Death Penalty and the Bible

[Zenkai]

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image." Genesis 9:5-6

“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death. But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety. However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.” Exodus 21:12-14

I know the Catholic Church is against the death penalty, but it is clearly allowed by Scripture. Why does the Catholic Church condemn it?

 

[Zenkai]

67 views and 0 takers?

 

[puzzleannie]

“I know the Catholic Church is against the death penalty, but it is clearly allowed by Scripture. Why does the Catholic Church condemn it?

the Catholic Church does not universally condemn the death penalty. Please provide a source for your assumption.

 

[NSFrame]

It’s not “clearly allowed by Scripture”. Both of those quotes are Old Testament, not New, first of all. Second of all, what if I just started pulling out Old Testament quotes, such as Leviticus rules about lepers and menstruating women and said they are “clearly indicated by Scripture”. Makes no sense.

One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not kill”, so I think we should take that pretty seriously, as well as Jesus’s teachings of mercy.

 

[porthos11]

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image." Genesis 9:5-6

“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death. But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety. However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.” Exodus 21:12-14

I know the Catholic Church is against the death penalty, but it is clearly allowed by Scripture. Why does the Catholic Church condemn it?

The Church is not against the death penalty and does not condemn it. And even though the Church itself never had an ecclesiastical death penalty, the Papal States (and later Vatican City) had the death penalty on its books till 1969 (although the last execution by the Papal States was in 1870).

 

[Texas_Roofer]

Because the Church finds most uses of capital punishment fail to met a proper standard. Part of the proper standard is exhausting better alternatives as prison. In the OT prison which requires the victims family to support the perpetrator was not required. Today we have the prison thus we should not use capital punishment. However the Church is clear that capital punishment when properly applied is allowed.

 

[Zenkai]

the Catholic Church does not universally condemn the death penalty. Please provide a source for your assumption.

I thought it was common knowledge that the Catholic Church is against the death penalty.

Was I mistaken? I did ask this question to find out more about it after all.

 

[porthos11]

Because the Church finds most uses of capital punishment fail to met a proper standard. Part of the proper standard is exhausting better alternatives as prison. In the OT prison which requires the victims family to support the perpetrator was not required. Today we have the prison thus we should not use capital punishment. However the Church is clear that capital punishment when properly applied is allowed.

The Church can propose prudential judgments on the application of the death penalty, but has never condemned it as immoral in principle.

 

[Zenkai]

It’s not “clearly allowed by Scripture”. Both of those quotes are Old Testament, not New, first of all. Second of all, what if I just started pulling out Old Testament quotes, such as Leviticus rules about lepers and menstruating women and said they are “clearly indicated by Scripture”. Makes no sense.

One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not kill”, so I think we should take that pretty seriously, as well as Jesus’s teachings of mercy.

It sounds pretty clear to me.

BTW, The Ten Commandments are in the Old Testament too. In fact, the Scripture I posted is in the very next chapter after the Ten Commandments.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

I thought it was common knowledge that the Catholic Church is against the death penalty.

Was I mistaken? I did ask this question to find out more about it after all.

I think you are looking for this :

excerpt: "Twenty-five years ago, our Conference of bishops first called for an end to the death penalty."

old.usccb.org/sdwp/national/penaltyofdeath.pdf

This is the guiding body for North America, not the Magisterium.

 

[LayingHands]

The Church is not against the death penalty and does not condemn it. And even though the Church itself never had an ecclesiastical death penalty, the Papal States (and later Vatican City) had the death penalty on its books till 1969 (although the last execution by the Papal States was in 1870).

I do not see it so much…than a passing over to GOD, for GOD’s final judgement…clearly, the Old Testament is a part of our Holy Bible, as we know and are taught it, and if humanity has adjudged a fellow human being as being too evil and not able to be placed back into humanity for murder (s)…than what more than to pass him along for GOD’s judgement.

It is also to be hoped…he or she will find GOD themselves, before their arrival.

 

[Leegal]

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image." Genesis 9:5-6

“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death. But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety. However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.” Exodus 21:12-14

I know the Catholic Church is against the death penalty, but it is clearly allowed by Scripture. Why does the Catholic Church condemn it?

The Catholic Church does not follow the OT literally. We are only required to follow and accept the Decalogue or 10 Commandments. Jesus came that we be redeemed and go give us the new Truth, the Way, and the Light. Hence, the NT.

 

[triumphguy]

cacp.org/vaticandocuments.html The definitive Latin edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, issued in September 1997, states that although the death penalty would be theoretically permissible in instances when it is “the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor,” such instances are "practically non-existent" in today’s world, given the resources available to governments for restraining criminals. The Catechism language (click on the “Catechism” box at left) reflects the views of the late Pope John Paul II, expressed in his 1995 encyclical “The Gospel of Life.”

Since then, both Pope John Paul II and his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, have spoken out against the death penalty.

In a July 10, 2009 statement welcoming Mexico’s new ambassador to the Vatican, Pope Benedict congratulated the Mexican government for having formally repealed the nation’s death penalty laws in 2005.

“It cannot be overemphasized that the right to life must be recognized in all its fullness,” the pope said. He called upon governments to enact laws and public policies that “take into account the high value that a human being has at every moment of existence,” and added: “In this context, I joyfully welcome the initiative by which Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2005, and the recent measures adopted by some Mexican states to protect human life from its beginnings."

The Pope is against the death penalty.

 

[triumphguy]

cacp.org/vaticandocuments.html

In a homily at a Jan. 27, 1999 Papal Mass in St. Louis, Mo., John Paul II termed the death penalty “both cruel and unnecessary,” and went on to say: “The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will acclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of Life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”

The previous Pope was against the death penalty.

 

[triumphguy]

The US Bishops are against the death penalty.

We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes but for what it does to all of us as a society. Increasing reliance on the death penalty diminishes all of us and is a sign of growing disrespect for human life. We cannot overcome crime by simply executing criminals, nor can we restore the lives of the innocent by ending the lives of those convicted of their murders. The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life.

old.usccb.org/deathpenalty/

 

[AthenaC]

One thing to remember about anything prescriptive you pull from the Old Testament (like the entire book of Leviticus), is that the list of laws is a snapshot from a point in time. It is a history of the laws for the Jews at that point in time, and it is part of the story of how we became civilized. Levitical laws were more restrictive than what was in practice in the surrounding culture, so it shows God pulling civilization in the right direction.

From reading the New Testament, we see which pieces have survived. For example, somewhere in the epistles of Paul, he says the homosexual acts are wrong, so that one stuck. Also, Peter had a vision where he was told to cook and eat old-school “unclean” animals; from that we gather that the dietary restrictions didn’t stick. Also, Tradition and the development of doctrinal concepts help inform us what pieces survived - for example, any of the Levitical provisions allowing slavery don’t stick because our understanding of the sanctity of life and autonomy doesn’t allow those provisions to stick.

Clear as mud? Okay.

My understanding is the same as yours - that since we’re not God, we don’t have the right to take life, except in self-defense, just wars, and things of that nature.

 

[triumphguy]

The Catechism is against the death penalty in modern nation states.

2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm—without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself—the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."68

 

[porthos11]

The Catechism is against the death penalty in modern nation states.

And the Catechism, the current Pope, and the previous Pope’s opinions notwithstanding, the Church’s Magisterium has not, cannot, and will never declare that the death penalty is morally wrong. She cannot, for to do so would mean a reversal of a moral teaching.

 

[triumphguy]

It can, and does declare the death penalty morally wrong in the vast majority of cases, in the vast majority of countries.

Basically the death penalty is morally OK if it is equivalent to killing in self defence. So for North America, Europe, Australia, NZ etc., and other countries with the capabilities of keeping inmates safe and secure etc., it would not be seen as moral. As is clearly stated in the Church documents.

BTW I’ve not read anywhere that the death penalty is morally defensible as punishment or as a deterrent.

 

[pnewton]

In accordance to the Scripture quoted, the Catholic Church does not in the least oppose the death penalty being applied 3500 years ago in the nation-tribe of Israel. In fact, the Catholic Church is no opposed to 99% of applications of the death penalty throught civilization and time. The Catholic Church is opposed to the death penalty being applied in a very narrow slice of time, when supposedly civilized societies are supposedly advanced enough to render their society safe without restort to the death penalty.