Do Suicides Go To Hell?

[infinitelord1]

are there exceptions for people going to hell because they committed suicide?

[homeschoolmom]

We are not in a possition to judge anyone's soul. God is.

[thessalonian]

One who knowingly and willingly committs suicide with no repentence in those final breathes goes to hell. But note I said knowingly and willingly without repentence. We cannot judge the first two as HSM says and we do not know if that person in those dying breathes did the third. We must pray that such people did not have full control of their will or repented. God is the final judge in all men's salvation. The Church does not even declare Judas to be in hell.

[dairygirl4u2c]

if you follow dogma, then what thes said.

i am open to the possibility that they can escape their conditions after they have died. i do see a problems that they didn't escape it during this life, and arguably this life is surely meant for something, and they dind't do it here so they did not complete their mission. but, that's one way of looking at it. this life could be like a school where they failed or did poorly. they just have ot try again. it could be that they would be doomed ot repeat that, or it could be that somehow they learn leanred.
there are really many possibilities.

[Jaime]

[quote]2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.[/quote]

But don't do it!


I can't stress that enough

[thessalonian]

[quote]if you follow dogma, then what thes said.[/quote]

Better than willy nilly blown about by every wind thinking of man.

"Trust not in your own understanding" prov 3:5.

I am not embarrassed to go by what the Church which is the pillar and support of the truth has to say, though I don't know that it is dogma.

[dUSt]

I would think that the people who commit suicide who are fully aware of what they're doing and know that it is against God's will would go to hell, but I can't judge.

For the one's who are metally sick or drugged up or out of their minds, I don't know. Only God does.

Let's do as the church tells us and pray for them all.

[prose]

I have a question about Judas. I always hear people ssy that no one knows if Judas is in hell, but in the Bible it specifically says that it would have been better for him to have never been born. If he wasn't in hell, how could this be the case?

I mean even if he had a billion years in purgatory, would it not be better for him to have been born and after a billion years get into heaven?

It doesn't make sense to me to suggest that Judas is not in hell. It may not be for his suicide that he is there, but you would be hard-pressed to convince me otherwise.

[thessalonian]

[quote name='prose' post='1369000' date='Aug 23 2007, 01:33 PM']I have a question about Judas. I always hear people ssy that no one knows if Judas is in hell, but in the Bible it specifically says that it would have been better for him to have never been born. If he wasn't in hell, how could this be the case?

I mean even if he had a billion years in purgatory, would it not be better for him to have been born and after a billion years get into heaven?

It doesn't make sense to me to suggest that Judas is not in hell. It may not be for his suicide that he is there, but you would be hard-pressed to convince me otherwise.[/quote]


It's a good question prose. One that JP II speaks about in Crossing the Threshold of Hope

"The problem of hell has always disturbed great thinkers in the Church, beginning with Origen and continuing in our time with Sergey Bulgakov and Hans Urs von Balthasar. In point of fact, the ancient councils rejected the theory of the "final apocatastasis," according to which the world would be regenerated after destruction, and every creature would be saved; a theory which indirectly abolished hell. But the problem remains. Can God, who has loved man so much, permit the man who rejects Him to be condemned to eternal torment? And yet, the words of Christ are unequivocal. In Matthew's Gospel He speaks clearly of those who will go to eternal punishment (cf. Mt 25:46). Who will these be? The Church has never made any pronouncement in this regard. This is a mystery, truly inscrutable, which embraces the holiness of God and the conscience of man. The silence of the Church is, therefore, the only appropriate position for Christian faith. Even when Jesus says of Judas, the traitor, "It would be better for that man if he had never been born" (Mt 26:24), His words do not allude for certain to eternal damnation."

The pope does not explain how Judas might be in heaven unforunately.
Again Judas could have had opportunity to repent in those dying moments. Ninevah was to be destroyed. It says so in scripture. Yet the destruction was averted by the repentence of the people. Perhaps the same could be said of Judas. The bottom line is we cannot have absolute certainty of anyone in human history going to hell, though most certainly some are much more likely than others.

Edited August 23, 2007 by thessalonian

[prose]

How could it be better for that man if he had never been born if he was in heaven? How is that possible?

[thessalonian]

Those words point to damnation. I think you are correct there. But their fullfillment rests on the judgement of Judas after this life, dependent on his repenting or not repenting. Again Ninevah was not destroyed though God said it would be, due to it's repentence. The passage illustrates perhaps the seriousness of his sin IF it is without repentence just as the speaking of ninevah's destruction shows the seriousness of their sins without repentence. I'm just speculating here. Likely Judas went to hell and the view that noone is in hell is to be rejected.

Judas most definitely makes the top ten list for those likely in hell but it is not an absolute certainty that we can know he is. That's all.

Edited August 23, 2007 by thessalonian

[eperez874]

suicide for what ever reason is sin no matter what. the sin against the holyspirit it is an onforgettable sin if you did not take the chance to arrepent

[infinitelord1]

when you all say repent....do you mean repent after death for committing suicide? I dont think repenting would work if you did it before the suicide. The same would apply to any other sin...if you are to commit murder and you repent before the murder then you still committed a mortal sin since you did it knowingly. Obviously if you commit suicide and that was your intention then there would never be an instance where you could repent and be forgiven before you die. So I would think that you would have to repent after you die while being judged by God.

As far as morallity goes...I think it is a given that suicide is a sin...however, there are good people in this world who get very depressed and feel helpless about their situation...I find it hard to believe that God would send them to Hell given their situation.

Take my situation for example. I experience unwanted same sex attractions. Because of this I feel seperated from being a part of the guys. I think people sense this about me, and they alienate me because of it. They even harass me about it. I feel like I am a black man in the 18th century...only I dont have any friends to talk to about it. I hate the way I feel. It destroys me. I am helpless.

we are looking at a variety of issues here...the first "I experience unwanted same sex attractions" shows a propensity that I will never be free of them until I die...the second issue would be the fact that most people dont like gays (yet another thing i have no control over)...the third issue that i have is how i hate the way i feel. A lot of this stuff I have no control over. Imagine going through this...where the only thing you can really do is accept the way you feel...there are really no options...imagine how helpless you would feel if you were in a constant state like this. It smells of elderberries. I cant see how God would send somebody like this to hell for committing suicide.

I guess there are some options when it comes to the issue of homosexuality...

a. act upon your feelings and go to hell

b. commit suicide and go to hell

c. you chose not to fall in love with anybody for the rest of your life and die lonely and never have a family of your own. not to mention all of the adversity you have to go through.

does anybody have any extra options?

Edited August 24, 2007 by infinitelord1

[GodChild]

In regards to Judas, my teacher in Catholicism taught me that he was the first of many souls created for wrath (ie: deadwood for the fire) - that despite doing anything, he was pre-damned to go to hell - for this reason Jesus said it would be better he had not been born - also, people made in the image of Judas are created continuously - these words apply to them also - thats what I was taught ... so based on what I was taught, if the person who suicides is one of God's holy ones, they will be saved regardless - if they were one of the objects of wrath, they are damned - but when I bought my own feelings of suicide I was told that God gives me those feelings cause His wrath is upon me ... so, theres my 2c

[homeschoolmom]