As others have pointed out, the Bible has examples of both severity \u2014
\nsomeone commits a capital crime, and is then executed \u2014 and clemency \u2014
\nsomeone commits a capital crime, and is not executed. The question isn\u2019t, is God very much for the death penalty, but when is God for it, and when does He favor clemency?<\/p>\n
To get at that answer, I think you have to understand the purpose of the death penalty in natural (or, for that matter, supernatural) justice as illuminated by faith. What good end is achieved by following the Mosaic Law with severity? What benefit obtains when Pilate uses Caesar\u2019s sword with justice?<\/p>\n
Once that\u2019s figured out, the Christian must ask what new perspectives the light of the Gospel shines on the matter. Does Jesus show us a more perfect way of obtaining the benefits of the death penalty? Do His life, death, and resurrection affect the circumstances under which clemency is the surer virtue?<\/p>\n
Only then, it seems to me, can you get to the specifics of the death penalty under US law, in the concrete circumstances in which it is imposed. The judgment here simply cannot be, \u201c188 Bible verses for, 18 against, motion carries.\u201d That\u2019s not Christian faith, that\u2019s Biblemetrics.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tom Kreitzberg writes about the strangely Protestant sola scriptura approach even many Catholics take to trying to \u201cprove\u201d the Magisterium wrong about the death penalty: As others have pointed out, the Bible has examples of both severity \u2014 someone commits a capital crime, and is then executed \u2014 and clemency \u2014 someone commits a capital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[278],"class_list":["post-91933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abolish-the-death-penalty"],"yoast_head":"\n
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