- Jul 10, 2007
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He's one of our Orthodox Prison Chaplains (been one for over 20 years). Someone had posted a you tube video of his visiting an Orthodox parish somewhere discussing prison ministry. I'd like him to come to our church for our next outreach lecture event that will happen after Pascha this year. Anyway, his daughter is friends with my sister, and I'd met his wife a couple months ago when she visited our church, and father had visited a few weeks before that since we're only an hour or so away from where he resides. He wrote a paper on Capital Punishment, and I'd like to share it here. I got it passed to me via email by my sister this weekend when she was visiting.
I have been interested in reading it, so I'll post it here and be reading it with you all.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
By Fr. Stephen Powley
An eye for an eye seems right to the point. Why should there be any further discussion on the matter of the death penalty? If they violated the law and the penalty called for is death, then that settles it. Put them to death!! I recently heard that said by a person who also seems very committed to their faith. My namesake, Saint Stephen, was believed to have broken the law and the penalty called for was death. The Icon above shows him being stoned as recorded in Acts 7. Wait a minute, thats not a fair comparison!! Welcome to the debate on the death penalty in our modern world.
Capital Punishment is certainly a very divisive issue facing both our society and our Church in this world we live in. Both sides of this issue are very emotional...many in favor of the death penalty and many opposed. Even within Orthodox Christianity there seems to be a great deal of division... both among the people and among the clergy. So much so, in fact, that very few groups have issued an official statement on the subject. I suspect that even within a local church there would be divided opinions. Even on a personal basis, I confess that I have believed both sides at different times in my life. With that in mind, let us proceed to take a closer look at the subject and ask ourselves some very difficult questions.
Hey, the Bible supports capital punishment and thats good enough for me! Those are the very words I hear when discussing the matter with someone who is in favor of the death penalty. So let us begin with the Holy Scriptures, specifically the Old Testament. Capital Punishment was clearly a part of the Israelite society. The very stoning of St. Stephen was justified by their use of the Holy Scriptures at that time (what we call the Old Testament today): Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death the entire assembly is to stone him (Leviticus 24:14-23).
God commanded the Israelites to put people to death for a great variety of things (such as: offering their children as sacrifices, cursing their father or mother, committing adultery or various other sexual practices outside of normal marriage, and being a medium or spiritist). Here are just a few verses found in Leviticus chapter 20:
The Lord said to Moses, Say to the people of Israel: Any man of the people of Israel, or any strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech shall be put to death.
For everyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death.
If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death.
A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death.
The first tough question we have to answer is: Does the fact that the death penalty was practiced under Old Testament Law make it a legitimate practice for today?
Many would say that if it is in the Bible then it is okay. It is vital that we hear the whole counsel of God from the Bible, before we reach any Scriptural conclusions. By that I mean, what does the New Testament have to say? Consider these words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:18:
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
This verse, taken by itself, would seem to point us toward legitimizing the death penalty by virtue of the Law. It is important that verses of Holy Scripture be looked at within their context. We will do that in a moment, but first let us examine another passage dealing with our Lord Jesus Christ. In the 8th Chapter of the Gospel of John, we find the story of the woman caught in adultery.
The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to Jesus saying:
Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?
It would seem fairly obvious from the verses both in Leviticus and in Matthew that were already quoted, that Jesus hands would be tied in this matter. The woman committed adultery and therefore would have to be put to death. But amazingly, Jesus tells those standing there:
Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
When they heard these words of Jesus, all of them left, until only the woman and Jesus were together. Still, the Law is the Law, and Jesus is the One without sin...so he had the responsibility to carry out the punishment; to follow His Own Law. Instead, the following conversation takes place:
Jesus looked up and said to her, Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.
It would seem that Jesus had failed to obey His Own Law. He admitted she had sinned, yet he did not carry out the mandate of His Law. Did Jesus violate the Law? Did he abolish the Law? No, you say...but why not? Here we have God-Come-In-The-Flesh, seeming to not obeying His own law, refusing to utilize the death penalty. What is the world is going on here. The answer is alluded to in Matthew 5, taking that earlier quotation in context. Jesus says this:
Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished...For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(cont'd on next couple posts)
I have been interested in reading it, so I'll post it here and be reading it with you all.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
By Fr. Stephen Powley
An eye for an eye seems right to the point. Why should there be any further discussion on the matter of the death penalty? If they violated the law and the penalty called for is death, then that settles it. Put them to death!! I recently heard that said by a person who also seems very committed to their faith. My namesake, Saint Stephen, was believed to have broken the law and the penalty called for was death. The Icon above shows him being stoned as recorded in Acts 7. Wait a minute, thats not a fair comparison!! Welcome to the debate on the death penalty in our modern world.
Capital Punishment is certainly a very divisive issue facing both our society and our Church in this world we live in. Both sides of this issue are very emotional...many in favor of the death penalty and many opposed. Even within Orthodox Christianity there seems to be a great deal of division... both among the people and among the clergy. So much so, in fact, that very few groups have issued an official statement on the subject. I suspect that even within a local church there would be divided opinions. Even on a personal basis, I confess that I have believed both sides at different times in my life. With that in mind, let us proceed to take a closer look at the subject and ask ourselves some very difficult questions.
Hey, the Bible supports capital punishment and thats good enough for me! Those are the very words I hear when discussing the matter with someone who is in favor of the death penalty. So let us begin with the Holy Scriptures, specifically the Old Testament. Capital Punishment was clearly a part of the Israelite society. The very stoning of St. Stephen was justified by their use of the Holy Scriptures at that time (what we call the Old Testament today): Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death the entire assembly is to stone him (Leviticus 24:14-23).
God commanded the Israelites to put people to death for a great variety of things (such as: offering their children as sacrifices, cursing their father or mother, committing adultery or various other sexual practices outside of normal marriage, and being a medium or spiritist). Here are just a few verses found in Leviticus chapter 20:
The Lord said to Moses, Say to the people of Israel: Any man of the people of Israel, or any strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech shall be put to death.
For everyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death.
If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death.
A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death.
The first tough question we have to answer is: Does the fact that the death penalty was practiced under Old Testament Law make it a legitimate practice for today?
Many would say that if it is in the Bible then it is okay. It is vital that we hear the whole counsel of God from the Bible, before we reach any Scriptural conclusions. By that I mean, what does the New Testament have to say? Consider these words of Jesus found in Matthew 5:18:
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
This verse, taken by itself, would seem to point us toward legitimizing the death penalty by virtue of the Law. It is important that verses of Holy Scripture be looked at within their context. We will do that in a moment, but first let us examine another passage dealing with our Lord Jesus Christ. In the 8th Chapter of the Gospel of John, we find the story of the woman caught in adultery.
The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to Jesus saying:
Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?
It would seem fairly obvious from the verses both in Leviticus and in Matthew that were already quoted, that Jesus hands would be tied in this matter. The woman committed adultery and therefore would have to be put to death. But amazingly, Jesus tells those standing there:
Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
When they heard these words of Jesus, all of them left, until only the woman and Jesus were together. Still, the Law is the Law, and Jesus is the One without sin...so he had the responsibility to carry out the punishment; to follow His Own Law. Instead, the following conversation takes place:
Jesus looked up and said to her, Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.
It would seem that Jesus had failed to obey His Own Law. He admitted she had sinned, yet he did not carry out the mandate of His Law. Did Jesus violate the Law? Did he abolish the Law? No, you say...but why not? Here we have God-Come-In-The-Flesh, seeming to not obeying His own law, refusing to utilize the death penalty. What is the world is going on here. The answer is alluded to in Matthew 5, taking that earlier quotation in context. Jesus says this:
Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished...For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(cont'd on next couple posts)