n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 5
Because of this he was able to tell us what happened to people after their death,
and also to see how people who have gone on to the spiritual world influence
people who are still on earth. In Swedenborg’s unpublished diary we read what
happened to a person who committed suicide:
A certain one in the life of the body had committed suicide by stabbing himself
with a knife, having been driven to desperation through depression, to which he
had been driven by diabolical spirits. He came to me complaining that he was being
miserably treated by evil spirits, and said that he was among the furies who were
continually provoking him. The place where he was, was in the lower earth, a little
to the left. He also seemed to me to have a knife in his hand which he wanted to
drive into his breast. He labored hard with that knife, wanting to throw it away from
himself but without success. For whatever happens in the last hour of death remains
for a long time before it disappears, as I was told. (Spiritual Diary 1336, 1337)
This shows us that whatever inner problems we have in this life we will
generally have to face in the next life. If we look at this passage negatively, we
might conclude that people who commit suicide will after death be tormented
by evil spirits and will continue to have suicidal experiences. But before we
make such generalizations, we should note that this passage is describing
a particular person’s experience, and with other people suicide may have
different effects.
We should also note that this person’s difficult time was temporary. He
had to go through painful experiences in order to come into a better state. By
struggling with the evil spirits who were attacking him, he could eventually
overcome his depression and suicidal tendencies. What happens at the time
of death is likely to have a big impact on a person’s subsequent thoughts and
actions (compare Heaven and Hell 449), but this does not mean that all who
commit suicide will respond in the same way. In fact, the next two passages
indicate that this does not happen with every suicide.
The truth is that the
Lord may allow people
to commit suicide
when He sees that it is
the only way they can
come into heaven.
Are People Punished After Death for
Suicide?
The fact is that no one is punished in
the next life for deeds committed in this
life. When people are drawn to suicide
through evil that they have deliberately
chosen, that evil will probably stay with
them, and they will suffer as a result.
But when the suicide is from pressures
beyond their control (such as insanity),
they will not suffer for it at all in the
next life. The following passages do not
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