Sue, I sighed...

[pasithea]

You know... This part reminds me:

27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was
condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of
silver to the chief priests and elders,

27:4 Saying, I have sinned in
that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that
to us? see thou to that.

27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
departed, and went and hanged himself.

Contrary to what everyone says, I haven't seen a single spot in the bible saying that offing yourself is sinful. In fact a couple of kings and prophets have fallen on their own swords.

So where's that bit come from?

Comments

where it might have come from

[liberationparty.livejournal.com]

Most say from the commandment "thou shalt not kill," in that suicide is the act of willfully killing someone and it is no better in the eyes of God that the victim and "murderer" are one. Truthfully, I think it's just because suicide makes most people feel all squicky. It raises all sorts of questions about The Meaning of Life and so forth that most people just aren't prepared to deal with. Hell, I volunteer with a mental health support group and most people are STILL afraid of suicide -- not necessarily with the potential for someone's suicide, but the concept/reality of suicide.

Re: where it might have come from

[kyhwana.livejournal.com]

That and you were probably wasting good seed that could have been used to impregnate a bunch of girls!

Re: where it might have come from

[liberationparty.livejournal.com]

But... but this seed wasn't spilled upon the ground!

Re: where it might have come from

[kyhwana.livejournal.com]

True!

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Suicide as a mortal sin is a purely Catholic thing.

Many of the Catholic teachings come from the Apocrypha (also called the Deuterocanon), a collection of books that are not considered canonical by Protestants or Jews.

Catholic doctorines such as the intercession of saints, last rites, confession, the distinction between mortal vs. venial sins, and the existance of Purgatory and Limbo are derived from the Apocrypha.

When you've finished the Canon, you might want to read the Aprocrypha to get a better understanding of Catholicism.


(There are actually a huge number of apocryphal books, such as the Book of Enoch, which are included in the canon of few, if any, denominations.)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

The first century church kept losing people to suicide because Heaven was better than their lives.

Hence the doctrine to keep the flock here on earth.