Funny how mankind made it for so long without Christianity if it is necessarily homicidal and suicidal by nature. Could it be that men are homicidal and suicidal by nature, but mankind as a whole has gotten through that?
Besides, it was hundreds of years before Christianity changed from being okay with suicide into banning it. Early Christians committed suicide or sought martyrdom to be with their Lord. It wasn't until the Council of Braga (c. 561-563) that it was banned. (This pronouncement was along with other such enlightenments as excommunicating priests who wouldn't eat their vegetables in meat broth.)
More accurately, some people in every age have learned to suppress their evil impulses, while others have not. Part of it is an effect of culture (for instance, Western culture has marginalized the Fred Phelps version of Christianity into a tiny point-and-laugh-at cult; Arab and Persian cultures have so far failed to do so for the Phelps-equivalent versions of Islam).
From a woman’s perspective, may I say that the Judeo/Christian culture is the only one that acknowledges that men and women are equal before God.
If we speak only of earthly living, you may think “mankind made it for so long without Christianity” but you aren’t looking at all sides of the experience.
Actually, that was a later formal statement. Church officials made the decision very early on that seeking martyrdom was a form of committing suicide, and hence not permissible. One had the duty to avoid being captured or killed, but if it happened, one had to bear it.
Over the centuries, various heresies that regarded suicide as something enlightened kept popping up, and the Church had to keep putting them down. Suicide seems to be a common urge among the illuminati.
The early Christian attitude to suicide was the same as the Jewish attitude.
I guess you haven’t studied those with Life After Death experiences who committed suicide and were brought back.
Nor studied the case of the MD atheist . . . who found himself in hell . . .
We must understand that the modern age has given rise to technology and its awsome power. Fortunately, the Christian influence has worked to quell evil hand of man with the tools of technology. Mass slaughter throughout history has not been the case.
In 1982 the Syrians bombarded the city of Hama, killing 25,000 people.
The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 caused 1,000,000 deaths during the mass migration.
Mao's land reform efforts in China between 1949-53 caused 5,000,000 mass executions.
Should I go on?
What part of Christianity had its hand in these horrific events?