13th Century – During Middle Ages Christians and Jews Tend to Oppose Euthanasia

“Since ancient times, Jewish and Christian thinkers have opposed suicide as inconsistent with the human good and with responsibilities to God. In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas espoused Catholic teaching about suicide in arguments that would shape Christian thought about suicide for centuries. Aquinas condemned suicide as wrong because it contravenes one’s duty to oneself and the natural inclination of self-perpetuation; because it injures other people and the community of which the individual is a part; and because it violates God’s authority over life, which is God’s gift. This position exemplified attitudes about suicide that prevailed from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and Reformation.”