Martyrdom Self-Sacrifice and Self-Immolation

Suicide in the forms of martyrdom self-sacrifice or self-immolation is perennially controversial: Should it rightly be termed suicide? Does religion sanction it? Should it be celebrated or anathematized? At least some idealization of such self-chosen deaths is found in every religious tradition treated in this volume from ascetic heroes who conquer their passions to save others by dying to righteous warriors who suffer and die valiantly while challenging the status quo. At the same time there are persistent disputes about the concepts used to justify these deaths such as altruism heroism and religion itself. In this volume renowned scholars bring their literary and historical expertise to bear on the contested issue of religiously sanctioned suicide. Three examine contemporary movements with disputed classical roots while eleven look at classical religious literatures which variously laud and disparage figures who invite self-harm to the point of death. Overall the volume offers an important scholarly corrective to the axiom that religious traditions simply and always embrace life at any cost.