Why do so many people who purport to be Christians support the death penalty?

Question

Are they just missing the whole grace/redemption theme that permeates the entire New Testament? How do they interpret the Sermon on the Mount? The "monsters" and "animals" that are put on death row- do people who profess to be Christians genuinely believe that Jesus wants us to cut them down? Doesn't it mean anything to these people that St. Paul, the single most prolific and influential writer of the Christian Bible, was a redeemed murderer himself? Would he ideally have been killed before his conversion? If the Christian God is savvy at all, doesn't it seem likely that he specifically chose such an "evil" character to become his most powerful and eloquent promoter for a good reason? Or would God have us finally dispense with the Pauline letters altogether, hunker down, and memorize the gospels of O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and Hannity?

Would Jesus consider anyone beneath the opportunity for redemption?

Please try to answer the questions posed. If Paul were living today, and the state had killed him for his actions before his conversion, would that have been a good thing? Is that the society that Jesus would design for us?

"And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women." Acts 22:4

He is referring to having hunted down people whose only crime was to have followed Jesus. They would be killed horrifically and often slowly with his full knowledge.

Answer 1

Christians in egypt (and other middle eastern countries) wonder why people who purport to be christians in the west allow murderers to live.... they attribute it to our being a young and inexperienced society that hasn't learned the hard lessons they've learned in the past. I have to agree with them on this one. Late one night in Cairo I was walking down a practically deserted street and came up on two women. They knew I was there but just continued laughing and talking, they felt so safe. What would the reaction have been in my much smaller US city? They would have gotten nervous and clutched their purses. There are obviously things we can learn from a society that's thousands of years older than ours.

UPDATE: What is your evidence that Paul killed anyone?

msxcheshirexcat: God himself told the Israelites to kill all the amelekites after the 10 commandments were written. Do you think he wanted them to sin? A careful study of the text will reveals it means do not commit murder, and apparently God differentiated between murdering someone you got mad at and going to war.

Answer 2

It is true that there are many Bible passages (especially in the OT) that support capital punishment, often for relatively mild offenses:

- Adultery (Leviticus 20:10)
- Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16)
- Breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14 & 15)
- Disobedient children (Exodus 21:15 & 17; Leviticus 20:9)
- Homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13)
- Not being a virgin on your wedding night (but only if you're a woman - Deuteronomy 22:13-22)

But, there are many passages (esp. in the New Testament) that are ANTI-death penalty. For example, Matthew 5:38-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. James 4:12 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. Leviticus 19:18 warns against vengeance (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

There are many, many practical problems with capital punishment (that I won't get into here), but purely from a moral standpoint, I can't imagine that Jesus would support it. True Christians shouldn't, either.

Answer 3

Though I'm not christian...
Exodus 21:12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. . .”

Leviticus 24: 17, Numbers 25:30-34, and Deuteronomy 19:4-6 and 10

I had to write a controversial paper about the death penalty.
I'll probably get comments about using bible verses even though I'm not a christian so I want to say that I used these because the question is aimed at christians. Christians can't just look at the "Thou shalt not kill" verse because there's more to it. So that's my point in using bible verses.

Answer 4

All creatures are made in the image of God. Therefore all life must be treated with dignity and respect. God alone holds the authority to kill or make alive. However, when He states "Thou Shalt Not Kill" He means that people should not murder or unlawfully kill.

There were conditions by which people were to be killed set forth in the old testament and were not recinded in the new testament. God set those conditions. In doing so, people who carry out capital punishment are doing as God has directed or commanded them.

God in essence is stating that His image is so sacred and precious that individuals who unlawfully kill must be exterminated to protect the dignity and sacredness of innocent life.

Would you end the life of an individual that has placed the life of your innocent loved one in the balance and leaves you no other choice other than to eliminate them or lose your loved one?

This is what makes war necessary. Can you reason with the Bin Ladins of the world? God stated that if a man takes a life that the man must pay with his own life. This concept is in the books of Moses.

Answer 5

As a chrstian I personally believe that those who get the death sentence would be best punished to get life without parole and half to remember what they did for the rest of their lives. God did call for death for certain crimes in the bible so I just leave it to God. The person does have the chance to get right with God either way.

Answer 6

The Bible explicitly calls for the death penalty for homosexuals in the Old and New Testaments. They are just doing what their barbaric monster of a God told them to do.

Answer 7

Well to answer your question, read your bible. The bible itself is full of murder, incest, hate , adultery, and human sacrifice. Even Christ was a human sacrifice. God kills, he flooded the earth and killed most of his creation and the one son he found favor in, he killed him too, Jesus. To be God-like means to be God-like and favor death.

Answer 8

"Thou shall not kill."
Sixth commandment, right?

I wasn't aware that God told everyone that there were exceptions....

Not to mention, isn't it ironic that there are people killing people in war who claim to be Christian?

A priest 'answered my question' about the sixth commandment and people going to war, and he said, "God also said to honor and respect the authorities above you- the government."
And to that I say, "In Germany, Hitler was the leading government authority figure. Does that mean that people who fought for his beliefs and did what he told them were doing what God wanted them to do? Not to mention, in that case, who was right- the Americans fighting to save the people Hitler was harming, or the people fighting for Hitler? Both parties were killing for their higher government authority, which means both were doing what God said and listening to their higher government officials."

And that is why I believe there are NO exceptions to the Thou shall not kill rule.




EDIT- to the girl above me-
The book of Deutronomy also states that if someone does not believe in what you believe, you are to stone them to death.
A lot of Christians also claim that they do not use the book of Deutronomy anymore because of all the things it allows- like selling your daughter into sex.
Don't believe me? Read some more passages or the book itself like I have.

Answer 9

I have no problem with them asking forgiveness and entering Heaven. But do not forget that there are natural consequences for all actions. I may forgive the person who smashed my car. But his insurance is STILL going to go up.

Answer 10

christians seem to follow the old testiment when it suits them and the new when it suits them ignoring Jesus who they claim to follow when it suits them. I have noticed that the christian churches are the loudest and biggest group into the death penality. no, Jesus would not have wanted the death penality. he would not have wanted a church that claimed to follow him speak out for the death penality