Capital Punishment: Explain what differing Christian attitudes might be to Capital Punishment

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

In this assignment I am going to examine the Christian cases for and against Capital Punishment. I will also look at what the different churches say and believe. The Oxford English Dictionary defines capital punishment as:

“The punishment of death for a crime; death penalty”

Capital Punishment is where a person’s life is taken away through judicially appointed means as the punishment for their crime. The death penalty is used in several countries around the world including America. Most countries in the EU find the death penalty as an inhumane form of punishment and so it is not used. There are several ways for the punishment to be carried out but the most common form is that of lethal injection. The injection first knocks the criminal out, putting them into a comma; then the drug slowly paralyses the lungs and stops the heart. The criminal dies in a very peaceful manner. Of the five main aims of punishment, the death penalty carries out four. One of these is retribution, making sure the criminal receives a punishment fit for the crime; another is that capital punishment acts as a deterrent, seeing one criminal sentenced to death may put others off; and another is protection, if murderers are caught and executed then the people on the street will be protected; finally capital punishment keeps the aim of vindication, if people are punished correctly the law will be respected. The aim that capital punishment doesn’t keep is reform, a dead person can not possibly reform and change, they are not given the chance.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, He also created us. As humans God created us and He made us in His image, as it says in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image”. This means that, because we are made in the image of God our life is sacred and therefore we should not kill one another. This passage can be taken in two ways, our life is sacred so we must not hurt others, therefore offenders of this rule must be put to death; but if our life is sacred surely we must not kill anyone, including the murderer? The passage indicates that God made us so then only he has the right to take a life. This passage is generally used when arguing for capital punishment.

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In Genesis 4, the Bible tells us of the first murder and how God dealt with it. Cain became jealous of his brother Abel and in a fit of jealousy he killed him and hid the body. When God confronted Cain, Cain denied ever killing his brother, but God knew better. God sentenced Cain to “be a restless wanderer on the earth”. In this passage we can see that God did not sentence Cain to death but merely separated him from the rest of the world. This passage is used as an argument against capital punishment as God did not kill Cain for murdering his brother. This suggests that perhaps God is against Capital Punishment and that Cain would not be punished by man in this life, but by God in his death; but if the situation is analysed, it can be found that the only people that could have killed Cain were his own parents. It could be seen that God loved Adam and Eve so much that he would not and could not force them to kill their own son.

In Exodus we see the commandment in chapter 20 verse 13, “You shall not murder”. It is unclear exactly what murder can be defined as. If it is the taking of any life, then the commandment is against capital punishment, but if it is the taking of an innocent life then the commandment is for capital punishment. Christians may look further into the Bible to John 8:1-11. This is the story of an adulterous woman who is brought to Jesus, at the time adultery is a sin worthy of death and so Jesus tells the men that whoever is without sin may cast the first stone”. The only man there without sin is Jesus and so the men all leave, leaving the woman and Jesus alone. Jesus does not stone the woman but tells her to go and “leave her life of sin” or telling her to reform and change. As Jesus does not condemn the woman the story suggests that because no person on earth is without sin, then no one has the right to carry out Capital Punishment. This story can be taken into question, as Jesus was being tested by the Pharisees we can not say how he would have acted in different circumstances.

In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus says, “You have heard it said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil man”. Jesus then goes on to say that whatever an evil man does to you or makes you do, let him do more. The he leads on to tell us to love our enemies and that we should strive to be perfect as our “Heavenly Father is perfect”. This would suggest that we as people should not take revenge in the form of capital punishment but we should forgive, the passage does not say that people should not be punished by the state. It also says that we should show mercy and forgiveness towards our trespassers and it would tend to suggest that Jesus is against Capital Punishment. In Matthew 6:14-15 we are told to forgive, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins”. We are told to show forgiveness in order to receive forgiveness which would imply that we should not kill those who murder but simply forgive. In Matthew 7:1-2 we are told more or less the same as in Matthew 6:14-15. We should not judge other because we are not perfect, only God has the right to judge others and therefore we should not use Capital Punishment as it is a form of judging. God will judge the criminal when it is their time.

Along with the Bible, Christians can look towards the churches for their specific opinions and what attitudes they should have towards Capital Punishment. The Church of England, or the Anglican Church; the Salvation Army and the United Reform Church all condemn Capital Punishment and all of these churches share the attitude that human life is sacred and that it should not be harmed. They also realise that mistakes can be made within the courts and that there is not way to bring back the dead. Also, these churches question whether people should be given the death penalty if they have a bad background or if they can not be held responsible for their own actions.

The Bible also has many arguments for the case of Capital Punishment, many Christians think that these are more stable arguments. In Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God had God made man”. This means that is a person murders then his or her life must be taken because we are in the image of God and they have committed a terrible crime against Him, but this verse is very specific, the murderers blood must be shed by man. God is giving permission to men so that they can carry out Capital Punishment; and in Exodus 21:23 it clearly states “life for a life” showing that if some commits a murder they too must lose their life.

In Leviticus 24 it again clearly states twice that “if anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death”. These verses are clearly in favour of Capital punishment and they are also clearly stating that man can kill man in these circumstances.

In Romans 13:4, we can see that the servants of God are able to carry out the death penalty and they “bear the sword”. God set up a governing authority so that they would judge fairly and justly whether some one should die or not, they were given the authority to punish the wrongdoer and the people of the land must follow their judgement because they were appointed by God.

We are told in 1 Peter 3:13-14 to submit ourselves “for the Lord’s sake to every authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right”. This is showing us that we must give in to the laws of the land and to follow the judgement and order of the governing bodies. We must accept that they have the power to punish and we must agree to the judgements of them.

Although God clearly states that we must follow the Governing authority’s judgement, there are times when we can go against this. There are three examples in the Bible where this happens. In Daniel 3 we learn of the story of three men. The King of the land, King Nebuchadnezzar creates a golden statue of himself and orders the people of his land to bow down to and worship him. Three Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendigo, refuse to worship the golden idol therefore going against the law of the state. This proves that although God tells us to follow his governing authorities we can disobey them in certain circumstances. If the state goes against the law of god then we are better to follow the law of god rather then the state. If the state does go against god then we must follow god and trust that He will protect us although we are still in danger of punishment from the state.

In Acts 25:10-11, Paul is standing against the courts being tried. He tells the court, “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die”. This shows that Jesus’ disciples are in support of the Capital punishment but in this specific passage Paul refuses to be sentenced because he has done nothing wrong. He does not disagree with it he is simply saying that he does not deserve it.

In conclusion Christians have many views and divided view on whether capital punishment is a correct punishment, with some being against it and other in favour. The Bible gives both points of views and Christians interpret the passages depending on what they believe, Christians use Gods words as a guide to whether or not Capital Punishment is still needed as a punishment for murder today.