PAGE TITLE: http://thegospelcoalition.org/
ARTICLE
TITLE:
Osama bin Laden and the Value of Justice
DATE: Monday 2
May 2011
AUTHOR: Kevin
DeYoung
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Kevin DeYoung (born
1977) is an American Christian Reformed Evangelical theologian and author.
DeYoung is a pastor in the Reformed Church in America and a member of The
Gospel Coalition.
Kevin DeYoung was
born in South Holland, Illinois and largely grew up in Jenison, Michigan where
his parents worked with Christian radio. Both of DeYoung's grandfathers were
from Dutch Reformed backgrounds. DeYoung graduated summa cum laude from Hope
College in Michigan in 1999 and then received his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary in Massachusetts in 2002. DeYoung first served as a Pastor
at First Reformed Church in Orange City, Iowa and since August 2004, he has
served as Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan
near Michigan State University. DeYoung has authored or co-authored many books
and articles, and his book Why We're Not Emergent won the 2009
Christianity Today book award. His book Why We Love the Church won the
2010 Christianity Today Book Award and Leadership Journal Golden Canon Book
Award. DeYoung is a member of the Gospel Coalition with Tim Keller, John Piper
and others.
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Kevin
DeYoung
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Christians are already beginning to weigh in on the
killing of Osama Bin Laden. Not surprisingly, Justin Taylor has a
quick roundup of the first couple of internet volleys–both of which are
very good. I’m sure there is more serious reflection to come. But since I’m a
blogger, I’ll do what bloggers do, and that’s add my thoughts to the mix.
There are really two questions to answer: 1) Did
Osama bin Laden deserve to die? 2) Did those who killed him have authority to
do so? I believe the answer to both those questions is yes. Consequently, his
death was a matter of justice for which we can be grateful.
1. Did Osama bin Laden deserve to die? Genesis 9:6
suggests he did: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be
shed, for God made man in his own image.” Capital punishment for murder is not
an assault on the image of God, but a defense of it. It is because human
life is so precious, that the taking of human life needs to be punished so
severely. The principle of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound” (Exod.
21:23-25) was not a matter cruel and unusual punishment, but of controlled
retribution as a means of protecting the community and valuing the dignity of
human life.
At this point, some earnest Christian will object,
“But we will all deserve to die. If God should mark my iniquities, I would be a
goner too.” The objection makes sense on one level. We have all sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23),
and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). And yet, even with this doctrine of total
depravity the Bible never acts as if everyone deserves to die physically right
now. Some have deserved immediate death, so God killed Nadab and Abihu and
struck down Uzzah and inflicted judgment on the Egyptians, Amorites,
Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. We all deserve condemnation
apart from God’s grace, but some deserve death now because some sins are worse
than others and some sinners commit more egregious sins.
It is one of the half-truths of our day that every
sin is the same in God’s eyes. On the one hand, every sin renders us liable to
God’s judgment (James 2:10). On the other hand, not every bit of iniquity
is equally offensive. Some sins are high-handed. Some are premeditated. Some
are slip ups. Some are habitual. Some are contrary to nature. The Law did not
demand the same penalty for every infraction. Neither did Jesus (Matt. 10:15).
We do not promote the glory of the gospel by pretending that no one is more
righteous or more wicked than anybody else. Some sins so destroy the image of
God that those who commit them deserve destruction.
2. Did those who killed Osama bin Laden have the
authority to do so? Only God has the authority to take human life. But God has
ordained that he should exercise that right through the power of the state. Romans 13:4
says the governing authorities are God’s servants to do good, “but if you do
wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the
servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” The
Navy SEALs that raided bin Laden’s compound did not violate the sixth
commandment because, as the Heidelberg Catechism says, “Prevention of murder is
also why government is armed with the sword” (Q/A 105). Surely, this was an
instance where the U.S. military, by killing bin Laden, was acting in an effort
to prevent more American citizens from being murdered.
Obviously, Jesus condemned private retaliation,
vigilante justice, and hatred (Matt.
5:38-48). But there is no indication the Gospels mean to overturn the
centuries long Jewish understanding that some warfare was justified. When
soldiers asked John the Baptist what they needed to do to repent, he could have
easily said, “Resign from the evil Roman army. You can’t be a soldier and
a part of the new people of God.” But instead he said, “Do not extort
money from anyone by threats or by false accusation and be content with your
wages” (Luke
3:14). Jesus went so far as to hold up a Centurion as a model of faith (Luke 7:6). It
reminds me of G.K. Chesterton’s quip: “There is nothing that throws any
particular light on Christ’s attitude toward organized warfare, except that he
seems to be rather fond of Roman soldiers.”
In the end, though there are mixed emotions from
last night’s announcement, at least one of the attitudes should be thankfulness
for the bravery of the men who, with proper authority in a just cause, killed a
man who deserved to die. I thought President Obama’s remarks last night struck
the right tone. There was a sense of gratitude without gloating. The dominant
theme was justice. In our every day lives in this squishy pomo world, we have a
hard time with justice. As a nation we feel sorry for people better than we
feel joy over justice. But sometimes we need to be reminded that we live in a
moral universe where actions have consequences. And when deathly consequences
are merited by despicable actions, we should be glad the world is working as
God designed.
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The
Seal Team Six (SOURCE: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/165104-seal-team-six-the-raid-on-osama-bin-laden-on-national-geographic-cha/)
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