This article examines the attitudes of John Calvin, a theologian & lawyer of enormous influence during the Reformation, towards suicide. Calvin categorically condemned suicide because it was a refusal to submit to God’s will. Suicide was evil because it was unnatural & resulted from diabolical possession. These views are not original to Calvin but representative of contemporary attitudes toward suicide. Calvin’s views seem to be drawn more from the opinions of authors such as Aquinas & Augustine rather than what is found in the Bible. (54 notes)