Christianaty
In favorSouthern Baptist Convention, in a June 13-14, 2000 meeting in Orlando, Florida, approved a resolution that stated:
"Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention...support the fair and equitable use of capital punishment by civil magistrates as a legitimate form of punishment for those guilty of murder or treasonous acts that result in death." June 13-14, 2000 - Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)Carl F. H. Henry, ThD, PhD, Carl F. H. Henry, ThD, PhD, an American evangelical Christian theologian and the first editor-in-chief of the magazine Christianity Today, in his 1988 book Twilight of a Great Civilization, wrote:
"The rejection of capital punishment is not to be dignified as a 'higher Christian way' that enthrones the ethics of Jesus. The argument that Jesus as the incarnation of divine love cancels the appropriateness of capital punishment in the New Testament era has little to commend it. Nowhere does the Bible repudiate capital punishment for premeditated murder; not only is the death penalty for deliberate killing of a fellow human being permitted, but it is approved and encouraged, and for any government that attaches at least as much value to the life of an innocent victim as to a deliberate murderer, it is ethically imperative." 1988 - Carl F. H. Henry, ThD, PhD The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), a coordinating agency of evangelical denominations in the US, in a 1973 statement on capital punishment, stated:
"If no crime is considered serious enough to warrant capital punishment, then the gravity of the most atrocious crime is diminished accordingly... We strongly reaffirm our resolution of 1972 concerning capital punishment, and we call upon congress and state legislatures to enact legislation which will direct the death penalty for such horrendous crimes as premeditated murder, the killing of a police officer or guard, murder in connection with any other crime, hijacking, skyjacking, or kidnapping where persons are physically harmed in the process. We urge that legislation which re-establishes the death penalty also include safeguards to eliminate any inequities." 1973 - National Association of Evangelicals |
AgainstThe Catholic Church, in the June 21, 2001 "Declaration of the Holy See to the First World Congress on the Death Penalty," wrote:
"The Holy See has consistently sought the abolition of the death penalty... Where the death penalty is a sign of desperation, civil society is invited to assert its belief in a justice that salvages hope from the ruin of the evils which stalk our world. The universal abolition of the death penalty would be a courageous reaffirmation of the belief that humankind can be successful in dealing with criminality and of our refusal to succumb to despair before such forces, and as such it would regenerate new hope in our very humanity." June 21, 2001 - Catholic Church The Presbyterian Church (USA), in a statement on its website titled "A General Guide to the Facts about the PCUSA" (accessed July 28, 2008), stated:
"Presbyterian General Assemblies have been concerned not only for the issue of capital punishment, but also for those imprisoned... In 1959, the 171st General Assembly, 'believing that capital punishment cannot be condoned by an interpretation of the Bible based upon the revelation of God's love in Jesus Christ,' called on Christians to 'seek the redemption of evil doers and not their death,' and noted that 'the use of the death penalty tends to brutalize the society that condones it...' The most recent statement was made in 1985 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), reaffirming these positions and declaring 'its continuing opposition to capital punishment.'" July 28, 2008 - Presbyterian Church (USA) The United Methodist Church, in its "Opposition to Capital Punishment," a resolution adopted in 2000, stated:
"The United Methodist Church declares its opposition to the retention and use of capital punishment and urges its abolition. In spite of a common assumption to the contrary, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' does not give justification for the imposing of the penalty of death... Studies conducted over more than sixty years have overwhelmingly failed to support the thesis that capital punishment deters homicide more effectively than does imprisonment... The death penalty falls unfairly and unequally upon marginalized persons including the poor, the uneducated, ethnic and religious minorities, and persons with mental and emotional illnesses." 2000 - United Methodist Church |
What the bible says
In the old testament God says that the law is an eye for an eye. In other words if someone kills another person then the criminal has to be put to death. In the old testament God supports the idea of the death sentence but to only the criminal that has murdered is put to death. In the new testament God now talks about forgiveness and that the wages of sin is death. Also God says to forgive your offender, and to not take revenge because revenge is His.
Old Testament
Genesis 9:6 ESV
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Exodus 21:12 ESV
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:23-25 ESV
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Exodus 21:12 ESV
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:23-25 ESV
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe
New Testament
Romans 6:23 ESV
For the wages of sin is death...
Romans 12:19 ESV
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Matthew 5:38-39 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
James 4:12 ESV
There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
For the wages of sin is death...
Romans 12:19 ESV
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Matthew 5:38-39 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
James 4:12 ESV
There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?