I've heard and learned that committing suicide is sin. Some people have cancer that doctors can't help. Do they have to go through pain and suffering? The AMP version of 1 Corinthians 3:17 says that destroying God's temple means corrupting God's temple with false doctrine. Which translation is right? I don't think God will destroy people who are suffering from pains even if they give up their lives. What do you think? -- Michelle Black
The "temple" in 1 Corinthians 3 is the church, and there are many ways to destroy it, false doctrine perhaps being the chief one. Yet 1 Corinthians 6 also speaks of a "temple," which in context is not the church, but the human body. We mustn't confuse the two senses of temple. To illustrate, if the law forbids stealing apples, that doesn't necessarily mean stealing oranges is acceptable.
How God judges those who despair of life and take matters into their own hands, I will leave to Him. While it is possible to conceive of a suicide that is not sin, that would be exceptional, in terms of biblical theology. I will not enter the whole debate between passive and active euthanasia, because I'm just a Bible student, not an ethicist.
I hope these thoughts, in addition to what you already read in Q&A 0182 and 0365, will help you think your way through this question.
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