What is the Christian View on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide?
Introduction
Euthanasia (a direct act to end a life to relieve suffering) and assisted suicide (providing the means for a person to end their own life) are complex ethical issues driven by compassion for those facing incurable suffering.
For Christians, however, the answer is defined by the theological principle of the sanctity of life—the belief that human life, from conception to natural death, possesses inherent value because it is created and sustained by God. Therefore, intentionally ending a life is considered morally wrong.
1. The Principle of the Sanctity of Life
The core reason for Christian opposition is the belief that God alone has the authority over the timing of life and death.
Life as a Gift from God: The Bible teaches that human life is not the individual's property to dispose of, but a sacred gift entrusted by the Creator. To intentionally end a life is to reject God's sovereignty over that gift.
Scripture Says: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb... All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13, 16). This highlights God's sovereign control over the duration of a person's life.
The Prohibition Against Murder: While euthanasia is often motivated by compassion, the Christian tradition views the intentional taking of innocent life—including one's own, in the case of suicide or assisted suicide—as a violation of the command not to murder.
Scripture Says: "You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13).
2. Distinction: Active Euthanasia vs. Withdrawing Treatment
A crucial ethical distinction exists between actively causing death (euthanasia) and allowing the natural process of death to occur.
Allowing Natural Death (Biblically Acceptable): Most Christian traditions agree that it is morally acceptable to withdraw or withhold extraordinary life-prolonging treatments (like ventilators, aggressive chemotherapy, or artificial nutrition) when those treatments are only prolonging the dying process and no longer offer a realistic hope of recovery. This is viewed not as actively killing, but as removing a barrier to the natural progression of death, accepting God's timing.
Active Euthanasia (Biblically Forbidden): This involves a direct action, such as a lethal injection, with the specific intent to terminate life. This is universally rejected by Christian ethics as usurping the authority of God.
3. The Christian Response to Suffering
The Christian answer to suffering is not to eliminate the sufferer, but to provide care, compassion, and meaning in the midst of the pain.
Redemptive Value of Suffering: While suffering is difficult, the Bible teaches that it can have a redemptive purpose—it can refine faith, draw a person closer to God, and allow them to share in the sufferings of Christ. Eliminating suffering through death is seen as bypassing this spiritual process.
Scripture Says: "We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3–4).
The Call for Palliative Care: The Christian duty in response to severe illness is to provide palliative care (comfort care) to relieve pain and preserve the patient's dignity and quality of life until natural death occurs. True compassion means walking with the person through the suffering, not ending their life because of it.
Conclusion
A Christian should oppose both active euthanasia and assisted suicide because these acts violate the sanctity of human life and the sovereignty of God over the timing of death (Psalm 139:16).
While Christians must be tireless advocates for relieving suffering through palliative care and have the ethical liberty to withhold extraordinary life-prolonging measures, they must not intentionally hasten death.
The call is to face suffering with hope and compassion, trusting in the redemptive purpose God may have for all of life's stages.
