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SOURCE: http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/bad-biblical-arguments-against-capital-punishment/
Capital punishment (CP) is a
completely Biblical proposition if properly applied and is actually a
pro-life position. Having said that, in my next post I’ll make some arguments from a Christian
worldview against capital punishment as currently administered in the
U.S. But first I wanted to address some anti-CP arguments that I would
not use.
(Note that I don’t use the cost
issues in either scenario – i.e., “Putting them in prison for life is too
expensive” vs. “The legal costs of the death penalty are too expensive.”
Justice ain’t cheap. We shouldn’t go one direction or the other just
because it might cost more or less.)
I’ll address these arguments:
- Jesus would forgive
- We might be eliminating the condemned killer’s opportunity to place his trust in Christ and thus causing him/her to miss out on eternal salvation.
- Jesus is against capital punishment / Jesus reversed the Old Testament teaching on capital punishment
- We might be killing someone who is innocent
- Capital punishment is not a deterrent
- The Bible says, “Thou shall not kill”
“Jesus
would forgive” – Greg
Koukl of Stand to Reason points out that Mother Teresa once used this argument
to argue against a California capital punishment. It is flawed for a few
reasons.
First, Jesus would forgive if
the criminal repented. I don’t know if the condemned killer repented
in that case or not, but many times they do not. And, of course, only
Jesus would know if the repentance is authentic.
Second, Jesus offers divine
forgiveness but He doesn’t always remove earthly consequences of our actions
(examples abound – see King David & Bathsheba, other Bible characters, you,
me and others).
Third, and most importantly, this
argument proves too much. The rationale that “Jesus would forgive”
presumably means we shouldn’t apply the death penalty. But those arguing
against capital punishment typically drop back to a punishment of life in
prison. But if Jesus would forgive, how could we put this person away for
life? How about just 20 years in prison? No, Jesus would forgive.
And so on. The literal application of the “Jesus would forgive” position
would keep us from punishing anyone, ever. And no, that isn’t a slippery
slope argument. It just means that if you say society must forgive
because Jesus would and you define forgive as eliminating consequences,
then why apply any punishment?
Another bad reason for this and
the remaining arguments is that the ACLU would just hate them because
they mention the “J” word (sarcasm intended). Actually, they might like
the arguments. Sometimes people are willing to relax their standards when
something benefits their position. I haven’t done precise Venn diagrams
on this topic, but it seems like the “Jesus would forgive” crowd overlaps a lot
with the “separation of church and state” crowd.
“We might
be eliminating the condemned killer’s opportunity to place his trust in Christ
and thus causing him/her to miss out on eternal salvation.” I am big on evangelism, and I love to hear the
stories of people who repented and believed despite horrible circumstances and
backgrounds. David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, is a powerful
example. I am involved with the Kairos prison ministry and support ministries like Prison
Fellowship who take the Gospel to prisoners and care for their
families. But this argument just doesn’t work for me.
First, anyone who puts it forth
would have to acknowledge that the murder the criminal committed is an even
worse crime than the state recognizes. After all, the government is
punishing the person for taking someone’s earthly life. If you truly
believe that an opportunity for eternal life was taken then the crime is
significantly greater, perhaps infinitely so. That would imply the need
for a stronger punishment, not a lesser one, so you are arguing against your
own position.
Second, this argument ignores the
sovereignty of God. Both Calvinists and Arminians believe that God knows
which way we’ll choose. If someone holds a different view then they need
to revisit my first objection. I don’t think any non-believers will
convince God that if only they had lived longer they would have repented and
believed.
Third, it takes many, many years
before a convicted murderer is put to death. He/she has plenty of time to
consider whether to put his/her faith in Christ. Condemned killers
probably have more time than their victim did and certainly a greater sense of
urgency to consider their eternal destiny.
“Jesus is
against capital punishment / Jesus reversed the Old Testament teaching on
capital punishment” – This
is much simpler to refute than most people realize. Consider the following
two arguments:
- Capital punishment for murderers was God’s idea (For example, Genesis 9:5-6: “And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”).
- Jesus is God.
- Therefore, capital punishment for murderers was Jesus’ idea.
- The Old Testament clearly teaches that capital punishment is an appropriate punishment for justly convicted murderers – both inside and outside the Israelite culture.
- No New Testament teachings reverse this teaching.
- Therefore, capital punishment is still an acceptable punishment for justly convicted murderers.
Foreshadowing:
My next post on “(Somewhat) Effective Biblical arguments against capital
punishment” will focus on the “justly convicted” part.
It is possible that Jesus could
have changed this teaching, but there are no passages to support this
notion. The Bible indicates that capital punishment was prescribed for
more than a dozen Israelite-specific transgressions. But capital
punishment for murderers goes back much farther, all the way to Noah.
Peter and Paul both point to the
government having authority to punish people. In Romans 13, Paul
specifically mentions that rulers do “not bear the sword for nothing.”
Presumably, the “sword” was for capital punishment, not corporal
punishment.
When Paul was threatened with the
death penalty in the book of Acts, he didn’t object to the penalty itself, he
just pointed to his innocence (Acts 25:10-11). Jesus did the same when He
was on trial.
The “turn the other cheek”
passage sometimes used to assert that Jesus was against CP is a misapplication.
That teaching is about personal relationships when you are
insulted, not for government punishments of condemned killers. It is hard
to turn the other cheek when you are dead. Think about it.
And while turning the other cheek
when you are insulted is noble and Christian, turning the other cheek when
someone weaker is threatened or killed is cowardice. Read it in context
and you’ll see that it has nothing to do with the government administration of
the death penalty:
Matthew 5:38-42 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
But what about the command to
“love your enemies?” Again, this is a passage to Christians, not the
government. It doesn’t even hint that the government wouldn’t hold people
accountable for crimes committed against Christians. If someone assaults
you, you need to forgive them. But jailing them may be the loving thing
to do if it protects others (remember, you need to love your enemies and
your neighbors).
Some people misinterpret the
story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) and think it means Jesus was
against capital punishment. First off, the earliest and most
reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not include this
passage. If it is authentic, it is not primarily about capital
punishment. It is about Jesus out-witting the Pharisses and pointing out
their inconsistency and hypocrisy. But note that Jesus applied the
Biblical model: There were no longer two witnesses to condemn her. He
never revoked the penalty. He told her to go and sin no more. (I
wonder if those who quote this against capital punishment also quote it to
oppose adultery?)
To make the case that capital
punishment in general is un-Biblical one would need at least one passage to
that effect. And it simply doesn’t exist. And of course, anyone who likes
to argue from silence (“Jesus didn’t say anything specific about ____, so
_____”) would have to concede that Jesus did not overturn the death penalty.
“We might be killing someone who
is innocent” – If a
Biblical model of justice is followed, the odds of this happening are very,
very low. And God was willing to take that chance. This
argument does have some merit, as the U.S. has drifted from a more Biblical
model of justice. I’ll address that in the follow up post.
This is an unusual side note, but
please consider that if someone is truly innocent, then their conviction is
much more likely to be overturned if they are given the death penalty than if
they have a sentence of life without parole. This is because a death
penalty sentence has automatic appeals and legal support not available to
someone with a sentence of life without parole. Ironically, then, an
innocent person sentenced to life without parole is more likely to die in
prison than an innocent person given the death penalty. This isn’t a
major point either way, just one of those unusual twists.
Keep in mind that many times
there is no doubt about the guilt of the accused (Remember Karla Faye Tucker
and “Free Tookie,” among others).
“Capital
punishment is not a deterrent” – Is
so. Romans 13:3: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but
for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in
authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is
God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does
not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, and agent of wrath
to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Sounds like a deterrent to me.
Please spare me any statistics that
allegedly show that capital punishment increases murders or has no
effect. I appreciate a good study, but if you can find one that
eliminates all issues like more fatherless kids, less religious influence, etc.
– not to mention the interminably long process required to carry out an
execution – I would like to see that one. When in doubt, I’ll stick with
clear Biblical teachings over man-made surveys.
Also, I think it is rather
obvious that stronger punishments are greater deterrents. I can prove it in
10 seconds: Do you think driving behavior would change at all if traffic
tickets only cost a nickel, or if the punishment was life in prison? I
rest my case.
And of course, we can be 100%
sure that capital punishment certainly deters murderers from killing
again. Many murders have taken place when murderers were set free or when
other prisoners were killed. If we love our neighbors we will seek to
protect them.
Does it deter everyone from
killing? Of course not. But since when was that part of the criteria
for establishing laws? We have a criminal justice system because we know
that some will always break the law.
“The
Bible says, ‘Thou shall not kill’”
Actually, it says you shouldn’t murder, which is killing an innocent human
being. And that is such a great crime that it brought the death
penalty. People who think that is ironic to kill murderes are missing the
point. Life is so valuable that to take a human life is to commit the
greatest crime possible. Also see Pro-capital punishment = pro-life.
Anyone making that argument had
better be pro-life, or they need to be prepared for me to point out the
hypocrisy of being for the legal killing of innocent human beings and against
the destruction of guilty murderers.
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