Orthodoxy and Capital Punishment

[SpyridonOCA]

This is a statement from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CAPITAL PUNISHMENT[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] The early church was opposed to capital punishment. There were several reasons why this was so. The first was based on the teachings of the Lord. Capital punishment is based on the idea of retribution. All systems of law, both ancient and modern, espouse it. The Old Testament expresses this view with the teaching “an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Leviticus 24:20). The conclusion is inevitable: “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death” (Exodus 21:24). Jesus’ teaching on retribution is very clear. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil … love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. (Matthew 5:38-39, 44).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Later the opposition to retribution was easily applied to capital punishment. The early Christians were frequently victims of this law in the Roman Circus where they were sentenced to die by the judges of the empire. But Christians were also opposed to capital punishment because it was the taking away of life. The clearest statement of early Christian opposition to capital punishment comes from the pen of Lectantius (240-32):[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]When God prohibits killing, He not only forbids us to commit brigandage, which is not allowed even by the public laws, but He warns us not to do even those things which are regarded as legal among men… And so it will not be lawful for a just man … to accuse anyone of a capital offense, because it makes no difference whether thou kill with a sword or with a word, since killing itself is forbidden. And so, in this commandment of God, no exception at all ought to be made to the rule that it is always wrong to kill a man, whom God has wished to be regarded as a sacrosanct creature. Institutes VI, XX, 15.

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] So long as Christians were themselves persecuted by the State and there was no possibility of Christians holding public office and having to enforce “those things which are regarded as legal among men” the Christian view was relatively easy to maintain. If the State was going to execute men for capital crimes, it was the State’s business, but Christians should not have anything to do with it.

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] The problem arose, however, when after Constantine the Great, Christians began to enter government service and became the makers of the law, the judges and the enforcers of public order and peace. In the words of St. Paul, the ruler “is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] So long as it was considered necessary for the sake of justice, good order and the deterrence of wrong doing, most Christians found it possible to go along with the idea of capital punishment. It was not seen as an ideal, or as a desirable thing, but as an unfortunate necessary evil. In no case was it ever argued that capital punishment was desirable for itself or that it ever fitted very well with the Christian idea.

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] With more information available to us today about the consequences of capital punishment, many Christians are of the opinion that it no longer serves a deterrent to crime. Statistic of the United States show that the existence of capital punishment in some states and its absence in other states seems to have no measurable effect on the rate of various capital crimes.

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] One reason for this is that long ago capital punishment ceased to be uniformly enforced. For a long time now, persons accused of capital crimes who can afford the legal expertise nearly always escape capital punishment. Generally speaking, only the weak, the poor, the friendless have been executed in more recent years.

[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Thus it appears from a Christian point of view that the State has the right to employ capital punishment as a deterrent to crime, if it chooses. However, if capital punishment is maintained, then it ought to be consistently enforced. It is clear that in America we are not willing to do that. This provides an opportunity for Christians to seek to make known their own ethical view into the law of the land. Repealing capital punishment however, requires that persons who are dangerous to the safety of good citizens and who threaten the order of society either be fully reformed or permanently imprisoned. Abolishment of capital punishment requires a consistent and strong penal policy and prison reform.[/FONT]
http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/ethics/goarch_moral_statements_1984.htm

This is a statement from the Orthodox Church in America:

[FONT=arial,helvetica]RESOLUTION ON THE DEATH PENALTY[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]August, 1989.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]WHEREAS Orthodox Christians should be called to go beyond the political, social, and legal issues raised by capital punishment and recognize and address the deeper moral, ethical, and religious questions of the supreme value of human life in a manner consistent with our opposition to abortion and mercy killing, and in all such questions involving life and death the Church must always champion life; and[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]WHEREAS in an effort to further the respect for all human life and to witness to the redemptive nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who Himself prevented the legal execution of a woman (John 8:3-11) and realizing that premature death resulting from the application of the death penalty can prevent the rehabilitation, reconciliation, and redemption of the offender; and[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]WHEREAS, while we recognize the necessity to punish those guilty of violent crime, we also recognize that there is no humane way to execute a human being;[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Ninth All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America supports the abolition of the death penalty in this and all countries and does urge our elected and appointed officials in those states where prisoners are still executed to introduce and support appropriate legislation aimed at abolishing the death penalty;[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Council requests all governors of states where the death penalty is still in force to halt all further executions according to the power of their office, but that legislative provisions be made for life imprisonment without possibility of parole for those subject to the death penalty;[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica]FINALLY, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Ninth All-American Council of the Orthodox church in America supports and encourages religious bodies, organizations and human rights groups which seek the abolition of the death penalty.[/FONT]
http://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/education/statements/orthodox.html

Here are some articles on the topic of Orthodoxy and capital punishment:
http://incommunion.org/category/capital%20punishment/


Given the unfair legal system in this country, where many are put to death despite their innocence, I do not know why an Orthodox Christian would support capital punishment. The human person is an icon of Christ and must be treated as such.

 

[paleodoxy]

The OCA, IMV, has a myopic view of the full historical scope of Tradition. It starts out saying that "The early church was opposed to capital punishment."

This could be contested on a number of fronts (Romans 13 being the obvious one), but aside from that...the EARLIEST Church members were Adam and Eve. Death came to any man who would kill Cain. Capital punishment for murder was reiterated by God with Noah. The scope of capital punishment was expanded under the Mosaic Law, and continued into the N.T. and taught by Paul.

So, if the OCA wants to talk about the "early" Church...it needs to go back earlier.

 

[paleodoxy]

So, are you saying they are not opposed to all capital punishment - only capital punishment under the current system?

If there's a problem with the way the system is operating, why don't they suggest a biblical blueprint for reforming the system, instead of undercutting the Divine mandate found in Scripture and universally acknowledged by the Church to be there (i.e., in Scripture) as part of the earliest Divine Tradition?

 

[SpyridonOCA]

The OCA, IMV, has a myopic view of the full historical scope of Tradition. It starts out saying that "The early church was opposed to capital punishment."

Are you sure that you don't hold to the same view of capital punishment that you possessed before becoming a catechumen in the Orthodox Church?

 

[Thekla]

our life on this earth is our opportunity to "work out our salvation" in repentance. Anytime we shorten life, we potentially compromise this opportunity...

 

[SpyridonOCA]

So, are you saying they are not opposed to all capital punishment - only capital punishment under the current system?

Under an Orthodox Christian system, I wouldn't want there to be capital punishment at all.

 

[paleodoxy]

I continue to believe many things personally held before becoming a catechumen in the Orthodox Church that the Orthodox would recognize as Holy Tradition, so I fail to understand the relevance of your question.

 

[paleodoxy]

Under an Orthodox Christian system, I wouldn't want there to be capital punishment at all.

Well, I believe this is one area where many Orthodox are totally missing the mark.

 

[SpyridonOCA]

I continue to believe many things personally held before becoming a catechumen in the Orthodox Church that the Orthodox would recognize as Holy Tradition, so I fail to understand the relevance of your question.

Do you believe that it's Holy Tradition because that's what you want to believe or because it is true?

 

[paleodoxy]

Do you believe that it's Holy Tradition because that's what you want to believe or because it is true?

I believe it is part of Holy Tradition because Scripture is part of Holy Tradition, and Scripture simply nowhere supports you.

 

[Protoevangel]

Well, I believe this is one area where many Orthodox are totally missing the mark.

And you are here to correct them all?

 

[SpyridonOCA]

I believe it is part of Holy Tradition because Scripture is Holy Tradition, and Scripture simply nowhere supports you.

Scripture cannot be understood in a vacuum.

 

[paleodoxy]

And you are here to correct them all?

Just here to offer my point of view.

 

[Thekla]

The Romans passage (from the other thread) refers to wrath "against" those who do evil; what of those who may have been put to death in error ?

 

[paleodoxy]

Scripture cannot be understood in a vacuum.

I agree!

 

[paleodoxy]

Then justice was not done.

 

[Thekla]

Then justice was not done.

my opinion - until we can be assured that justice "is done", we can't even discuss it ...

 

[paleodoxy]

Is that the attitude Israel should have taken when God mandated it?

 

[Thekla]

Is that the attitude Israel should have taken when God mandated it?

there is the consideration that we have gone from "an eye for an eye" to "turn the other cheek". Capital punishment, as mentioned above, tends to assume a "revenge" attitude; our entire prison system tends to be punitive rather than attempting to reform. I recognize that this pov sounds idealistic -- and the system is overburdened.

 

[paleodoxy]

Either (a) Paul was contradicting Christ's earlier words regarding the need to turn the other cheek, or (b) Christ was not talking about civil justice, but specifically condemned those who are personally wronged from seeking their own revenge.

I choose the latter.