Welcome to Summit Theological Seminary
"Teaching God's Word to God's World"
2766 Airport Road, Peru, Indiana 46970, (765) 472-4111
Mercy Killing, Is It Right?
George
L. Faull
DEAR
BROTHER FAULL,
My mother is old and
wants to die. She is in much suffering
and pain and the doctors have tried everything to relieve her pain. My father and I have considered putting
mother to sleep if you understand what I mean.
It would be a mercy killing because we both love her very much. We cannot just stand there and do
nothing. It is inhumane to let her
suffer so. What are your thoughts? Incidentally, she is begging us to do it.
ANSWER:
Of course, I am very sorry
about your mother’s condition and will pray for her. Yet I must clearly show you your duty. You say it is inhumane to do nothing! It may seem that way to you, but it would be inhumane to do
it. Why? Because you would be playing the role of God to take her
life. “The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
He is the giver of life and He is the taker of life. When men take life, God’s role is
usurped. He calls such acts murder and
pronounces that such murderers should die.
No murderer hath eternal life and will not enter into Heaven. If you took her life, you would cease being
human all right, for humans do not have the prerogative of deciding the date of
death (except for murderers). It is
best you recognize that you are acting as a human should and that you’re not
divine.
When King Saul saw his
plight, that he would likely be mocked, ridiculed and shamefully treated and
unmercifully tortured, he preferred to die.
He tried to get his armorbearer to do a mercy killing. He would not. So he would end it all himself and attempted to do so by falling
on his own sword. When his servant saw
what he did, he did likewise. When an
Amalekite came by and saw Saul in his death throes, the Amalekite later told
David that Saul begged him to finish him off.
The Amalekite told David, “So I slew him because I was sure that he
could not live after that he was fallen.”
Did the man after God’s own heart reward the mercy killer? No, he said, “Your blood be upon your own
head for your own mouth hath testified against you.” David saw it as murder and he had the young man slain for
presumptuously playing God.
Euthanasia in 1959 meant
‘to put to death persons suffering from incurable and distressing disease’
(Webster), but in 1972 Webster says, “painless, happy death or causing death
painlessly so as to end suffering”. It
is now called “death with dignity” which means “to make or seem worthy or
noble.” So, today’s liberals talk about
“the right to die”, “assisted suicide” and “compassionate genocide”.
Dr. Death (Kevorkian) is
now finally in prison. He himself needs
an “assisted death” for his crimes.
Even if his motives were pure (which I’ve never believed) he deserves to
die. The Hemlock Society is a bunch of
“dead-beats” who need “beaten to death” for taking away the sacredness of life.
You might ask, “where is
your respect for life if you believe the murderers should be put to
death?” God has decreed “Whosoever
sheddeth man’s blood by man
should his blood be
shed for in the image of
God made He man.” Genesis 9:6 That law has
never been removed. It is a part of the
covenant God made with man and as long as there is a rainbow in the sky, it is
still God’s law. It is the sign of that
covenant with all mankind.
If you saw the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”, I think you
would have to admit that His was the greatest suffering ever endured. Did Jesus’ family and friends assist Him in
“death with dignity?” No, He committed
Himself unto His Father.
So, dear Sister, you
commit your mother unto a faithful creator (I Peter 4:19) and leave death to Him who has the keys of death!