Is the Death Penalty Biblical or not?

Carol Walker said:

So far, I believe that the death penalty is actually a God-given commandment, and I can provide evidence of that should someone ask.

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Yes, of course capital punishment is Biblical. I take this to be beyond dispute.

(Note that even those in this thread who oppose capital punishment do not claim that it was not part of the Old Testament)

GOD Shines Forth! said:

He did no such thing ("introduced the idea of repentative penance"). You are editorializing.

No, there He attacked the religious jerks who were always trying to trap him in a conundrum. As forever and always, He flummoxed them. The adulteress did escape, but no legal precedent was set (re: the Law of Moses).

As I pointed out to you previously, He later affirmed that execution power came from His Father and then He willingly surrendered his own life to it for us all.

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Now who is editorializing?

Michael Collum said:

Now who is editorializing?

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No, it's only editorializing when others do it

Carol Walker said:

I'm actually having this conversation on another thread. But the person I'm mainly debating with is, unfortunately, an Atheist, and thus far we clash on every point. So, while I'm continuing that conversation with him, I'm also turning to my brothers and sisters in the faith. What do you guys think of this idea?

So far, I believe that the death penalty is actually a God-given commandment, and I can provide evidence of that should someone ask. As of now, I'm trying not to make an exceptionally long post, just one that introduces people to the subject of this thread quickly. I'd really like some feedback, of any and all kinds, but I will alert those who read this that since I've been arguing this point of view elsewhere, I will be arguing just as strongly here. I encourage all to do the same.

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No, I don't believe so. Humans make mistakes, how horrible would it be to convict someone to death and later discover they were innocent? Should anyone have that on their conscious? Just because God sees guilt 100% of the time does not mean we do.

So while it was part of the Mosaic law given from God to the people, Jesus showed us another way.
When Jesus caught the women in adultery which was a capital offense and was told she should be stoned, he did not agree with them. Instead he showed forgiveness and a command to no longer sin. If God still wanted the death penalty he would have allowed her to be stoned.

John 8
3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

What happens if the person forgives?

As Christians Jesus set the example, Stephen waa full of the holy spirit, and he forgave also. In my opinion, we should also forgive.

First off the Laws in the OT of the Bible for the most part were only applicable to the Jews under the Law of Moses and living within the boundaries of Israel under a theocracy. Those who were not Jews or residing in Israel were not covered under those laws. In the NT we don't see a framework for dealing with criminal actions at all we do see rules/laws that are applicable to BELIEVERS in Christ but no such mention of those who do not believe.

Those who try and equate no death penalty have a big problem because the alternative to death penalties is usually life sentences and while there is some justification for death penalties even though it is in the OT under the Law of Moses there is no mention of a life sentence for murderers..... AT ALL!

Finally the main issues here is Christians can support or not support the death penalty as there is reasons for it and also against it while supporting life sentences has no basis at all in the Bible to support or reject it.

As we aren't under a theocracy the laws dealing with crime are up to local governments, so arguing Christianity as a framework to overrule and/or accept/reject laws comes up short as we have frameworks for dealing with enemies and unbelievers but none for dealing with criminals.

I'm for the death penalty myself for premeditated proven in a trial crimes of the worst type and the argument of innocent people being executed to me is valid but I believe it is not a common thing and that by executing people who take others lives with no remorse at all these people can if they escape murder someone else and even more people can lose their lives. I have watched many many crime shows where people pleaded guilty of crimes to avoid the death penalty which to me means most of them fear death. Death sends a person to the final judge for a perfect verdict and punishment for their crimes while life sentences can in some cases actually make things worse as criminals that murder people can "teach" others how to do similar and by exploring the mistakes they made that got them caught it would have people murdering that are harder to catch. In prison people often learn to be better criminals, even though some are rehabilitated often those who if not dead get out and continue to harm others (murder even).

The simple fact is most Christians believe saved people go to heaven, others to hell and justice is performed perfectly so if an innocent Christian is put to death then they are with God forever in glory it is unbelievers that a life sentence can delay God's eternal justice for them.
To argue the death penalty with someone that doesn't believe in heaven or hell is at times pointless because in reality without God's justice then the one dead person who (by the murderer) got the death penalty was denied life while the criminal was allowed to live. All the future accomplishments of the murdered person is canceled and that worth is never compensated by life in prison as the life ended wasn't a life imprisoned. The only way I could entertain compensation is for the murderer to work and ALL his proceeds go to those who would share in the deceased persons deeds/work. Instead we give people with life sentences often better treatment than homeless people get and those who are barely making ends meet they get medical and dental help and meals and clothing and even are allowed sometimes access to entertainment and education often they get degrees in prison that the family of the murdered have to PAY for in their taxes.

We are all hypocrites. Our sin has caused others to sin, and if they sin because of us, then we have seperated them from God, then it is also just, that we to be seperated from him. We all deserve much more then a death sentance.

If you ask for vengeance for someone who has sinned against you, then it is just that you also pay for the things you have done to others.

Forgivness is the only option, for a Christian.



Stephen was filled with the holy spirit and forgave. The holy spirit does the will of God, and God desires that we forgive, rather then call for judgment.

God is just, if one demands justice on another, it is also just that you also be judged.

Carol Walker said:

Objection for the death penalty: But not only did the Lord command us to kill murderers , His attitude towards murder has not changed over the centuries since that command, so should we not still carry out His Words?

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No he didn't. The Lord never commanded us, the Gentiles, to do anything.

He commanded the ancient Israelite's and the sentence was stoning. So even if someone is for the death penalty they can't claim that God commands us to do so, nor can they use the electric chair or needle or any other item claiming this is God's will, since it was by stoning. Nobody on death row is killed by stoning.

Satan encourages us to omit, add and change God's word. The most believable lies are those that contain a lot of truth. Starting in the garden Satan said "Did God really say"? Which was to raise doubt. Then Eve said, God said not to eat or touch, which was not what God had said at all, she added 'touch'. What she claimed was a perversion of God's command. It was half truth.

Like most modern things the modern death penalty is a counterfeit, as is circumcision. The ancients were under the mandate of circumcising males on the eighth day of life. The foreskin was pulled down and only the tip cut. Now compare that to a modern hospital circumcision where the foreskin is pulled back and far more skin is taken, much more foreskin then what God commanded. Then people claim this is God's will or command. No it is not. One because God never commanded a Gentile to do any such thing and two it isn't following what he said to do at all. These things, the modern death penalty and circumcision may in some ways resemble God's commands but they are a counterfeit.

Carol Walker said:

Okay, this is going way better than the conversation I'm having elsewhere!! So glad!

Alright, so to summarize: everybody knows that our Lord commanded us to kill a murderer should he/she be proven guilty, but that was in the Old Testament, right?

Yet in the New Testament, God sends down His precious Son to take the penalty of death we were all due for our sin upon Himself. Christ paid the death penalty we all deserved.

And yet, there are good objections to made on both sides. God is the only one who can truly judge the heart of any human being, only He knows when we are truly guilty, truly lost, and only He can judge us. Objection against the death penalty.

Objection for the death penalty: But not only did the Lord command us to kill murderers, His attitude towards murder has not changed over the centuries since that command, so should we not still carry out His Words?

There's a lot to be said. For myself, this is the way I look at it: the life of a human being, a person made in the image of God, is precious beyond almost anything else. As in, if one were to destroy the image of God(kill someone) they should be punished in an appropriate manner equal to their evil. What kind of punishment is appropriate, however, and suppose such a death was an accident, or was committed under other extenuating circumstances?

There are many scenarios we could discuss, each complicated and diverse, each bearing their own conclusions concerning the morality of the death penalty. Unfortunately, I have to be somewhere soon, so I don't have the time to write out everything I want to. So instead I'll ask this: If the Lord commanded us to kill murderers in the Old Testament, and then sentenced His own Son to bear our sins and their eternal consequences for us, what should we learn from this? And since Jesus preached that we should not retaliate against our neighbor, giving evil for evil but rather good for evil, how does that lesson work with what our Father has already commanded? How can He tell us to kill murderers, and yet also tell us not to take vengeance?

Surely there's a difference.

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As Christians we should be prepared to put our lives on the line rather than take another's life for any reason. Whether we will succeed is another matter but that should be our intent. Our role is to bring and foster G-d's love and compassion and forgiveness by living "G-d's kingdom now". Punishment does not change people only love and care for the other can if we are prepared to put in the hard work and persevere. "How many time should I forgive??" The sense of Scripture is we should never stop. If we are to follow Yeshua we should be prepared to join literally his death for others.
In LOve
Jay Sea

I think my old pastor summed it up pretty well.

The death penalty, in his opinion, in the right circumstances had almost a sacramental ring about it.

The way he put it was "If someone takes your life, with no concern, regrets or remorse, why should he keep his life?"

But he was against it on the grounds that "Better that ten guilty men rot in jail than that one innocent person hang." That has happened, even in western democracies with a strong rule of law. The UK had a case in 1953 where a man was accused of killing his wife and daughter and hanged. One of those giving evidence was the actual murderer, John Christie, a serial killer.

The article includes the sarcastic line that "It is perhaps an indication of the thoroughness of the search that the officers did not apparently spot the fact that a human thigh bone was being used to hold up the (John Christie's) fence."

The hanging of a man wrongly accused of killing his wife and child

What irritates me is that the taxpayer spends thousands of dollars keeping alive serial murderers - more in fact than a lot of "innocent" people would earn in a year. We had a serial killer named Ivan Milat, and it cost more to keep him and his compatriots in a super max prison than a booking at Sydney's swankiest hotel.

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

That article is 12 years old, so it probably costs twice as much these days.

Ivan Milat died of cancer close to two years ago, and went to a higher court for a retrial. I doubt if he's got the same relatively benign conditions where he is now.

Carol Walker said:

I'm actually having this conversation on another thread. But the person I'm mainly debating with is, unfortunately, an Atheist, and thus far we clash on every point. So, while I'm continuing that conversation with him, I'm also turning to my brothers and sisters in the faith. What do you guys think of this idea?

So far, I believe that the death penalty is actually a God-given commandment, and I can provide evidence of that should someone ask. As of now, I'm trying not to make an exceptionally long post, just one that introduces people to the subject of this thread quickly. I'd really like some feedback, of any and all kinds, but I will alert those who read this that since I've been arguing this point of view elsewhere, I will be arguing just as strongly here. I encourage all to do the same.

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Yes, the death penalty is "biblical," but to say so doesn't mean that Christians will (or should) support this measure in society as a first resort to heinous crime. To say that it is "biblical" also can't just be too quickly said and given as an off-the-cuff, arm-chair style answer.

So, in my view, I'd say that before a Christian cites that any one individual should be subject to the death penalty, we have to realize that to do so is to firmly imply that there are many very serious and deep Ethical, Legal, Hermeneutical and Theological questions to work through first...

... and if we're unwilling to work through these questions, then it's probably best for us to keep our mouths closed on this topic, either way.

Hazelelponi said:

It's biblical, but certainly as Christians we may like every opportunity for the sinner to become saved prior to death... Certainly, some may given time, others may not...

It's not always possible however, to give them time since states have various considerations when it comes to penalties of law.

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A person will come when God wants them to come, according to His Grace.

Salvation has nothing to do with a temporal time clock.

Michael Collum said:

The death penalty is biblical, but not Christlike.

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That's completely illogical, given that Christ if the judge of all the earth and will cast the wicked ones into the Lake of Fire. That's Christlike in action by Christ himself.

Michael Collum said:

There was a person about to be stoned, he saved her from being stoned and introduced the idea of repentative penance

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Jesus saved her from a corrupt kangaroo court where the other guilty party had been let off.

Michael Collum said:

This is one of many things that Jesus did that simply would not have happened during the days of Moses.

The laws during the days of Moses came directly from God and were absolute. Moses was a murderer, but he was still able to judge murder according to the law.

The way Jesus did things illustrated a new prophetic era was beginning.

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No, not true.
Jesus categorically stated that not one jot or title of the law would be removed

Jay Sea said:

The teaching of Yeshua on love, forgiveness and compassion and bring everyone back to G-d's Kingdom supersedes everything in the old Testement.
In LOve
Jay Sea

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Jesus is the creator God of the Old Testament. Jesus said not one jot or title of the law would pass away.

Carol Walker said:

Okay, this is going way better than the conversation I'm having elsewhere!! So glad!

Alright, so to summarize: everybody knows that our Lord commanded us to kill a murderer should he/she be proven guilty, but that was in the Old Testament, right?

Yet in the New Testament, God sends down His precious Son to take the penalty of death we were all due for our sin upon Himself. Christ paid the death penalty we all deserved.

And yet, there are good objections to made on both sides. God is the only one who can truly judge the heart of any human being, only He knows when we are truly guilty, truly lost, and only He can judge us. Objection against the death penalty.

Objection for the death penalty: But not only did the Lord command us to kill murderers, His attitude towards murder has not changed over the centuries since that command, so should we not still carry out His Words?

There's a lot to be said. For myself, this is the way I look at it: the life of a human being, a person made in the image of God, is precious beyond almost anything else. As in, if one were to destroy the image of God(kill someone) they should be punished in an appropriate manner equal to their evil. What kind of punishment is appropriate, however, and suppose such a death was an accident, or was committed under other extenuating circumstances?

There are many scenarios we could discuss, each complicated and diverse, each bearing their own conclusions concerning the morality of the death penalty. Unfortunately, I have to be somewhere soon, so I don't have the time to write out everything I want to. So instead I'll ask this: If the Lord commanded us to kill murderers in the Old Testament, and then sentenced His own Son to bear our sins and their eternal consequences for us, what should we learn from this? And since Jesus preached that we should not retaliate against our neighbor, giving evil for evil but rather good for evil, how does that lesson work with what our Father has already commanded? How can He tell us to kill murderers, and yet also tell us not to take vengeance?

Surely there's a difference.

Click to expand...

The law of Moses did not just command Israel to execute someone for murder. There were two thieves that were executed with Jesus.

Matthew 27:38
At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.

The law of Moses is not just about judging murder.

Sexual sins and sorcery also carried the death penalty.

Committing adultery was also a death sentence.

Jesus said that if you look at a woman with lust you already have committed adultery.

Jesus said if you think someone is an idiot you are guilty of murder.

I think we have almost everyone on the planet, that is guilty of multiple acts of murder. An uncountable list of people guilty of adultery.

Let the trial begin.

Francis Drake said:

Jesus is the creator God of the Old Testament. Jesus said not one jot or title of the law would pass away.

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So we are under the law of Moses?