Is suicide ever morally permissible? 1. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the soldier who falls on a live grenade to save the life of his friend? 2. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the destitute mother who stops eating what little food remains in order that her child may live? 3. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the POW who swallows a cyanide capsule, knowing that otherwise he will be brainwashed and tortured into divulging crucial information that will be used to the detriment and perhaps death of his countrymen? 4. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the husband with a lengthy terminal illness who takes his own life lest his medical expenses drain the meager financial resources on which his aged wife must depend for her future welfare? 5. What moral judgment do we make…of a soldier trapped in a burning tank from which there is no hope of escape. Is it morally permissible for him to end his life with a gunshot to the head rather than to die in agony in that fiery inferno? 6. What about the Christian in the third century who is given a choice: either deny Jesus or be thrown to the lions? By refusing to deny Jesus, the believer chooses a course of action that she knows will result in her death. 7. What about the Jehovah’s Witness who is accidentally shot by a robber and, because of religious convictions, refuses the blood transfusion necessary to save her life? She dies because of a deliberate choice on her part.
Sam Storms

Bible – English_World – 2 Timothy Chapter 1:1-18.

Index: World English Bible

 

2 Timothy 1

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[2]
[3]
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1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,

1:2 to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

1:3 I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day

1:4 longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy;

1:5 having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you; which lived first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, in you also.

1:6 For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

1:7 For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

1:8 Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Gospel according to the power of God,

1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,

1:10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

1:11 For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

1:12 For this cause I suffer also these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.

1:13 Hold the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

1:15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

1:16 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain,

1:17 but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me

1:18 (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.