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essays on what religion says about the death penalty
religion and the death penalty essay
DEATH PENALTY IN THE BIBLE
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Major world religions have assorted stands on the ethics and morality of the death penalty. These perspectives are mainly based on the religious teachings from religious books, such as the Quran and the bible, which has various incidences of offenders being publicly executed. As indicated in the Hebrew bible, which is the source for the Old Testament, there are various crimes that should receive the death penalty as retribution. These Jewish laws were considered to be divine as they formed a core part of the covenant between Yahweh (their creator) and the children of Israel. The Christians did not revise the bible when they adopted the Hebrew bible as their tenet. Neither Christians as the body nor Christ as the messiah redacted or revised the laws since they edited the Jewish divine law texts.
In the Old Testament, the crimes that merited capital punishment were mostly the criminal activities against God, and to a lesser extent, the sexual transgressions. Important to note is that the Old Testament does not refer to child abuse or rape as sexual transgressions. They viewed masturbation and adultery as the worst form of capital crimes owing to the reason that it challenged the moral issues. In fact, Christians believe that disobeying God’s command was a form of a special capital crime. An example is the punishment that God gave to Lot’s wife when she looked back when escaping from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God turned her into a pillar of salt. As well, Onan was also slain for his wickedness. When Er, his elder brother died, Onan was required to perform his brother’s duty by siring children. Rather than impregnating her, he spilled his semen on the ground because he knew that any child born of his brother’s wife wou...
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...nquest, exile, and return. Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Mandery, E. J., & Mandery, E. J. (2011). Capital punishment in America: A balanced examination. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Polhill, J. B. (1999). Paul and his letters. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman.
Recinella, D. S. (2004). The biblical truth about America's death penalty. Boston, MA:
Northeastern Univ. Press.
Rendell, R. (2000). The epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans: Authorized King James version. New York, NY: Grove Press.
Rogerson, J. W., & Carroll, R. M. D. (2004). Theory and practice in Old Testament ethics. London: T & T Clark International.
Simon, R. J., & Blaskovich, D. A. (2007). A comparative analysis of capital punishment: Statutes, policies, frequencies, and public attitudes the world over. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
The ritual of the sotah from the book of Numbers is a fascinating passage to read in the Hebrew Bible. For one thing, this ritual deals with the idea of a man being able to bring his wife to trial, even if he has no evidence against her. While such an instance might be seen as negative treatment of women, others might explain it as the Israelites’ constant concern over the idea of impurity. Another interesting aspect of the sotah rite is that it is the only example of an ordeal similar to those practiced in other cultures of the Ancient Near East. While other ordeals are told mostly in story form, Num. 5:11-31 is the only instance in which the actual process of an ordeal is laid out point by point. Finally, the ritual merits attention due to its continued practice even after the Temple was destroyed, as is depicted in the Talmud. These reasons and more are evidence as to why this small 20 verse passage has been subject to such scrutiny and study over the course of the years.
The use of doubles is prevalent in the writing of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He uses this device to force comparison and discernment between characters and modes of behavior. In Crime and Punishment, the character Svidrigaylov serves as a dark double to Raskolnikov. While both are tainted by the sin of their crimes, the latter finds redemption, while the former find only despair and suicide. This pair of criminals closely parallels another famous set of doubles: the apostles Peter and Judas. Although each member of these two pairs commits the same crime as his double, only one finds redemption. Dostoyevsky's text and the gospel accounts indicate that humility and self-effacement are the key elements of salvation.
Dosteovsky's novel Crime and Punishment depicts the Biblical account of Jesus' path to crucifixion burdened with a wooden cross through the character of Raskolnikov. After committing a cold-blooded murder he experiences mental anguish, and in a defeated state, confesses, and accepts the consequences of his crime.
Grayston, Kenneth. The Letters of Paul to the Philippians and to the Thessalonians. CBC. London: Cambridge U.P., 1967.
In the New Testament the right of the State to put criminals to death seems to be taken for granted. Jesus himself refrains from using violence. He rebukes his disciples for wishing to call down fire from heaven to punish the Samaritans for their lack of hospitality (Luke 9:55). Later he admonishes Peter to put his sword in the scabbard rather than resist arrest (Matthew 26:52). At no point, however, does Jesus deny that the State has authority to exact capital punishment. In his debates with the Pharisees, Jesus cites with approval the apparently harsh commandment, "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die" (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10, referring to Exodus 2l:17; cf. Leviticus 20:9). When Pilate calls attention to his authority to crucify him, Jesus points out that Pilate's power comes to him from above-that is to say, from God (John 19:11).
The death penalty transformed a lot throughout the years; laws of the death penalty go as far back as the Eighteenth-Century B.C, it was in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon. The death penalty was first codified for 25 different crimes, including treason, terrorism, espionage, federal murder, large-scale drug trafficking or attempting to kill a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases. Eventually in the Seventh Century B. C’s Draconian Code of Athens made the death the only punishment for all crimes (Part 1: History…). So, in every crime someone committed no matter how minor it is, the death penalty would have been involved. The first ways of executing people in the death penalty were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning
The matter of the death penalty is one which we, as Christians, should address at this time since victims continue to be killed by the state. We should give the religious teaching concerning it, in order to assist those who are making efforts to clarify their thoughts about this very complex and difficult question. Such is the subject of this paper.
Travelling around the world, this paper presents the various religious perspectives evidenced in recent actions taken regarding the death penalty.
Catholics and Capital Punishment & nbsp; Catholic opponents of the death penalty sometimes seem to lose sight of the primary purpose of punishment. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. " If I commit a serious offense against society, I bring about a disorder, and the point of punishment is to reestablish the lost order. If I willingly accept my punishment, "it assumes the value of expiation." And it can protect you from future crimes I might commit.
harming of others. One example of love is found in John 15:17 “This is my
Murray, John. "Chapter Six." Espistle of Paul to the Romans. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960. 190-94. Print.
Lewis, C.S. Colossians, Paul’s Epistle to the, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. Orr, James, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids 1952
Jesus and Paul are two crucial characters in the New Testament. They both depict the Gospel on which Christianity is based upon, but there is debate about rather these two versions of the Gospel are complementary. Scholars like George Shaw claim that Paul is “anti-Christian,” and he “produced a fantastic theology” (Shaw 415-416). On the other hand, I believe that even though Jesus and Paul may present the Gospel different at times, they are still advocating the same religion. Through the understanding of the Gospels and Paul’s letters it is clear that Jesus and Paul have the same underlining goals and values.
"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put
Thus, there is a renowned episode with the female sinner (John 8:3 - 8:11) who was supposed to be stoned to death and saved by Christ saying “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. Jesus was not in fact censuring the right to kill the woman, according to the ancient law. Besides, there is evidence suggesting that this passage was not present in the original version of the Scripture and was later added by an unknown person (Religious Tolerance). Besides, the passage from Matthew 5:21-22 is supposed to condemn killing: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." These words implicate a person who kills out of anger, but is hardly applicable to cases where a person is murdered through a verdict of qualified