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“To Life”: Biblical Narratives, Positive Psychology, and Suicide-Prevention

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Abstract

Some 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only 6 suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and 1 suicide in the Christian New Testament. In addition, the Hebrew Scriptures present a number of suicide-prevention narratives largely absent in Greek legends underlying much of mental health. In other words, the Hebrew Scriptures seem to provide a psychological stopper for people in despair which seems unavailable to figures in the writings of the great Greek tragedians. This chapter examines evidence regarding seven risk factors for suicide: (1) feeling isolated and ignored; (2) feeling one’s life is without meaning; (3) feeling exiled from one’s home or homeland (feeling as a refugee or an outcast); (4) feeling unable to be oneself with others; (5) being raised in a foster home and later feeling alone in one’s life mission; (6) feeling abandoned by one’s child leaving the family nest and building his/her own life; and (7) feeling doomed by a dysfunctional (even incestuous) family of origin. We contrast biblical and Greek narratives regarding each of these factors, respectively: (1) Elijah against Ajax, (2) Job against Zeno, (3) David against Coriolanus, (4) Jonah against Narcissus, (5) Moses against Oedipus, (6) Rebecca against Phaedra, and finally, (7) Ruth against Antigone. All these contrasts should demonstrate to psychotherapists, counsellors, and clergy alike as to how Greek narratives lead to self-destructive behaviours while biblical narratives provide a hopeful positive psychology, and a safe way out of these dilemmas. It is high time to develop a Biblical Psychology.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Only one semi-overt act of self-destruction occurs in the seven surviving plays of Aeschylus, the third great Greek tragedian; specifically, in The Seven Against Thebes, where Eteocles, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, rushes to the battlefield, insisting the Gods are eager for his death (ll. 692–719). Even here, he is killed by his brother Polyneices whom Eteocles also kills.

  2. 2.

    Generally, we do not count Greek choruses as characters as they are not candidates for suicidal behaviour.

  3. 3.

    Only one semi-overt act of self-destruction occurs in the seven surviving plays of Aeschylus, the third great Greek tragedian; specifically, in The Seven Against Thebes, where Eteocles, son of Oedipus and Jocasta, rushes to the battlefield, insisting the Gods are eager for his death (ll. 692–719).

  4. 4.

    Only one suicide, Judas Iscariot appears in the Christian New Testament, either by hanging (Matthew 27: 5) or falling and bursting open (Acts 1: 18, NASB interlinear Greek-English New Testament, 1984).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, USA

    Kalman J. Kaplan & Paul Cantz

  2. Adler University, Chicago, USA

    Paul Cantz

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  1. Kalman J. Kaplan
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  2. Paul Cantz
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Correspondence to Kalman J. Kaplan .

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  1. Defence Institute of Psychological Research, Defence Research and Development Organization, Delhi, India

    Updesh Kumar

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Kaplan, K.J., Cantz, P. (2017). “To Life”: Biblical Narratives, Positive Psychology, and Suicide-Prevention. In: Kumar, U. (eds) Handbook of Suicidal Behaviour. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4816-6_3

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