The cases of Duane Buck in Texas and Troy Davis in Georgia have re-sparked interest and discussion of whether capital executions are just, humane and a genuine deterrent. There is State and Federal law, and there is Bible, and many Christians prop up State laws of capital punishment by appealing to the Bible. So what does the Bible say?
Here again we are facing the redemptive movement approach to how to read the Bible. In Friedman and Dolansky’s new book, The Bible Now, we get a listing of acts that were capital offenses, and it might surprise some of us so I want to provide a complete listing:
Murder (Exod 21:12-14), ownership of an animal that kills a human (21:28-32), kidnapping to sell as a slave (21:16), striking one’s parents (21:15), cursing one’s parents (21:17), rebellious children (Deut 21:18-21), rape of an engaged virgin (22::25), adultery (22:22), sex with one’s father’s wife (Lev 20:11), sex with one’s son’s wife (20:12), male homosexuality (20:13), sex with mother or daughter (20:14), sex with an animal (20:15-16), sexual misbehavior by a priest’s daughter (21:9) … and add to these the following more religious capital crimes:
sacrificing one’s children (Lev 20:2), working on sabbath (Exod 31:15), desecrating sabbath (31:14), non-Levite entering tabernacle (Num 1:51), profaning divine name (Lev 24:16), taking herem (Deut 7:26; 13:18), sorcery (witch; Exod 22:17), consulting a medium (Lev 20:27), pagan worship or inciting others to (Deut 17:2-5; 13:7-11), sacrificing to other gods (Exod 22:19), prophet who says to follow other gods (Deut 13:2-6), and false prophecy (Deut 18:20).
The Bible distinguishes murder from manslaughter, and between them a death caused by negligence, like an ox goring someone (the second time leads to execution). Then the Bible sacralizes time (sabbath laws leading to death) and space (holy place leading to death), and these are about crossing boundaries.
When it comes to capital punishment we have clearly moved beyond the Bible in most cultures. In the USA, which is one of the few democratic countries that still has capital punishment, we have clearly moved beyond the Bible and it seems most Christians go only as far as the government but not much further, while many Christians today oppose all capital punishment (I do). So, we ask, How does the Bible guide us? What principles are at work as we apply this today? Is the goal of punishment retribution or restoration? Have times changed so that life imprisonment is an adequate punishment?
Some texts are very difficult to discern. For instance, Genesis 9:5 ["And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being."] This is for Gentiles as part of the Noahic covenant, and not for Israel (as the above quotations were), and it is not clear if punishment is done by God or by humans (9:6: “by a human his blood will be shed”) or in the normal course of events.
Friedman and Dolansky suggest that the reason there are so many crimes that led to capital execution is because the notion of prisons had not yet developed. (The “city of refuge” idea is not a prison but a protective place.) They had places of confinement, or in holding while waiting judgment, but no such thing as a prison. And may refer to places where kings held other kings who had been captured.
Other than capital sentence, options included beating (40 times) and mutilation (Deut 25:11-12) [they aren't convinced "eye for an eye" was a mutilation law], slavery, banishment, vicarious punishment, stocks, leaving it in the hands of God.
For Friedman and Dolansky, everything changes with the development of prisons.
They think the strongest argument for capital punishment is justice. But they wonder if we need to develop as civilizations until we reach enough wisdom … maybe capital punishment belongs at the beginning and the end of civilization, they ponder. They contend we need to act with humility.
One of our guiding principles needs to be to understand the actual process that leads to a death penalty. John Grisham’s recent novel, The Confession, was an eye-opener for Jean and me. Grisham, a Christian, unfolds how the process can go terribly awry and override the checks that are supposedly built in. An education.
Thanks for raising the question, Scot.
Not to dismiss the Old Testament, but I find it ironic that many Christians appeal to the Old Testament to support many of their outdated socio-political beliefs. It is my understanding that Christ came to fulfill the laws and ordinances of the Old Testament and established a new covenant of grace and mercy. Because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross all things have been reconciled to God. And, all people (including hardened criminals) deserve a second-chance at life… redemption. This does not negate the fact that there are still consequences for our behavior, but retribution by man in the case of capital punishment does not leave much room for redemption. For even Jesus offered grace (paradise) to the hardened criminals being executed right next to Him while on the cross. Should we abolish the death penalty? Why not. Obviously, it is not a deterrent when we look at the statistics of violent crime in America. However, if we abolish the death penalty then we should also reform policies guiding life imprisonment, namely adhering to the strict sentencing handed down at the time of judgment with no allowance for early release or parole. And, by the way, I concur with Mark’s positive review of Grisham’s “The Confession”. This too was an eye-opener for me and gave me a brief glimpse into the injustices of capital punishment. I recommend every Christian read this book and prayerfully consider the Christian response to capital punishment.
Capital punishment is not a Christian issue, but a societal one. Societies have a right to take reasonable measures to protect their citizens. And societies do not depend on any Biblical premise to do so. Some pacifists deny that society should ever leverage any form of lethal force. This would include scenarios where police shooting dangerous individuals in the act of protect innocents are claimed to be in the wrong.
So does society have a right to implement the death penalty? I would say they do. But only if it does in fact protect their citizens. Otherwise it’s just needlessly cruel, and prevents those few innocent who are executed a chance to have their lives restored to them. I don’t know where I stand on this second issue. But as far as society having the right to execute for the sake of protecting their populous (and this includes murders, rape, etc. of your spouse, your child, or any other loved one), then yes, I would affirm that right.
So how does a redemptive reading interpret the NT texts that are suggestive of capital punishment (Rms. 13:4)?
Ryan,
Friedman and Dolansky aren’t going to consider a NT text as part of Scripture, but Rom 13 has to be put into the mix for the Christian — and put in its place and its time — without trumping Matt 5 or 1 Peter 2. But to deal with all that is beyond the scope of this post.
Romans 13 was the reality at the time in the Roman Empire, but that doesn’t imply it’s the ongoing normative for the kingdom of God.
And yes, Grisham’s “The Confession” was eye-opening and convicting.
I changed my mind on this after I witnessed a pair of executions as a newspaper reporter in Texas. The first one wasn’t as disturbing; the guy admitted he did it and apologized to the victim’s family before being injected. The second guy, on the other hand, proclaimed his innocence until his death, and he was convicted as the alleged plotter of the crime; prosecutors admitted he was not at the scene. That was far more troubling to me.
I used to support capital punishment on the basis of the Noahic covenant. I haven’t gone back to see whether that still makes sense theologically, but that’s because it is clear we are not perfect in our administration of it. Innocent people die, and as long as that is possible, I can’t support it.
I’m with FiveDills in #2. As long as there is a chance that someone could be reconciled to God in this life, we should not do anything to short-circuit that possibility. There are many examples of people coming to faith in prison, including high profile murderers. Although they may never get the chance to “prove” that they have repented, they can still be salt and light in prison. David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”), for example, has a very active ministry in prison.
Scot, Thanks for standing up and speaking out on this important issue. I’m personally intrigued by the redemptive movement hermeneutic so tying the death penalty to it here excites me. Thanks for being a voice for biblical consistency and shalom.
I’d be especially interested to hear from someone who advocates doing away with capital punishment by force of law, but remains steadfast to the argument on abortion that instead of outlawing it, we just need to “work for social justice to reduce the causes (poverty, etc)”. Now that would be an interesting argument to see formulated.
Chris Wright(OT Ethics for the People of God) points out that the OT never records an execution of anyone for offenses such as adultery, rape, or a rebellion.
This suggests the OT gives the maximum penalty for a particular crime. It was available in such cases, but it was not mandatory.
Take King David for example. He committed murder and adultery. Yet he was not executed for his crimes.
I say this not because I’m against the death penalty, but because I’m against the suggestion that the OT Law was barbaric and the reflection of a primitive culture.
To be fair, Daniel, I’m not sure many people find the fact that death was merely “allowable” for many of those crimes particularly comforting or reason to view it as less barbaric. It’s like saying genocide is ok. Sure, that’s not as bad as actually committing it, but you’re still not going to be popular at parties.
Personally, I think death penalty is permissible via scripture, but maybe not the wisest choice. Too much room for error, no evidence that it acts as any sort of deterent, and as Joe points out in #8, ends all chance of redemption/reconciliation.
Daniel #11: David Klinghoffer in his book How Would God Vote? (a book I wouldn’t normally recommend, but for its interesting take on Jewish law and rabbinic interpretation of the Law) also notes that very few people were ever executed under Jewish law. He says this is because the bar was set very high. To have someone executed, there needed to be (1) two eye-witnesses, (2) evidence that the person had been warned of the consequences immediately before the crime, and (3) evidence that the criminal gave verbal affirmation that he or she understood the warning and willingly risks punishment. (p. 13)
I am against the death penalty, but would settle for such a high bar if that was the best we could do.
I think the idea that capital punishment was so widespread due to the lack of prisons is partly correct. At the beginning of the 19th Century, English law laid down the death penalty for over 200 offences, including petty things like repeat shoplifting. They had an alternative though; transportation, which was effectively slavery in the colonies. About 5000 people a year were sentenced to hang. Their friends and relations got up petitions for the sentences to be commuted, and if someone like the squire, the vicar, or a magistrate signed, the petition was normally accepted. If no such person signed, they were likely to hang. Since the poor couldn’t afford lawyers, they didn’t get fair trials, and it was a means of social control as much as anything. Use of the death penalty diminished during the 19th Century as people became more affluent, the underclass faded away, and political reforms led to a better situation. At the same time the prison system was reformed into something acceptable to the Victorians. Our problem now is that we have to do it all over again.
The absence of prisons in Israel is also noteworthy. The goal of OT Law is restoration and restitution. If you steal from your neighbor, you make restitution to your neighbor and then you are restored to the community.
However, some crimes were evidently beyond restoration.
Wright argues that the case of the immodest lady wrestler (Deut 25:11-12) might be misunderstood. There are some indications that this law did not actually involve mutation.
It is a bit shocking how cavalier the death penalty is thrown around in the Old Testament. Sometimes it seems best just to admit that we don’t share the same values as the as some of the Biblical writers. Do people really think that all of these laws were just at one point in time (even if we accept now that we live at a different point in time and in consideration of the redemptive movement)?
Abortion and capital punishment are different things. Any attempt trying to equivocate is just plain dishonest.
#8: Tell that to the victims. Oh, that’s right! They’re dead. Oh, maybe try telling that to many families of victims. Se how far you get.
Abortion and capital punishment are different things. Any attempt trying to equivocate is just plain dishonest.
#8: Tell that to the victims. Oh, that’s right! They’re dead. Oh, maybe try telling that to many families of victims. See how far you get.
Wyatt #17: I don’t see how capital punishment is going to help bring the victims back to life. And I don’t see any reason to believe that it will speed the reconciliation process (if any) in the afterlife.
As for the families of the victims, perhaps we should come up with ways to provide them paths to emotional healing that don’t depend on killing the perpetrator.
They had prisons in the Roman empire and Romans chapter 13 says what it says.
Besides, if someone murders and they get to live and almost always have an opportunity for parole and always have a chance at escape, that simply is not justice.
There’s a ton of conduct in the NT for us to avoid and some of it countered what the Romans did and got some of our forefathers murdered.
Not a single word opposing this, yet our faith is based on the most unjust murder in history in an extra legal execution and one of Christ’s people was on a cross next to Him and that thief stated himself his execution was just.
Odd no one in the rest of the NT taught us otherwise. It’s not a small subject after all.
#3 Tim seems to have a balanced and sane look at the issue.
I don’t think we need a “redemptive hermeneutic”. The New Covenant guides us as to which parts of the Old Covenant are no longer binding. I object to the statement that we have “moved beyond the Bible” because we no longer execute people for adultery. Rather, we are simply understanding that the Old Covenant has been superseded and we are looking for what continues to be binding in the New.
The ceremonial law, related to sacrifice for sin, is fulfilled in Christ. Dietary laws are no longer binding based on Peter’s vision and the Holy Spirit coming to Gentiles. The Jewish Theocracy is not for Gentiles and the kingdom of Israel is no more, so Jewish civil laws no longer apply.
But Paul, Jesus, Peter and others affirmed broad moral principles – don’t commit murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, etc. Included in that is the statement that the state bears the sword to punish evildoers. Human societies in a fallen world require order and God allows governments to exist and exercise power to restrain evil. In that context, the “sword” has to mean something, I doubt if the sword is intended to be used for preparing vegetables for dinner.
Capital punishment is endorsed prior to the Mosaic Law in Genesis 9:6 as a response to murder and again in the New Testament in Romans 13. It is not merely a part of the Old Covenant that has been superseded.
Well Joe, I never said capital punishment brings anybody back, nor did I imply it. But you’re right.
When a perp is found guilty, the victims have little recourse being that some of them are dead and revenge for the survivors is not really an option. You just have face the fact that some survivors actually get closure with an execution.
Read this article if you care to. http://www.policeone.com/corrections/articles/4377763-Slain-cops-mother-Execution-will-bring-peace/
Don’t give us any nonsense about how this family really feels. The mother is fully aware the execution will not bring her child back. How much sympathy can you muster for her? How much sympathy can you muster for a cop who no longer has any option to cry out to God in this world? I bet you anything the killer wants his own life spared but what a contradiction. Right? He murders but doesn’t want to forfeit his own life. I say send him to God and let God work it out. It’s obviously too much for us.
If the state forced women to have abortions, or if I as an individual were able to shoot down someone who did a particular crime to me, then the death penalty and abortion start to become similar.
It’s a libertarian thing.
I’m not sure that the dead kids really care about libertarian distinctions.
DanS, I think the problem is that there are not such neat distinctions as “ceremonial law” and the rest of the OT law. For example, even on a very wooden distinction between “ceremonial” and the rest, why would striking one’s parents become less than a capital crime because we are allowed to eat pork now?
DLS- Am I to assume you are either against both or for both yourself, so as to avoid falling into hypocrisy you seem to be pointing out in others? BTW, the people I do know of that are against death penalty but are pro-abortion are consistent because they do not view the fetus as a full human person. They may be wrong about that, but that does not necessarily make them inconsistent.
Tom. No, that’s not the hypocrisy I’m referring to. Actually, it’s not hypocrisy at all (it’s the wrong term), but that’s a separate discussion. The ‘hypocrisy’ isn’t being pro one and anti the other. The ‘hypocrisy’ is arguing that banning one by force of law is appropriate, but doing do with the other isn’t (the common refrain (read: rationalization and moral cover) of the modern ‘social justice’ movement is to say something like “oh, I’m pro-life, I just don’t think we should outlaw it. We should work to reduce those factors that cause people to want abortions (poverty, etc.)”.