Robin Williams – Is Suicide The Unforgivable Sin?

September 16, 2014
Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. From an August,  2014 Facebook post by Joan Rivers

Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. From an August, 2014 Facebook post by Joan Rivers

With the recent suicide of Robin Williams, the question has come up again from Christian students as to whether or not suicide is the “unforgivable sin”.

 So what is the answer from a Christian perspective?

The answer is that suicide is forgivable. It is certainly sad and tragic. But as  Jesus says  murder,  adultery, theft  are  all forgivable.

Then is there one unforgivable sin?

According to Jesus, there is only one. It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus says in Luke 12 :10 “…Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man (Jesus) will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

What is the Holy Spirit? It is a spiritual  gift  from God available to all men and women. By inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives we become changed. And what does that mean exactly?

 According to Romans 8:26,” …the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

And once the Spirit takes hold of us, we are transformed for “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law….Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in touch with the Spirit.”

So to those who have been asking, Robin Williams, according to Scripture, did not commit a unforgivable sin. For all those Fundamentalists Christians who  pridefully have all the answers including who is a “Christian” and who is not, I like to end with the quote from Nobel  Peace Prize winning social advocate, Bishop Desmond Tutu.  “We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”