God and Government Pt. 7: On Justice and Capital Punishment by Chris White

“Whoever sheds human blood,
    by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
    has God made mankind.” -- Genesis 9:6

“ Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.  For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;  for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.  Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.   Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”     --Romans 13: 1-7

 

  One area that many Christians and non-Christians wrestle with is the issue of the death penalty.  For some it seems incongruous that the disciples of Him who said ‘turn the other cheek’ to desire that murder be avenged.  For others, it seems the God of the Bible is blood-thirsty, ruthlessly demanding the death penalty for homosexuals and people who practice the magical arts.  What we need to understand in this matter is who is responsible to carry out the punishment for capital crimes and to whom does this law apply?

  First of all it is an over application of scripture to extend the prescription of the death penalty to all the groups named in Leviticus (ie. Homosexuals, zoophilics, wizards) because this law was specific to the Jews alone and their role as a ‘holy nation’ in the world.  Capital punishment is implied in Genesis 4 (when Cain murdered Abel) and is quite explicit in the Noahic covenant of Genesis 9.  While the Mosaic covenant is between God and the Jews, the Noahic covenant is between God and all the descendants of Noah which, at last count, includes every human on the planet today.

  In further answering the to whom question we must see that God directly applies this to one kind of crime and one kind of criminal: the one who for purposes of evil takes the life of another human being who is made in the image of God.  This excludes any taking of life that is accidental or unintentional or related to an act of war declared by the state.  Thus, the standard for capital punishment is murder.  This could easily be extended those who commit war atrocities which is using war as a cloak for murder and acts of terrorism which is mass-murder under the guise of religious-political action.

The second part of understanding the mind of God in this matter is the question of who is to carry out the task of avenging murder?  The answer is the civil government rather than the individual.  Implied with this is that there will be an apparatus of justice such as a court system and a system to investigate and confirm the guilt of a person before executing them.  It is not inconsistent for a disciple of Jesus to support the death penalty because they are not supporting revenge taking or vigilante action, but the execution of justice as directed by the Creator.  Christians who are the survivors of such crimes must forgive the horrible wrong that has been done to them (to the degree that is possible) but that does not require them to not have a desire that justice would be done.  Having a civil government tasked with this responsibility mostly ensures the neutrality needed to do justice (something actually taught in Leviticus 19!) and prevents the entire world from breaking out into a blood feud between families.

  Last of all there are the questions and concerns we all have about giving the state the power to take life in this way.  From concerns about the cruel and unusual forms of death devised for capital punishment to what seems to be an uneven application of this law between rich and poor, whites and blacks, to the prospect of wrongly putting an innocent person to death.  I see all sorts of places where tyranny, human error, and the sin nature can come to bear on justice.  As a Christian whose historic memory has not failed him, there have been many times when the governments of this world (sometimes led by Christians!) made your faith or lack of it a capital crime.  In some parts of the world today being a Christian is a capital crime.  Thus, I am not all that enthused or confident that governments should have a power that they could arbitrarily bring to bear on me.  But that said, the alternatives of doing nothing or letting private citizens carry out justice seems a greater injustice in the name of justice.  Therefore, concerns aside, as a Christian I favor the carrying out of justice even if it is done imperfectly because this is a God-given responsibility.  I can only pray that the wheels of justice will always turn slow enough that mercy and truth will prevail wherever necessary.