oh, for a closer walk with God” and “There is a fountain filled with blood.”......Sadly, we find documented in Forbes Winslow’s Anatomy of Suicide (written in 1840) that Cowper has tried more than once to take his own life. As psychiatrist and Christian author John White puts it, “Here then we are presented with a gifted and Godly man, a man the Holy Spirit used to produce hymns to exalt the Lamb of God… yet (he is)… only one of many Christians who have struggled against the shame and horror of trying to take their own lives – some successfully, others unsuccessfully.” (White 146)
Anyone who professes Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord may find this statement shocking. After all, Jesus came that we may have a full life (John 10:10). The scriptures are overflowing with the hope and love that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are taught that those who believe have been washed, made new and been forgiven. Our guilt and shame has been removed and we have been set free from the power of sin and death. Therefore, a deep religious faith (in God) should keep people from taking their own lives. And yet there are Christians who do take their own lives.[1] Although Christians have at their disposal the emotional supports needed they are just as susceptible to committing suicide as anyone else, and may in fact do commit suicide in similar numbers to non-believers. It seems as absurd for a Christian to commit suicide as it is for someone who instantly became a millionaire to take his own life. Yet both have done this.
White addresses the fable that Christians do not commit suicide. “Godly patients have looked at me in the eye and told me despairingly, ‘My faith has gone’ … so delicate is the balance between madness and sanity that the strongest Christians can become victims of suicidal despair” [emphasis mine] (White 167). Some do question though whether a true Christian would commit suicide.
If anyone wants a link to the sermon I'll find it.
“Faith in Jesus says that He will care for us and that all things work together for good to them that serve Him”
That’s why God gave us medical doctors and medicines to treat a “clinical depression” ( ie, biological -physiological)..and being suicidal is certainly indicative of a clinical depression that needs medical treatment.
It is only since the 1950’s that we have had anti-depressants to address the brain neuronal imbalance that causes suicidal depression, not “just being a little sad or down”. Prior to that people were just locked up in insane asylums.
I am amazed , that in 2012, people who have a serious medical mental illness ( clinical depression; schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder ) are still being told its because they “lack faith” or have demons.
Someone who is suicidal, needs 1) hospitalization for the crisis 2) medications to deal with the neurological imbalance 3) therapy if needed 4) loving support from family and friends 5) and yes, by all means, prayer,
I’m surprised they didn’t bury her. The contemporary thinking is that we really don’t know what that person was doing - did they repent at the last moment? Was it too late to go back but they wanted to live? Did they have a mental illness?
The better answer, fortunately, is charity. “Betwixt the stirrup and the ground, I mercy asked, I mercy found.” We don’t know what happened.
William Cowper was a much greater figure than John Newton.
However, before I was diagnosed, thoughts of suicide would race through my brain. At NO time while that was happening, did I question my faith, lack faith, or turn my back on Christ. In fact, I leaned on Him more than in any other time of my life. YET, the thoughts were still there. Why? It was NOT from lack of faith or distance from God. It was simply the disease effecting my rational thought. During depressive episodes, serotonin is not produced in the brain in adequate amounts and, in short, your brain is firing but not make necessary neurological connections that are needed for clear and rational thought.
PLEASE, I implore you to take time out and inform yourself regarding mental illness.
While I am sure you meant, no offense, so none was taken, it is the prevailing thought within the body of Christ, such as yours, that suppresses the suffering Christian to seek help from fellow believers.
Muscular dystrophy, drug resistant tuberculosis, terminal cancer, and other incurable ailments.
Among people who suffer chronic sexual abuse as children, suicide is second only to overdose as a cause of death (and these two are followed in turn by eating disorders.) That isn't just depression, its an escape from flashbacks and memories.
Suicide is not God's plan. It is not God's best.
But for some people, it is merely hurrying the only relief that will ever come absent a miracle from God.
Is it wrong? Yes.
It is also understandable.
Wouldn’t suicide indicate a lack of faith?
Perhaps. But there are sincere believers who struggle with suicidal feelings. If they get help, those suicidal feelings will not result in suicide.
However, some believers find it difficult to talk to pastors and counsellors of their suicidal feelings, because those feelings would be viewed as evidence of a lack of faith.
It is easier for people in the secular world who struggle with suicidal thoughts, to get the help that they need. But it is much harder for Christians with suicidal feelings to talk about those feelings with therapists, because of fear of being labelled unfaithful.
A believer is always expected to display a life of joy, that comes from knowing Christ. Openly acknowledging that one has suicidal thoughts is taboo, and opens one to accusations that one does not really have Christ in his life.
>>>>>Wouldn’t suicide indicate a lack of faith?
Perhaps. But there are sincere believers who struggle with suicidal feelings. If they get help, those suicidal feelings will not result in suicide.
However, some believers find it difficult to talk to pastors and counsellors of their suicidal feelings, because those feelings would be viewed as evidence of a lack of faith.
It is easier for people in the secular world who struggle with suicidal thoughts, to get the help that they need. But it is much harder for Christians with suicidal feelings to talk about those feelings with therapists, because of fear of being labelled unfaithful.
A believer is always expected to display a life of joy, that comes from knowing Christ. Openly acknowledging that one has suicidal thoughts is taboo, and opens one to accusations that one does not really have Christ in his life.
1 Corinthians 2: 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
Thank you for your kind words. I take much comfort in knowing that she is with God. She was such a beautiful person, inside and out; full of warmth which she graciously extended to anyone she met. Only God could have created such beauty and I know in my heart he welcomed her home and made her whole again.
I’d love to have a link if you can find it.
This is a subject very near to my heart. Three in my family have taken their own lives ; one being my own Mother , who indeed is a Christian.
I suppose one could make a case from Jesus’s statement that if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off. Better to go into life blind or maimed than, being whole, cast into ever lasting fire. What if someone perceives that his very existence offends him and wants to take himself out before he sins?
I suppose a person could omit pertinent information to the cemetery since there is no death certificate at the time of the burial but that would be lying by omission and I shudder to think of what could happen if they were to find out.
>>>>While I am sure you meant, no offense, so none was taken, it is the prevailing thought within the body of Christ, such as yours, that suppresses the suffering Christian to seek help from fellow believers
Thanks for sharing your struggles with us.
There is a strong taboo in Christian Churches, against Christians who suffer from deep depression, especially those who have suicidal feelings.
The general stereotype is that, suicidal feelings are associated with people in the secular world, because of their lack of faith in Christ. But we are told that coming to Christ ends such suffering, and one is supposed to live happily ever after, because of the joy that comes with knowing Christ.
But many in the churches fail to acknowledge that chemical imbalances in the brain cause depression and suicidal feelings, and they can affect Christians and non-Christians alike. It is very important that we built a culture whereby, Christians can confess their pain and suffering to fellow believers, without being accused of insufficient faith.
Nothing in a Christians walk precludes taking advantage of medical advances. Nothing was said about not taking into account medical or neurological conditions. Faith also includes relying sometimes on fellow Christians to be God’s instruments.
Lack of faith?:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Instant suicide? not really.
I don’t see suicide being different from any other sin Christians regularly commit. If they were saved by grace, what does it matter? They’ll just have an unforgiven sin they have to account for on judgement day.
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