Nat Hentoff on the Death Penalty

Columnist Nat Hentoff wrote a piece for our local paper titled, U. S. Supreme Court tinkers with the machinery of death. Hentoff is right about one thing, filling vacancies on the Supreme Court will be among the most important decisions of the next president. Even though I’ve had my hesitations about President Bush, I am grateful for his appointments to the high court. His choices might be his most important and enduring legacy and the best thing he did for our Country.

Hentoff obviously sees things differently—especially regarding the death penalty. Like many death penalty opponents, he carelessly glosses over the fact that we are dealing with premeditated murderers. He champions the notion that civilized people don’t practice capital punishment but fails to address the barbaric acts of murderers in these civilized societies.

Finally, Hentoff illogically equates the act of a murderer with the act of capital punishment. The death penalty is punishment not murder. It’s also a punishment that fits the crime. Those who willfully take the life of another must forfeit their own lives.

Unfortunately, the death penalty is needed to protect civilized society. Elimination of it supports barbarism and anarchy. Those who willfully take the life of another must sacrifice their own lives. Some killing is unjust and we call it “murder.” Other killing is just and this we might call “self-defense” in some cases and “just punishment” in others. When capital punishment is abused by inequities in due process, revisions in the judicial system are needed, not elimination of the penalty.

   

 Steve Cornell

23 West Cottage Ave.

Millersville, PA. 17551

s.cornell@millersvillebiblechurch.org         

 

 

Should Christians support the death penalty?

By Steve Cornell

The first time I wrote about the death penalty, I was amazed by the number of letters responding to my column. I was especially perplexed at how many Christians wrote to oppose my position. These people made the mistake of assuming that being a Christian requires opposition to the death penalty. 

This is strange because Scripture clearly supports the practice of capital punishment. God requires capital punishment for premeditated murderers. God said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man.” (Genesis 9:6). The phrase “sheds man’s blood” is a euphemism for death. It is used two ways in this verse: first, as an act of murder; secondly, for the just-punishment of a murderer. We must not equate these actions. An act of murder is far different from just-punishment of a murderer. One action is criminal; the other a God-ordained function of government.           

We cannot dismiss this teaching because it comes from the Old Testament. Some parts of the Old Testament are not directly applicable today (like the regulations given to Israel to guide them as a nation) but the requirement of Genesis 9:6 will always be applicable to humanity. It was not a law given to Israel in relation to their national identity. Instead, it was issued based on the way God created humans. Its backdrop appears to be the violence that provoked God’s judment on humanity. As a means to halt unrestrained violence, God instituted a creation ordinance of capital punishment. It was not based on a limited cultural situation and is reaffirmed in the the New Testament (see: Romans 13:1-4).               

Some wrongly conclude that Christ’s law of love rules out capital punishment. It is argued that in the New Testament believers are commanded to love their enemies, not execute them (Matthew 5:38-45). Since Jesus clearly taught nonresistance and since Christians are commanded to forgive as Christ forgave, how could one reconcile capital punishment with Jesus? Simply stated, Jesus is not teaching about government response to lawbreakers. If applied to criminal justice, it would rule out all punishment and contradict the God-ordained role of government to punish evildoers (I Peter 2:14). Jesus is teaching about personal revenge, not civil justice.               

Those who think retributive justice contradicts forgiveness have also misunderstood forgiveness. When God forgives us, it is not because he was big-hearted enough to overlook our sin but because Jesus bore the death penalty for our sin.             

Occasionally I am asked how I reconcile my pro-life position with my support of capital punishment. I point out that both positions (pro-life and pro-capital punishment) endorse the sanctity of life by opposing deliberate acts of homicide. Scripture emphasizes that life is precious because humans are made in God’s image.

Those who willfully take the life of another must forfeit their own lives. This is punishment that fits the crime. It is also the Christian perspective on capital punishment. When capital punishment is abused by inequities in due process, there is a need for revisions in the judicial system, not elimination of the death penalty.

Sadly, the death penalty is needed to protect civilized society. Elimination of it would lead to a barbaric society. Those who willfully take the life of another must sacrifice their own lives. Some killing is unjust and we call it “murder.” Other killing is just and this we might call “self-defense” in some cases and “just punishment” in others.