The Bible and Capital Punishment

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The Bible and Capital Punishment

What Does Christianity Tell Us To Do In Case Of Extreme Crime?

Capital Punishment, commonly known as the death penalty, is one of the most controversial problems of our society today. There are many stands you can take with it: yes; no; maybe; only in this situation; only if this doesn’t happen. Even the Bible is undecided about what to do with people who commit such horrendous crimes.

The Bible first mentions what to do in case of extreme crime in Genesis 4:11-15. In this passage, the Bible is talking about two brothers, Cain and Able, who have presented gifts to God. After God denied Cain’s gifts and instead accepted Able’s, Cain became outraged and killed his brother. The Bible tells us that:

‘Now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to

receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;… a fugitive and a vagabond

shalt be in the earth. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore, whoever

slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken in him sevenfold.’ (King James Version)

In this passage, ‘God cursed Cain for the murder and sent him to wander the earth. God put a mark on Cain’s body, so that nobody who saw him would be motivated to kill him. If anyone killed Cain for the murder of his brother, they would be severely punished’ (‘Conflicting Penalties’). This states that banishment and exile are the proper forms of punishment for murder.

But, contradicting itself the Bible then goes on in Genesis 9:6 to say, ‘Whoso shedeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.’ (KJV)

What this passage tells is that death is an okay punishment for murder, because murder is a personal offense to God. God created man, and to kill someone is to kill part of God (‘Conflicting Penalties’). The death penalty is not only mentioned in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament. In Romans 13:3-4, it is said that

‘For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil… If you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of

God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil’ (KJV).

This passage is saying that you must be careful what you do, and only practice the good things in life. There are many punishments for the evil things that a person does, a...

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... and mass murderers in our society. I very much believe in it, but I do not think that we should turn to the Bible to answer all of our questions about life, especially the death penalty. I was surprised, while conducting my research, to find that there actually were references to Capital Punishment in the Bible. This is a very interesting topic, very controversial. The Bible shows some good and bad points pertaining to Capital Punishments, but I think that it is a little confused. In some areas, the Bible tells us that it is not okay to execute someone who has murdered another human being. But then, a few books or even paragraphs later, it says that it is okay to execute someone for murdering someone else. When I first started this paper, I was undecided about how I felt about the death penalty. I realize now that I am in full support of it. I just feel that we need grounds other than religious ones (including the Bible) for supporting or opposing Capital Punishment. Separations of State and Religion, right? We wouldn’t bring the Bible into a dispute about the 2001 Presidential Election, so why bring it into one concerning the life of a human being?

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