Donne’s Biathanatos (IN: On Suicide: Great Writers on the Ultimate Question, edited by J Miller)

Donne’s Biathanatos is discussed; to sum it up, it states that as not every murderer is an assassin, not every self-murderer is guilty of motal sin. Donne discusses voluntary deaths in the Scriptures, such as Samson’s (“Let me die with the Philistines”) and Jesus’. The purpose of this work is to palliate suicide, as even Christ committed suicide. Donne suggests that the elements, the world, and man were drawn from nothingness to prepare for Christ’s voluntary death.