Although we should be wary of drawing our morality entirely from narrative, David's actions very much fit the interpretation of the law proposed here. It should be clear that euthanasia does not fall into any of the 'exceptions' to the sixth commandment.Ī story from later in the Old testament helpfully illustrates this. Requesting euthanasia are neither guilty of a capital crime, nor enemy combatants in war. Indeed, in jurisdictions where assisted suicide has been legalised, there are usually strict procedures to follow which certify that it is intended. This remains the case whatever the current legal definitions of murder, which may have begun from the sixth commandment, but are often narrower.ĭoes this definition apply to euthanasia? Euthanasia is certainly intentional. Putting these together shows that the Bible prohibits the intentional killing of innocent humans. It is clear that the Bible does not permit the shedding of 'innocent blood', which is condemned repeatedly in scripture. More than 20 offences were included, ranging from murder to contempt of court. Again, strict conditions applied, and outside the Promised Land only men could be killed, and only then if a preliminary offer of peace was refused.Ĭapital punishment was permitted in certain circumstances. Killing in the context of holy war was permitted. Negligence was not considered unintended, and neither was killing 'in hostility', even if not premeditated. This was a very limited provision - Deuteronomy 19:5 gives the example of an axe head flying off and killing someone. When the High priest died (naturally), this would atone for the killing, and the killer would be free. Anyone who had killed unintentionally could flee to a 'city of refuge', in which he had some protection from 'the avenger of the blood'. There is an accidental killing provision. The Pentateuch lays down four main circumstances in which killing another human is not murder: Indeed murder, used in most modern translations, has varying definitions in law around the world. It is not quite as simple as 'do not kill'. Here implies that there are some exceptions to this law. The fact that the death penalty is mentioned The reason is given clearly - humans are made in God's image in effect, an attack on a human is an attack on God. Killing is wrong in fact it is so serious that the death penalty is warranted. 'You shall not murder' actually restates the earlier commandment of Genesis 9:6: 'Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed for in the image of God has God made mankind'. But the Old Testament gives further information that helps us determine exactly what this commandment means. How does the Bible view killing? The sixth commandment, traditionally rendered 'thou shalt not kill' is of course widely known well beyond Christian circles. But we can't forget that someone is killed when euthanasia is performed, whatever the motives. The term euthanasia is derived from Greek,Īnd literally means an 'easy' or 'good' death. the arguments made from scripture can equally be applied to assisted suicide (often labelled 'assisted dying' in the media). I use 'euthanasia' as a catch-all term in this article for simplicity. We will not recount these here, but instead focus on what scripture has to say. There are plenty of 'secular' rebuttals to the common arguments against euthanasia. They want to be able to die with medical assistance before such a loss of dignity occurs. For some patients the idea of 'losing dignity' is enough that Occasionally someone makes a financial argument for it, but more often the arguments centre around autonomy. perhaps more than cost, there is a strong fear of 'losing dignity', which also applies to much younger patients with terminal conditions.Īll this is a big change from less than a century ago when many deaths were due to infections, to which patients either succumbed, or fairly quickly recovered.Įuthanasia is often proposed as a 'solution' to these problems. Worries about care costs are shared by families and governments alike. But sometimes the later years herald a diagnosis like dementia where there is a heavy burden of careįor years.

When such longevity is accompanied by reasonable health, albeit often with a chronic condition or two, it is usually welcome. Many more people live into their 80s, 90s and beyond (my longest lived patient so far reached 106!). The last 150 years have seen a significant fall in infant mortality, followed by advances in treatment of infectious disease. Has modern medicine fallen victim to its own success? UK life expectancy continues to increase, though at a slowing rate.

Thou shalt not kill bible quote