"If no
crime deserves the death penalty, then it is hard to see why it was fitting
that Christ be put to death for our sins and crucified among thieves. St.
Thomas Aquinas quotes a gloss of St. Jerome on Matthew 27: ‘As Christ became
accursed of the cross for us, for our salvation He was crucified as a guilty
one among the guilty.’ That Christ be put to death as a guilty person,
presupposes that death is a fitting punishment for those who are guilty."
Prof.
Michael Pakaluk, The Death Penalty: An Opposing Viewpoints Series Book,
Greenhaven Press, (hereafter TDP:OVS), 1991
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Crucifixion by Hans von Tübingen showing the
good thief on the right side of Christ, and the impenitent thief on the left
side of Christ with a devil. Others portrayed are the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Saint John, and the three Marys (Mary Cleophas, Mary Salome and Mary
Magdalene).
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