Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, “to kill oneself”) is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death.
Suicide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which is frequently attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or troubles with interpersonal relationships often play a role. Efforts to prevent suicide include limiting access to firearms, treating mental illness and drug misuse, and improving economic development. Although crisis hotlines are common there is little evidence for their effectiveness.
You can find references to suicide in some of the oldest books in the Bible.
Suicides in the Bible fall under a couple of different categories.
The first type of suicide is self induced, like falling on your sword, which was very popular in ancient times. For example King Saul took a sword and fell on it (Judges 16:30). Not to be out done in that situation (considering he was dead anyway I suppose) Saul’s amour bearer when he saw that Saul was dead, he too fell upon his sword and died (1 Sam. 31:5).
Another self induced suicide was hanging. As in the example of when Ahithople saw that his council was not followed, he went down into the city put his house in order and hanged himself (2 Sam. 17:23). There was also the infamous case of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, who cast down the pieces of silver in the temple departed and hung himself (Matt. 27:5).
There was also one recorded suicide by fire. Zimri, for example when he saw that the city was taken, went to the palace of the king – “burnt the kings house over him with fire and died” (1Kings 16:58).
There was also one suicide in conjunction with mass murder recorded in the Bible when Sampson exclaimed: “Let me die with the Philistines”, and pulled down the support pillars – so the building structure collapsed on him and all the people that were therein (Judges 16:30).
The other type of suicide was people asking that others help them in the act of killing themselves. For example: After having his skull crushed under a millstone that was dropped by a woman from the Tower of Shechem, Abimelech called for his armor bearer to “kill him with a sword.” He did not want it said that a woman had killed him – Abimelech – Judges 9:54
In most forms of Christianity, suicide is considered a moral sin, based mainly on the writings of influential Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas; but suicide was not considered a sin under the Byzantine Christian code of Justinian, for instance.
In Catholic doctrine, the argument is based on the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” (made applicable under the New Covenant by Jesus in Matthew 19:18), as well as the idea that life is a gift given by God which should not be spurned, and that suicide is against the “natural order” and thus interferes with God’s master plan for the world.
See related articles: 16 catholic priests commit suicide 16 Priests Have Committed Suicide http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/689532/posts
See also: When a Priest Commits Suicide http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2013/07/when-a-priest-commits-suicide/
See also: Parish members mourn suicide of priest at Cudahy church http://www.jsonline.com/news/parish-members-mourn-suicide-of-priest-at-cudahy-church-b9959815z1-216513571.html
See video: Why we choose suicide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1QoyTmeAYw
See video: Why suicide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ZeIe-Dl4A
See: 13 year old commits suicide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycv5v9xqeL0