Impact Of St. Augustine On Capital Punishment

I really enjoyed reading your discussion post. I agree that Augustine philosophy and theology still impact the church today. Christianity is a journal and it does take years to understand the scriptures and how they relate to our Christian walk with Christ. Christians are commanded to witness to people and impact their lives. Ferguson states, “The presbyter Simplicians took on Augustine as his personal project. Augustine read the commentary on Paul written by Marius Victorinus, who had been converted in 355 from Neoplatonism to Christianity.” We as Christians must minister to people and help them changed their lives so that they can have a relationship with Christ.

Therefore, capital punishment should be considered as murder. I believe if you order somebody to be killed you are trying to do God job so you are a murderer. No human should tell when the next man should be killed because nobody is perfect.

People that support the death penalty argued that death penalty is righteously justified when enforced in murder especially with disturbing elements such as for multiple murder, child murder, serial killing, torture murder, mass murder, terrorism, massacre or genocide. It is said that the death penalty for murder is and should be "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".

In today’s society, where human rights and human life are supposed to be valued, “responding to one killing with another killing” is not an effective way to deal with the situation (source F). The kind of mentality and consequences capital punishment promotes, provides only revenge, and not justice. This compensation is not beneficial to anyone, because it makes the victim as cruel as the criminal and originates from violence. The Christian Doctrine does not support the capital punishment, and “with other forms of punishment available, the USCCB argues, capital punishment is not an effective cure for society’s greatest ills and crimes” (source E). This type of punishment has no place in modern society, because we are not barbarians, and have less cruel ways of dealing with criminals.

Even during the Early church, when death was much more common, some Catholics fought against the death penalty; one such example the Athenagoras of Athens written in 133 A.D claims “we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly. . . . We, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put a man to death?.” However, many Catholic leaders have supported the death penalty, St. Thomas Aquinas himself stated “The death penalty was not merely permitted by God: for certain crimes it was required by God.” Nevertheless, over the years the Church has become more and more uncompromising in its beliefs against the Death Penalty. Starting with Pope John Paul II a Catholic Pope who served from the late 70’s to early 2000’s creating the Evangelium Vitae which asserts ¨that [the state] ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.¨ In this doctrine, Pope John Paul II clearly and definitively makes the Catholic Church’s negative response

What is the model society? Is it the Republic that Socrates creates in Plato’s Republic where everything is surrounded around justice? Saint Augustine believes that a model society is one where people convert to Christianity and let God within their soul as seen in Confessions. Sophocles view in Ajax is the more liked citizens receive preferential treatment by the gods and goddess. While all these society function, their can only be one model society. The model society will have citizens who act justly and let God inside themselves, as seen in Plato’s Republic and Saint Augustine’s Confessions.

“Everyone who commits a crime is not committing a compulsive act” (Wasserstrom 573) and therefore, we should not act impulsively towards them. The punishment should not be grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime charged, nor should it violate the convicted individual’s dignity.      Lastly, there is the aspect of my religion (Catholic) playing a factor in the capital punishment debate. Many people point to the passage in Leviticus, which states that an eye for an eye is God's decree (Costanzo 592).

Will a model society ever exist? Socrates describes the Republic in Plato’s Republic where he designs a flawless city where the cities principles are surrounded around the idea of justice, while on the other hand, Saint Augustine believes that a model society is one where individuals convert to Christianity and let God into their soul, as seen in the book Confessions. Sophocles, the author of the Greek tragedy, Ajax, shows that the citizens who are favored and liked by the gods and goddesses receive preferential treatment. Many societies function, but only one model society can prevail. The true model society consists of citizens who act justly and let God be within themselves, as seen in Plato’s Republic and Saint Augustine’s Confessions.

The Pope also said that the death penalty should be gone. He said that all lives are sacred and that killing people is “inhumane” and “unacceptable”. I also read a book called “The Most Dangerous Game” it talks about how some lives are more valuable than others. In the story the main character's name is Rainsford he thinks that all lives are equal and that no man should

Capital punishment is against the best judgement of modern criminology, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.” – Martin Luther King. Hello and welcome Audience, today we will be discussing the topic of values and morality and will be investigating the social justice issue of capital punishment. Capital punishment is not a deterrent for serious crime, because it goes against the value and sanctity of life which ultimately does not allow the key teachings of forgiveness to be followed, therefore going against the catholic social teachings. Today we will be exploring why capital punishment is not a deterrent, how capital punishment is about taking a life which goes against a Christian teaching of forgiveness, and the divergent views. By doing so we will draw conclusions and support why capital punishment is not a deterrent.

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).

In the 21st century, Christians are faced with countless choices every day. The death penalty, a modern moral issue, is a choice that determines life or death. With reference to the New Testament and Catholic bishops and popes, the Christian perspective on Capital punishment is investigated.

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

Capital Punishment or commonly called as Death Penalty is used in several countries today and in comes from ancient times which was used to penalize many grave offenses. On religious sentiments one considers then Bible advocates for death punishment to those who do unjust with other individuals. However death penalty has caught eye of many human activists and government organizations and has called for a long time debate whether death penalty is ethical or not and has made it one of the most debated issues. More than sixty percent countries in the world have provision of death punishment. However, question of killing someone probably innocent still arises also life and death are in hands of god

The definition of a Murder is the killing of an innocent victim and for those who are given the death penalty for murder are neither innocent nor victims. There’s nothing moral about how a criminal murders an innocent victim. These kinds of individuals should be removed from society permanently. The death penalty is the only good enough punishment for taking a human life unlawfully and is the only moral action (Van den Haag 1983). Our laws based ultimately on ancient Jewish laws which is the basis of all western morality and is in which the death penalty was practiced. The death penalty doesn’t contradict Christian scripture. There is no misunderstanding of the words an eye for an eye, it’s clearly outlined in the Old Testament; the meaning an eye for an eye is that only the guilty are to be punished. And the New Testament declares that the role is delegated to magistrates by God Himself. In the book of Peter; “whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right” (Budziszewski 2004). The book of Romans; “for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute His wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s