The Christian Perspective
"Could Christ have prevented his alleged crucifixion?"
Generally, this type of question, "could someone have done other than what they did?" ultimately means, "was there a point at which the singular cause of the event was the will of the person involved?"
If I have correctly understood the intent of the questioner, the answer is absolutely (John 10:18).
"If he could have but didn't, wasn't that suicide?"
If "suicide" can be properly defined as "not preventing your own death", then certainly. If it can not be properly defined like that, then no.
God bless.
Comments
Generally, outside of extreme conditions in time of war, suicide is a selfish product of the sin of despair. Christ did not commit suicide, He was born to die on the Cross. Christ did not go to the Cross out of any selfish loathing of Himself or His prospects in this life, He did not go to the Cross because he "just couldn't take it anymore" but rather as a sacrifice for the rest of us.
Our modern world is so different from previous societies: community and tradition do not have nearly the importance they did to pre-modern peoples. What is important to us is the individual, and little else, which is one of the reasons we have so many problems.
Our attempts to seek happiness outside of the traditional culturally and spiritually prescribed modes may in the end kill us all.
What the ancients understood was that a man who betrayed his place in society, or the general beliefs of the society was a great danger to all.
Then again, I am sure any here will know that post was not his....
Lets face it sooner or later we to will die and this life only promises death anyway, so suicide or not is irrelevant, hope some people kill themselves due to this reply.
I should note as well that a person today can still have their reputation and career ruined if they speak certain opinions. We all know this.
Perhaps all that has changed is what we are willing to die for and what opinions we think should not be expressed in the community.
Plus, generally (with exceptions) non-believers were targeted only when they seemed to threaten the social order. I am sure many un-believers who were never deemed any type of threat lived full lives even in the heart of the Middle Ages. As one example, Luther in his Large Catechism basically says that we all know who the unbelievers around us are and God will deal with them.
Christ's cry "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is proof that he took on the full burden of humanity in his last moments, including even the temptation of doubting God.
"Of course Christians aren't the only group to have visited insane violence on people who had different opinions about whose imaginary being is best, Frank. What's your point? And there was a time long ago when everyone believed in god and the same spiritual mores and the church was top dog. It was called the Dark Ages."
The point I bring up is: it's time to get off your high horse. There was a time Not long ago where Atheists ruled with insane violence; it was called the 20th Century. While the middle ages can be describe as a time of chaos when petty barbarian kings ravaged Europe and the RCC & BOC tried there best to keep things under control, Atheists have no excuse for the conduct of MArxists in the Modern 20th C. Nor do they any excuse for refusing to write books on Marxism like the Four Horsemen wrote about religion.