Question 74

1. Is it a sin to destroy ourselves? Yes.

   “shouldest thou die before thy time?” Ecclesiastes 7:17

2. And of envy? Yes.

   “Envy is the rottenness of the bones” Proverbs 14:30

3. And of passion? Yes.

   “I do well to be angry, even unto death” Jonah 4:9

4. And of uncleanness? Yes.

   “He that committeth fornication sinneth Against his own body” 1 Corinthians 6:18

5. And of intemperance? Yes.

   “At last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” Proverbs 23:32

6. And of immoderate care and sorrow? Yes.

   “For the sorrow of the world worketh death” 2 Corinthians 7:10

1. Is this an encroachment upon God’s prerogative? Yes.

   “For ’tis he that killeth and maketh alive” Deuteronomy 32:39

2. And a compliance with Satan’s temptations? Yes.

   “For he was a murderer from the beginning” John 8:44

3. But may we not expose our lives for the sake of a good conscience? Yes.

   “They loved not their lives unto death” Revelation 12:11

4. And hazard them in a good cause? Yes.

   “Zebulon and Naphtali jeoparded their lives in the high places of the field” Judges 5:18

1. Is it a breach of this command for magistrates to take away the lives of capital offenders? No.

   “Thou shalt do according to the sentence ; and the man that will do presumptuously, even that man shall die” Deuteronomy 17:10, 12

2. Or for one man to kill another in lawful war? No.

   “Smite Amalek, and slay both man and woman, infant and suckling” 1 Samuel 15:3

3. Or by accident? No.

   “Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hateth not in time past, shall flee to the city of refuge” Deuteronomy 19:4–5

4. Or in his own defence? No.

   “For if a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, then shall no blood be shed for him” Exodus 22:2

1. But is wilful murder a great sin? Yes.

   “It was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill” Matthew 5:21

2. Is it a crying sin? Yes.

   “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the ground” Genesis 4:10

3. Is it a sin that calls for present punishment? Yes.

   “Thou shalt take him from my altar that he may die” Exodus 21:14

4. And exposes to future damnation? Yes.

   “For no murderer hath eternal life” 1 John 3:15

5. Ought we therefore to pray that God would keep us from it? Yes.

   “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God” Psalm 51:14

1. Is it a breach of this commandment to counsel the death of others? Yes.

   “Thou hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon” 2 Samuel 12:9

2. Or to consent to it? Yes.

   “Ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain” Acts 2:23

3. Or to be any way accessary to it? Yes.

   “I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood” Matthew 27:4

4. Or to rejoice at it? Yes.

   “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me” Job 31:29

1. Is unjust and immoderate anger a breach of this commandment? Yes.

   “Whoso is angry with his brother without a case, is in danger of the judgment” Matthew 5:22

2. And foul and provoking language? Yes.

   “Whosoever shall say unto his brother, Racha, or thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” Matthew 5:22

3. And malice and hatred? Yes.

   “He that hateth his brother is a murderer” 1 John 3:15

4. And is there such a thing as soul murder? Yes.

   “If thou givest him not warning his blood will I require at thine hand” Ezekiel 3:18

Benjamin Beddome (1717–1795), pastor at Bourton-on-the-Water. Verses from the King James Version.