History of suicide

[Placo]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_suicide

This piece struck me in particular:

In Rome, suicide was never a general offense in law, though the whole approach to the question was essentially pragmatic. It was specifically forbidden in three cases: those accused of capital crimes, soldiers and slaves. The reason behind all three was the same – it was uneconomic for these people to die. If the accused killed themselves prior to trial and conviction then the state lost the right to seize their property, a loophole that was only closed by Domitian in the 1st century AD, who decreed that those who died prior to trial were without legal heirs. The suicide of a soldier was treated on the same basis as desertion. If a slave killed themselves within six months of purchase, the master could claim a full refund from the former owner.[6]

Also this:

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, loopholes were invented to avoid the damnation that was promised by most Christian doctrine as a penalty of suicide. One famous example of someone who wished to end their life but avoid the eternity in hell was Christina Johansdotter (died 1740). She was a Swedish murderer who killed a child in Stockholm with the sole purpose of being executed. She is an example of those who seek suicide through execution by committing a murder, similar to suicide by cop.[11]

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

Yeah, in my opinion the inaccessibility of suicide is mostly because of Christianity and it's impact on our culture.

 

[Placo]

Yeah, in my opinion the inaccessibility of suicide is mostly because of Christianity and it's impact on our culture.

In the Bible there are four suicides and apparently there is no clear condemnation of the act in them:

Some assert that the Biblical accounts of suicide do not have enough additional commentary within Scripture itself to understand what teachings would come from them. Due to the lack of details, many assume that in ancient Israel, suicide may have been considered natural or even heroic.[8]

In Acts 16:27-28, the apostle Paul saves a jailer from committing suicide. This rare rescue is portrayed favorably.

Scholars debate the doctrines in the Bible concerning suicide. The traditional teachings handed down by the Catholic Church as a supplement, however, are clear. Augustine taught that "there is no legitimate reason for committing suicide, not even to avoid sinning…. When Judas hanged himself, he increased rather than expiated the crime of that accursed betrayal".[9] Augustine's claim, however, does not specifically state the doctrine relating to suicide either in the Old Testament or the New.

Therefore the condemnation of suicide by the Christian religion does not derive from what is written in the Bible, it is a subsequent fabrication.