a question to christians relating to the death penalty

Post Reply New Topic

now: is this him condemning the death penalty and so it should be a part of christian core beliefs that the death penalty is wrong or was this story intended to be used in some other way? was it just the death penalty for adulterers that he x-ed or was it capitol punishment in general?

... is this him condemning the death penalty and so it should be a part of christian core beliefs that the death penalty is wrong or was this story intended to be used in some other way? was it just the death penalty for adulterers that he x-ed or was it capitol punishment in general?

On the other hand, the man Jesus willingly accepted the death penalty imposed by Roman law without protest. Thus it could be reasoned that a "lawful" execution by a government is justifiable, while a "mob" execution by mere citizens is not.

Well, I'm no Christian but I was raised in the church. From what I understand of what I was taught in my youth, Christians hold the belief that no man has the right to decide that another is not deserving of life...that's God's job.

well, I guess it depends on which denomination, conservative christians seem to believe in the "eye for an eye" thing, so they may support the death penalty.

but it was a mob of people that demanded that he die.

The trial, conviction, and sentence were administered by the ROMAN government. That the mob cried for His blood, and that they were the same mob that cried 'Hossanna' a week earlier, is a moot point. According the the Bible, Jesus' execution was ordained where that which is ordained must be. It is irrelevant who testified against Him, it was the ROMAN governor, Pontius Pilate, that ordered His execution, and it was ROMAN soldiers that carried it out.

The man Jesus died under the authority of law that was in the hands of the ROMAN Empire, not the local mobs, and not the Jewish Sanhedrin. Jesus was executed by the ruling government.

many say that unless jesus x-ed it out of the old testament then it should still be considered on the books....but i have one question with that:

jesus prevented the stoning of a woman with the whole let he who is without sin cast the first stone.


now: is this him condemning the death penalty and so it should be a part of christian core beliefs that the death penalty is wrong or was this story intended to be used in some other way? was it just the death penalty for adulterers that he x-ed or was it capitol punishment in general?

well, I guess it depends on which denomination, conservative christians seem to believe in the "eye for an eye" thing, so they may support the death penalty.

Man does not have the authority to condemn his fellow man to death for any sin. Judge not, lest ye also be judged. But the story, I think, is more importantly about not judging others or condemning sinners, because we are all sinners and should at least try not to be hypocrites on top of the rest of it.

Capital punishment is a social ordinance from Genesis 9 onwards. If you believe in "separation of Church from state", then why bother to ask Christians since we "shouldn't" have an opinion?

But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured--perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again--not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me--but what kind of America I believe in.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish--where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source--where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials--and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

Capital punishment is a social ordinance from Genesis 9 onwards. If you believe in "separation of Church from state", then why bother to ask Christians since we "shouldn't" have an opinion?