Suicide doesn't condemn a Christian to Hell - pastors, others speak up

Kayla Stoecklein, widow of late Inland Hills Church Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, who died after attempting suicide at his church last month, says she is confident her husband is in Heaven despite the enduring "myth" that suicide victims are condemned to Hell.

"This is a common misbelief about suicide and it breaks my heart. I'll be the first to admit prior to Andrew's death I may have actually believed it to be true," Kayla, 29, wrote.

"I remember leaning over to my mother in law, Carol, in the hospital room as my husband lay there dying, whispering through my tears, 'Will he go to heaven?' She quickly reassured me, as I am confident now: whether you are accepted into heaven or not has nothing to do with how you die. The only way we are accepted into heaven is through a personal relationship with Jesus," she said.

Albert Y. Hsu agrees that the idea that Christians who commit suicide are condemned to Hell is a "misconception."

"Christians often assume that suicide is an unforgivable sin and that those who die by suicide automatically go to hell. That's a misconception that believes in a transactional view of sin and forgiveness, where if we don't confess the sin of suicide after it takes place, it can't be forgiven. But that idea comes more from Augustine and medieval theology than the Bible," he said.

"Scripture doesn't actually say that suicide separates us from God for eternity. The unforgivable sin is never equated with suicide in Scripture. Somebody like Samson died at his own hand, but he's still included in Hebrews 11 among the Hall of the Faithful. And there's the promise in Romans 8 that 'neither life nor death,' not even death by suicide, could 'separate us from the love of God in Christ,'" Hsu explained.

He said instead of seeing suicide as the "unforgivable sin," he sees the act as more of a tragedy.

"There are seven suicides in Scripture from King Saul to Judas, and they're always depicted negatively. They are never God's plan for anybody's life. But it's also not the unforgivable sin that automatically condemns somebody for eternity," he said. 

Kay Warren with her husband, Rick, also supports the view that suicide doesn't condemn a Christian to Hell.

Warren's son, Matthew, fatally shot himself at the age of 27 in April 2013, after a long and private struggle with mental illness.

"God's promised us that Matthew's salvation was safe and secure. Matthew gave his life to Jesus when he was a little boy. And so, I'm absolutely 100 percent confident based on the work of Jesus that Matthew is in Heaven," she said.