Capital Punish Relating to The Old Testament Essay

Other Christians I previously spoke to believe that, “the killer's actions are irreversible and that such a crime deserves an equal punishment”. These same people would cite the biblical passage that exhorts "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". However, if a crime deserves equal punishment, then why do we not rape the rapist or burn the arsonist? A civilized society must be based on values and principles that are higher than those it condemns. Biblically, we are called to live by higher values. In the New Testament, Jesus said that we may have heard it said "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" but He instructed us to "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:38-41) to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-45), to obey the Ten Commandments which tell us not to kill (Exodus 20:13) and not to put ourselves into the position of God by judging whether others live or die (John 8:7). Vengeance and retribution are to be left to God, who is the only One with the perfect capabilities of judgment. If the argument is that serious crimes

The most influential text and source of many of the moral ideas of the world come from the Bible. The Bible outlines many of the crimes that are thought to be fundamentally wrong today. Also, the Bible provided ideologies and guidelines for the punishment of those who committed crimes, especially murder. The history of capital punishment can also be traced to this ancient text. Q5 The Bible says ?Man was made like God, so whoever murders a man will himself be killed by his fellow man.?(my bible) This explains a lot of the history of the death penalty. Q1 p9

Various religions also have varied responses to capital punishment. Even a particular denomination or religious group may not have a unified stand regarding capital punishment. Religious sentiments do play a significant part in the views of people regarding capital punishment. The Bible is replete with various passages that may seem to support or condemn capital punishment. The Old Testament, particularly, is based upon a morality of “teeth against teeth” and “life for life.” The books of laws of the Old Testament actually prescribe stoning to death the persons who commit serious crimes against God and against the community. A number of biblical scholars have considered the part of the Ten Commandments that say “You shall not kill” as a prohibition against individual cases of murder (The Ryrie Study Bible, Exodus 20:13). In the first place, the Christian faith believes that humans are created in the image of God. As such, a serious crime against another person is also a crime against God. In the Old Testament, premeditated murder was sufficient reason for the death penalty (Numbers 35:31, 33). Moreover, in Genesis 9:6, it can be read that “whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed”. St. Thomas Aquinas also published his thoughts regarding capital

Religion plays a big role in some people 's lives and can influence their opinion on capital punishment. In the U.S. the two largest religions are Christianity and Judaism, within both of those religions some people are for capital punishment and some are against capital punishment. Several christian groups in the late 1970s formalized their religious and moral reasons against the imposition of the death penalty. “Among them was, capital punishment: violated the command by Jesus to employ the ethic of love, perpetuated the evil of retaliation, ignored the guilt that the society may have had in the causation of the crime, and prevented the possibility of any kind of rehabilitation of the criminal” (Flamehorse).

Many people view the death penalty differently and they view capitol punishment as the ultimate warning because if they know they will be killed for their actions, then they are less likely to do so. The supporters of the death penalty also state that the procedures used to kill the prisoners are extremely effective and have the ability to turn off the brain before any pain is felt, therefore, making the death penalty inoffensive. Lastly, and possibly one of the biggest reasons why people still support executions, stems from the biblical verse “an eye for an eye”. This principle, in respect to the death penalty, means that a man who has injured another man must be punished to the same degree.

The sentence that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses.” Capital Punishment has been around longer than Christianity itself, and many believe that it is a vital part of the justice system. The great old civilizations were big on the death penalty. In the 18th century B.C. Babylonian king Hammurabi, made 25 crimes punishable by death.

An article from Pew Research noted the official positions on capital punishment by 16 major Religious Groups. Six major religions had no official standing publicized, three of the 16 were supportive of capital punishment and seven were against it. The seven who were against capital punishment emphasized the value and sanctity of life. (Pew Research.

Although our nation has gotten away from it in recent years, we were founded by those who had strong religious beliefs. On this note there are several passages in the bible that speak of letting the punishment fit the crime, hence making the victim whole again. Take, for example, Leviticus 24:19-23. This passage implicitly reads as follows: “19Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: 20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered. 21One who kills an animal shall make restitution for it; but one who kills a human being shall be put to death.” The principle here is making the victim whole. We must remember that when the circumstances warrant capital punishment the details of the crime are usually tremendously heinous. That being said sometimes capital punishment is the only fair and equitable punishment.

Some of the Christians who do support the capital punishment is often ground that the state acts not on its own authority but as the agent of God. Who does the legal power over life and death. (Guide, 2014)

Hello, James; overall, great post. First off, I agree with your point that in the Old Testament, God was a bit stricter as it relates to crimes and capital punishment. Then, in the New Testament, He taught on more about forgiveness of crimes. On the other hand, one of the origins of capital punishment is in the Book of Genesis. “The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). In this scripture, God has condemned Cain for killing his brother Abel. God did not order Cain to be put to death for his crime. However, from this point on, He expected for all of His children to know what is expected them. “It is common to hear the death penalty described as "barbaric" with reference

Biblical History demonstrated that death was the method utilized to punish that act of Murder. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. () In today’s society the death penalty is still used as a form of punishment. However, the use of the death penalty is a flawed system. Specifically, the events that lead to the use of the death sentence creates an environment where those who decided the fate of a persons are confined to a system in which they become disengaged

In the Biblical Principle of Government, capital punishment existed in the Old and New Testament; because of sin against man, God saw a need for justice (Fischer, 2016, slide 11). There is a difference between committing murder and punishment for taking the life of the innocence. God strongly supports the death penalty because God life is valuable to him. The only atonement for a human life is death. In fact, God sent he flood to wipe sin from the earth.

The Old Testament reveals that it supports imprisonment, rehabilitation and the death penalty just as the New Testament does. How and why? There are dozens of references to prisons, rehabilitation and the death penalty in the Bible from Joseph’s imprisonment from Old Testament to Paul’s death penalty trial in the New Testament.

2:17; see also Sir 25:24). This means that originally, God did not create death (Wis 1:13; 2:23-24) but death entered the world because human beings deserted God who is the origin and giver of life; consequently, death denotes the presence of sin and sin leads to death (see for example Prov 11:19; 7:27; 9:18; Wis 4:19; Is 5:14; etc.). This certainly explains why those who commit grave sins in the Old Testament receive death penalty (Lev 20:8-21; 24:14-23). On one hand, the death penalty appears as a severe punishment for the sinner and on the hand, the severity of death explains how grave committing such sins are. However, the concept of death related to sin was elaborated during the exilic period when Israel started reflecting on his relationship with

accounting for the life of his fellow man.  Whoever sheds the blood of man, by