Good Question: Is Suicide Unforgivable? | Christianity Today

Free Newsletters:

RSS Feeds |

Audio |

Twitter

Home > 2000 > July 10

Christianity Today, July 10, 2000 |

Good Question: Is Suicide Unforgivable?

Question: What is the biblical hope and comfort we can offer a suicide victim's family and friends? —name withheld

By Lewis B. Smedes | posted 7/10/2000 12:00AM

2 of 2

Loved ones who have died at their own hands we can safely trust to our gracious God. Loved ones whose spirits are even now slipping so silently toward death, these are our burden.

Lewis B. Smedes is professor emeritus of theology and ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His latest book is Standing on the Promises: Keeping Hope Alive for a Tomorrow We Cannot Control (Thomas Nelson).

Ask a Question, Get a Gift

Send your questions to Good Question, Christianity Today, 465 E. Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188, or to CTEditor@ChristianityToday.com. If we use your question, you'll receive a free copy of The Story of Christianity: 2,000 Years of Faith, a beautifully illustrated history of the church.

Related Elsewhere

See also today's other stories on suicide, "Suicide—A Preventable Tragedy?A ministry helps churches handle the complex issue" and "Suicide and the Silence of ScriptureThough the church has come to opposing conclusions about the fate of victims, we have a mandate to minister to those left behind."

Read the biblical stories of the suicides of King Saul, Judas, Abimelech, Samson, Ahithophel, and Zimri.

Smedes also discussed suicide in an interview with the Salvation Army's New Frontier.

Earlier Good Question columns include:

Was Slavery God's Will?
A Little Wine for the Soul?
Should We All Speak in Tongues?
Did Jesus Really Descend to Hell?
Take, Eat--But How Often?
Is Christmas Pagan?
Are Christians Required to Tithe?
Is Revelation Prophecy or History?
You're Divorced--Can You Remarry?
If Grace Is Irresistible, Why Evangelize?
If I'm an Evangelical, What Am I?
A Cracked Code
Committing the Unforgivable Sin
What Bible Version Did Jesus Read?
Did God Die on the Cross?
You Must Be Born Again--But at What Age?
Was the Revolutionary War Justified?
Can the Dead Be Converted?
Cloaked in Mystery
Is Hell Forever?
Denominations: Divided We Stand
Did Paul Baptize for the Dead?
Do Demons Have Zip Codes?
Doubting Thomas's Gospel

first page |

2 of 2

share this page

July 10 2000, Vol. 44, No. 8

E-mail this page

Write CT

Print this article

Post a comment

Reader Reviews are below

Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.

If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

Click here for international orders

2-for-1 Gifts!

[Reader Reviews]

Average User Rating: Not rated

The allotted time for commenting has ended.