Suicide and the God of Grace

Suicide is a painfully intrusive reality around the world, touching many Christian families as well. These theological reflections are designed to assist pastors facing one of the hardest funerals imaginable as well as inform other readers, family, and spiritual care givers who live in the aftermath of tragedy. Biblical passages and the history of Christian thought are scanned with some surprising results. There is a persistent openness to God’s grace embracing death by suicide, redeeming the last moment of life. From Aquinas to Luther to Barth, influential theologians refused to call suicide an unforgiveable sin, though they always discouraged it. There is a surprising congruence between ancient and modern, Protestant and Roman Catholic, in some of these approaches. Without attempting to speak God’s final word on any victim of suicide, the editor finds a middle way between outright condemnation and universalism. Contributors offer actual sermons used for suicide funerals. This book invites all who wrestle with suicide’s spiritual questions to engage with a tradition more compassionate and nuanced than many might expect.