Is Suicide Forgiven By God? The Curious Case Of Martin Manley

Martin Manley was a former sportswriter for the Kansas City Star and a sports blogger for the last seven years. On Thursday, August 15, Manley parked outside a local KC police station and took his own life with a firearm. The question that popped into my mind is the same question that a lot of people who read this story are asking..."Is suicide forgiven by God?".
Martin was in good health and did not seem to be in any crisis at the time. He was very calculating in his plans to commit suicide and spent several months building a website to document his decision to end his life and other pieces of information that he wanted to share with friends, fans and family. Why did he choose suicide? Here is the answer from his site...

"I always thought I might commit suicide someday. When I considered the options of living to be old and all the negatives associated with that alternative, I knew there was no way on earth I was going to allow myself to deal with such an intolerable situation. In order to guarantee that I avoided it, I also knew that I had to commit the act before I was incapacitated and unable to carry it out.
 The thought of being in a nursing home, physically or mentally disabled, was the single scariest thing I had ever thought about - at least on this earth. So, in order to make sure that it never happened, I determined that I would have to end things when I was still semi-intelligent and physically able. That’s what I mean by saying “Because I can.”

"One said of suicide, 'As long as one has brains one should not blow them out.' And another answered, 'But when one has ceased to have them, too often one cannot.'"― F.H. Bradley

After reading much of Mr. Manley's site I concluded that he was "disappointed" with life and dreading the prospects of getting much older and losing his independence Why did he end his life at age 60? Here is more from his site...

. 
"Clearly, age 60 is somewhat of an arbitrary age to end my life. But, it isn’t just that age 60 is a nice round number. It's also August 15, 2013 – the very day I turned 60. That’s symmetry and I loved a lot of things, but not many more than good symmetry.
 Besides, beginning with the age of 60, a lot of people begin to die. It’s too bad, I guess. I suppose we should all be so fortunate to live to be Methuselah’s age of 969, but much like the buggy whip, the glory days of 900+ year olds is a thing of the past."

 Was Mr. Manley a Christian? I believe that he was and I have included a bit more of his own words below...


So, I hope nobody will read this site and be motivated into committing suicide. This site is not here to justify it and it’s not here for that reason. Besides, how many people are like me in this world? Maybe two if I’m looking in a mirror.
 Instead, my hope is that anyone reading this will recognize that I have mixed emotions and mixed logic with respect to how I reconcile my Christianity with suicide. But, I’ve really never strayed from the fact that I believe in Christ and I believe the story of the Bible.

Mr. Manley wrote much more about his faith in Christ but Yahoo took his site down just a couple of days after his death. I retrieved this information before they removed it. Martin had planned his suicide since June of 2012! Again, I ask the question and I hope to answer it "does God forgive suicide?".
Here are some of my thoughts concerning the answer to this question. 
First, suicide is a sin just as gluttony, lust, greed, dishonesty, theft and a whole lot of other transgressions are sin. We tend to categorize some sins as unforgivable and sadly many have done just that when it comes to suicide. Sin is sin, however, some sins have greater consequences than others and such is the case of suicide. Martin Manley will never have the opportunity to sin again because his final act was indeed final. The catholic church has deemed suicide a "mortal" sin. In other words, they feel it cannot be forgiven. The church of Rome is in error for categorizing some sins as venial and others as mortal. There is only one mortal sin and that is the sin of unbelief. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that suicide or any other sin is unforgivable. The only unforgivable sin is to fail to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior...period. If Martin Manley had truly trusted Christ as his Savior then he is a forgiven man at this very moment. If you are reading this blog post and you have never done anything that you feel is very grievous but you have never believed in Jesus as your Savior you will die "unforgiven" and miss Heaven altogether. Does that shock you? Does that seem fair to you? It really doesn't matter what you think about it, the Bible insists that the only sin that can't be forgiven is unbelief. God can forgive suicide if the one committing that act is a believer. Second, while suicide can be forgiven it still can have a profound impact in two ways. The deceased will not be able to undo their decision and will hurt loved ones here on Earth. That is something that I just don't think anyone could ever fully grasp. The other impact will be experienced in Heaven. I believe that ending one's life could well cost a believer "reward" and status in the world to come. There are numerous passages in the Scriptures that indicate we will suffer loss of reward for some of the decisions we make here in this life. We may make it to Heaven but the quality of our life in Heaven can be determined by the Christian life that we live here and now. 
Martin Manley is gone from this world and the story will die down in the days ahead. But what about you dear Reader? Are you ready to meet God? Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior? I urge you to watch the short video in the right sidebar and read some of the materials on this site. Place a child-like faith in Jesus today!