Historical Context
The concept of suicide has been around since ancient Greek days. Except that during this time it was viewed slightly different. According to this article, suicide seemed fairly acceptable as long as it had a reasonable “justification”. This included the misfortune of an incurable illness and or when life became unbearable. However, suicide wasn’t allowed for all citizens. Suicide was prohibited to slaves and soldiers due to “economic consideration”. Suicide was a privilege to Romans. Which seems ironically different to today’s idea of suicide. The context of suicide has changed drastically over the course of the years. It went from being viewed as a brave act to a self-serving purpose.
This issue arose during the early days of Christianity. The misguidance of life on Earth and the glorification of the afterlife induced people to commit suicide. After the popularity of suicide increased, during the fourth century AD, it became a “strict prohibition” and a “mortal sin”. Suicide had many religious ties to it. At first it was considered a gateway out of a miserable life and then transformed into this forbidden sin by the same group of people. It was later know as result of “diabolic” madness.
The concept of suicide has been around since ancient Greek days. Except that during this time it was viewed slightly different. According to this article, suicide seemed fairly acceptable as long as it had a reasonable “justification”. This included the misfortune of an incurable illness and or when life became unbearable. However, suicide wasn’t allowed for all citizens. Suicide was prohibited to slaves and soldiers due to “economic consideration”. Suicide was a privilege to Romans. Which seems ironically different to today’s idea of suicide. The context of suicide has changed drastically over the course of the years. It went from being viewed as a brave act to a self-serving purpose.
This issue arose during the early days of Christianity. The misguidance of life on Earth and the glorification of the afterlife induced people to commit suicide. After the popularity of suicide increased, during the fourth century AD, it became a “strict prohibition” and a “mortal sin”. Suicide had many religious ties to it. At first it was considered a gateway out of a miserable life and then transformed into this forbidden sin by the same group of people. It was later know as result of “diabolic” madness.