I was raised a Christian pacifist and went to a Mennonite seminary; however, I have changed my thinking about both war and capital punishment. While I, obviously, realize that there are many thoughtful Christians who oppose the death penalty, I have come to see why it should be instituted in society.
Historically
Catholic scholar Steven A. Long says in "Evangelium Vitae, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Death Penalty" (The Thomist, 1999, pp. 511-52), "It is nearly the unanimous opinion of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church that the death penalty is morally licit.”
St. Augustine taught in City of God: "The same divine law which forbids the killing of a human being allows certain exceptions.... Since the agent of authority is but a sword in the hand, and is not responsible for the killing, it is in no way contrary to the commandment, 'Thou shall not kill,' … for the representatives of the State's authority to put criminals to death, according to law or the rule of rational justice."
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in regard to convicted murderers: “[B]oth divine and human laws command such like sinners be put to death. Nevertheless, the judge puts this into effect, not out of hatred for the sinners, but out of the love of charity, by reason of which he prefers the public good to the life of the individual.”
Scripturally
The seminal text for capital punishment is found in Romans 13 where the St. Paul admonishes Christians to be submissive to governing authorities. The key verse is 13:4 “For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
Additionally, the reasoning behind the sacrificial and innocent death of Christ upon the cross looses its meaning if capital punishment is wrong per se. Remember the words of one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus: (Luke 23:40-41) “But the other criminal rebuked him.”Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." The key is that the criminals were punished justly but Jesus was unjustly punished for our sins. If capital punishment was wrong per se, then the concept of Jesus serving as our atoning sacrifice makes no sense—(2 Cor. 5:21) “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Personally
Unfortunately, I had to officiate for the funeral of a beautiful young college coed who was brutally tortured, raped and killed. She, along with another young coed, were slaughtered and then buried in the killer’s backyard. The book “Dead and Buried” by Corey Mitchell is about this horrendous crime. The killer had been released after only serving 10 years of a 25 year sentence for brutally raping two other women. Shortly after his parole, he killed these two wonderful and promising young women. The point that I want to make is that up until then the family of the young woman was fairly blasé about capital punishment. They were not particularly conservative. The murder changed all of that. Suddenly, everyone who knew the young woman, even if they could not form a cogent argument, intuitively believed that justice could only be served through capital punishment. The family has worked tirelessly to assure that the convicted killer will one day be executed. It will, of course, take many more years before the killer will ever have to face his death sentence. The point is--the issue of capital punishment becomes crystal clear when it is YOUR daughter that has been savagely tortured and killed.
Final Thoughts
Though my mind has changed about capital punishment, I still have great respect for those who thoughtfully disagree with me on the issue. It is not an “easy” issue nor is it a pleasant one to consider in REAL life.
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