- Jan 24, 2007
- 235
- 24
- Country
- United Kingdom
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- Male
- Faith
- Christian
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- Single
About 5 years ago I began to seriously study the Bible It is a most interesting and enjoyable experience. This bit is from the early days.
This verse seems to possibly support hanging but as it is the first book of the Old Testament it may not be addressed to our present age. Then we askis it God who is to take life or man? It's so very serious and it's so hard to know what to really take out of this verse. What is obvious is that serious crimes ar not punished properly in this world. They will certainly be punished properly in the next.
Reading a Catholic newspaper I came across some facinating and quite revealing information. I am not surprised in these finding except in the severity. It's about the endless problems in imposing the death penalty. From, "Alive" September 2000 a study reveals errors in this system of punishment. Between 1973 and 1995 there were 5,760 death sentences in the U.S. Less than 5.5% of these resulted in executions. On average the appeals lasted 9 years. Is this proof then that capital punishment is wrong? It certainly looks like it.
Taking life is what the sixth commandment is all about: Tho shall not kill. Here is what a young Bible scholar friend of mine says:
"This is literally from the Hebrew, Thou shall commit no murder. To define murder you must examine the Old Testament Law: God gives three occasions where killing is lawfull (and therefore not murder). These are killing inself-defence, or in defence of the weak, one's family etc. (indeed that is a duty), the just punishment of execution of the ungodly by the state (many crimes were capital in the Law of Moses, murder, blasphemy, adultery, idolatry etc., although only murder is punishable by death today)"
This verse seems to possibly support hanging but as it is the first book of the Old Testament it may not be addressed to our present age. Then we askis it God who is to take life or man? It's so very serious and it's so hard to know what to really take out of this verse. What is obvious is that serious crimes ar not punished properly in this world. They will certainly be punished properly in the next.
Reading a Catholic newspaper I came across some facinating and quite revealing information. I am not surprised in these finding except in the severity. It's about the endless problems in imposing the death penalty. From, "Alive" September 2000 a study reveals errors in this system of punishment. Between 1973 and 1995 there were 5,760 death sentences in the U.S. Less than 5.5% of these resulted in executions. On average the appeals lasted 9 years. Is this proof then that capital punishment is wrong? It certainly looks like it.
Taking life is what the sixth commandment is all about: Tho shall not kill. Here is what a young Bible scholar friend of mine says:
"This is literally from the Hebrew, Thou shall commit no murder. To define murder you must examine the Old Testament Law: God gives three occasions where killing is lawfull (and therefore not murder). These are killing inself-defence, or in defence of the weak, one's family etc. (indeed that is a duty), the just punishment of execution of the ungodly by the state (many crimes were capital in the Law of Moses, murder, blasphemy, adultery, idolatry etc., although only murder is punishable by death today)"
