is mental illness a sin?

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fantasiafelice

Guest
#1
i have no idea, i think it might be but maybe not, maybe a form of suffering but is that suffering down to sin?
can a life of sin lead to mental illness?
 
C

christianperson91

Guest
#2
No, its because of problems with the brain. The brain, like any other organ, does not always work properly.

Saying "mental illness" is a sin, is like saying someone heart is not working properly, is a result of sin.
 

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2014
70,862
9,581
113
#3
​Sickness is a condition of having imperfect, sinful earthly bodies. But no, mental illness in and of itself is not a sin.
 

wattie

Senior Member
Feb 24, 2009
2,987
1,014
113
New Zealand
#4
i have no idea, i think it might be but maybe not, maybe a form of suffering but is that suffering down to sin?
can a life of sin lead to mental illness?
Consider biblical characters-

Job- had pretty much everything taken from him.. yes his family was restored and materials.. but he got really really low. He may have had mental illness as a carry-over from the affects of what he lost.

This is not sin in terms of disobeying commandments.. but it is the affect of sin over multiple generations-- imperfect brains.

A life of sin- well.. every person on the planet has a life of sin to a lesser or greater extent- people are imperfect. But I would say if they were to sin to a greater extent most of their life.. then they definitely open themselves up to mental illness.

For eg.. an alcoholic- that's is an addiction cycle that affects the mind and would very probably lead to some sort of depression. Same goes for drugs, sexual addiction etc..

I find it hard to accept some behaviours I see from people who have mental illness.. eg.. when in an 'up' phase.. maybe speaking in like high staccato and hyperactive or in a 'down' phase.. having a flat, emotionless face and not engaging with anyone. For a few people, most of the time they are in either of these phases and not in the middle.

Good news is.. Jesus is in the business of healing people mentally- through His rest and peace He gives.
 
R

Revelator7

Guest
#5
i have no idea, i think it might be but maybe not, maybe a form of suffering but is that suffering down to sin?
can a life of sin lead to mental illness?
sin can lead to suffering. it can lead to mental illness. it did me. god used it to discipline me. now i'm healed. sexual immorality or eating foods sacrificed to idols can cause us to be on a sickbed. that could be any kind of sexness. sexual diseases come out of sexual sin. a lot of things that people suffer are caused by unclean spirits. if you look in the bible and read about those in jesus' time who suffered physical things, they were suffering because of a spirit. in today's society doctors and all this medical and science propaganda has made everyone believe that everything is a medical issue, nothing more. that it's a brain issue, nothing more. people make big money on people's suffering. if doctors pointed to people's suffering as having a spiritual root, their patients would eventually seek a spiritual source like God and be healed. the bible says where there is selfish ambition and envy there is confusion and every evil thing. i believe we live in a time where men are lovers of themselves, we are a narcasistic society. and because of that every evil thing can and will manifest. think of spirits. every* evil thing. there was a man who scraped himself with sharp rocks in the bible. today that would be likened to people cutting their wrists or putting cigarettes out on themselves. do you think that is merely a cause of a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that it is a spiritual thing? it might be that the spiritual thing is causes a chemical imbalance. so the root is the spiritual thing. after jesus intervene the bible says that the man *came to his right mind* and the demons left him. he had a legion of spirits. i can go on forever writing about this.
 

wattie

Senior Member
Feb 24, 2009
2,987
1,014
113
New Zealand
#6
sin can lead to suffering. it can lead to mental illness. it did me. god used it to discipline me. now i'm healed. sexual immorality or eating foods sacrificed to idols can cause us to be on a sickbed. that could be any kind of sexness. sexual diseases come out of sexual sin. a lot of things that people suffer are caused by unclean spirits. if you look in the bible and read about those in jesus' time who suffered physical things, they were suffering because of a spirit. in today's society doctors and all this medical and science propaganda has made everyone believe that everything is a medical issue, nothing more. that it's a brain issue, nothing more. people make big money on people's suffering. if doctors pointed to people's suffering as having a spiritual root, their patients would eventually seek a spiritual source like God and be healed. the bible says where there is selfish ambition and envy there is confusion and every evil thing. i believe we live in a time where men are lovers of themselves, we are a narcasistic society. and because of that every evil thing can and will manifest. think of spirits. every* evil thing. there was a man who scraped himself with sharp rocks in the bible. today that would be likened to people cutting their wrists or putting cigarettes out on themselves. do you think that is merely a cause of a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that it is a spiritual thing? it might be that the spiritual thing is causes a chemical imbalance. so the root is the spiritual thing. after jesus intervene the bible says that the man *came to his right mind* and the demons left him. he had a legion of spirits. i can go on forever writing about this.
Maybe it depends on the context of the situation whether it's a spiritual thing or just the brain chemical imbalances. So if mental illness were the cause of spiritual things going on every time- then that would put questions around why someone who is faithful to God becoming mentally ill. And then if it was just brain chemicals going on every time.. then why do some people who have mental illness never respond to treatment.
 
J

Jesusismyrock

Guest
#7
Sorry but I'm shocked someone would ask this. It certainly is not a sin..
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,177
2,539
113
#8
Sorry but I'm shocked someone would ask this. It certainly is not a sin..
I agree, I have mental illness and it wasnt from sin it was from radiation when i had cancer. was cancer because of my sin? was any of my many sicknesses because of sin? actually instead of mental illness perhaps the question should be is some sicknesses because of sin.
 
Aug 5, 2013
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#9
You'd think so from "His nature". Consider this passage:

[SUP]16 [/SUP]The Lord said to Moses, [SUP]17 [/SUP]“Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. [SUP]18 [/SUP]No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; [SUP]19 [/SUP]no man with a crippled foot or hand, [SUP]20 [/SUP]or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. [SUP]21 [/SUP]No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. [SUP]22 [/SUP]He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; [SUP]23 [/SUP]yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’”
It sounds like God has something against people with "defects". Do you think He wants the mentally ill to enter His presence?
 
E

ELECT

Guest
#10
You'd think so from "His nature". Consider this passage:



It sounds like God has something against people with "defects". Do you think He wants the mentally ill to enter His presence?
Exodus 4:11
And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
 
E

ELECT

Guest
#11
You'd think so from "His nature". Consider this passage:



It sounds like God has something against people with "defects". Do you think He wants the mentally ill to enter His presence?
Leviticus 19:14
Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

Was not the blind in Jesus presence ?
 
E

ELECT

Guest
#12
i have no idea, i think it might be but maybe not, maybe a form of suffering but is that suffering down to sin?
can a life of sin lead to mental illness?
What is a reprobate mind ?
 
Aug 5, 2013
624
2
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#13
Leviticus 19:14
Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

Was not the blind in Jesus presence ?
I'm an atheist. I have nothing against seeing a contradiction in scripture. A verse that says that the blind isn't to approach god and another verse that says they did makes sense from my worldview, where two verses can flatly say different things. You're not actually showing that the verse I quoted doesn't fit God's nature, but just showing how God's nature can be two mutually exclusive natures at the same time.
 
Sep 30, 2014
2,329
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#14
You'd think so from "His nature". Consider this passage:



It sounds like God has something against people with "defects". Do you think He wants the mentally ill to enter His presence?
They will, they are innocent and will have new bodies, I think the people with mental and physical defects are here for others, to learn care, love, and humility as well. He uses all of us for different test.
 
E

elf3

Guest
#15
I'm an atheist. I have nothing against seeing a contradiction in scripture. A verse that says that the blind isn't to approach god and another verse that says they did makes sense from my worldview, where two verses can flatly say different things. You're not actually showing that the verse I quoted doesn't fit God's nature, but just showing how God's nature can be two mutually exclusive natures at the same time.
Actually the Bible never contradicts itself.
 

Nick01

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2013
1,272
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#16
"Now there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things? No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish as well! Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish as well!”

It is a fraught path to take to try and connect specific sin to specific suffering. Certainly, you can cause or exacerbate mental illness with psychedelic drugs or similar (I know one guy who basically has quite extreme episodes from his bipolar disorder, gradually coming under control now, but a lot of that was from extensive use of cannabis). But that's kind of physiological causation is very different to connecting SIN to mental illness. The most explicit statement from Jesus on the matter is - particular suffering does not stem from particular sin, but repent or you will suffer in a more ultimate fashion.

Sin does not cause mental illness - to say it does is, IMO, one of the worst kinds of superstition, and serves only to continue the stigmatisation of mental illness.
 
Sep 30, 2014
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#17
How can we say sin doesn't cause mental illness, when no one had or has mental illness in heaven, we have to relate it wager of sin, death, disease, famine and so on.
 
May 2, 2010
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6
#18
6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.2Timothy 1:6-7
 

Nick01

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2013
1,272
26
48
#19
How can we say sin doesn't cause mental illness, when no one had or has mental illness in heaven, we have to relate it wager of sin, death, disease, famine and so on.
The difference is the same as between famine existing in the world, and you suddenly having no food because you looked lustfully at a woman. Individuals do not become mentally ill because they specifically committed particular sins.
 
Sep 30, 2014
2,329
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#20
The difference is the same as between famine existing in the world, and you suddenly having no food because you looked lustfully at a woman. Individuals do not become mentally ill because they specifically committed particular sins.
Never said a particular sin, as a whole, nations have turned there back on God, He tells us that the wagers of sins are death,