📖 Biblical Definition
"Euthanasia" (Greek: "good death") names the intentional ending of a sufferer’s life — assisted suicide, mercy killing, doctor-administered death — increasingly legalized across the West. Scripture rejects it categorically. God alone has authority over life and death: "The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up" (1 Samuel 2:6). The sixth commandment prohibits taking innocent human life (Exodus 20:13). Scripture acknowledges suffering and commends compassion — but never authorizes intentional killing as remedy. Job endured extraordinary suffering without requesting death and was vindicated (Job 42). Christ’s own dying was prolonged, not shortened. Life belongs to God; it is not ours to end. Compassion is medicine and palliative care, not the lethal dose.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The intentional termination of life to relieve suffering; mercy killing.
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Not in Webster 1828 in the modern sense. He defined it etymologically as "an easy death." The modern practice would have been recognized as a violation of the sixth commandment.
📖 Key Scripture
• 1 Samuel 2:6 — "The LORD killeth, and maketh alive."
• Exodus 20:13 — "Thou shalt not kill."
• Job 1:21 — "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
• Psalm 31:15 — "My times are in thy hand."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Euthanasia is rebranded as 'death with dignity' to mask the intentional killing of vulnerable people.
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What begins as voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill inevitably expands. Belgium and the Netherlands now permit it for depression and children. Canada's MAID program has been applied to the homeless. The biblical alternative is compassionate palliative care that manages pain while respecting God's sovereignty over death.
Usage
• "Euthanasia is not death with dignity — it is the assumption of divine prerogative, dressed in the language of compassion."
• "The answer to suffering is not to kill the sufferer but to comfort and care for them until God calls them home."