JC Disciples
Capital Punishment: Old Testament Mandates vs. Current Application in the USA
The crux of the issue concerning capital punishment is justice. Let us talk about the application of the death penalty in the USA today. Let us examine whether or not justice is being served by the application of this penalty.
Let me make it very clear right up front, I believe God gave the death penalty to Israel to carry out. I also believe that if some nation could live up to the Law, as God gave it to Moses, then they would also be justified in carrying out the death penalty. I will make no arguements about what Jesus says concerning this issue, but rather rely on the Old Testiment Law as given to Moses.
Let us look at the most damning piece of evidence concerning the application of the death penalty in the USA found in Exodus 23. Please note that God is dictating these verse to Moses (see Exodus 20:1 as the beginning of God's long list of Laws of which Exodus 23 is a part of that dictation).
(NIV quotes)
Exodus 23:1-8 "Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness." "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit." "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him." "If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it." "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits." "Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous."
So what is God saying to us in these verse? Well the first thing that comes from these verses is that God demands perfect justice. He does not want to see justice perverted or twisted by lies, bribery or any kind of false charge. One of the most frightening aspects concerning this section is Exodus 23:7 and most especially
"...do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty."
So if we, as the people who elect and tell our elected officials what we want, and then insist on the death penalty as an application of punishment and an innocent dies; who is guilty? Remember it is our government, we decide on the laws of this land through the election of officials to office, direct ballot and our opinion which sways elected officials.
What is God's definition of justice in Exodus 23:1-8? Nothing less than fairly applying the law. God demands that we follow the Law perfectly if we are going to follow the Law at all. As Christians we best ask ourselves if the laws in the USA are fair and just concerning the death penalty because if they are not fair and just, God will hold us accountable for them.
Exodus 23:1-8 is really an extension of Exodus 20:13.
Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."
In Pentateuch and Haftorahs (P&H) with commentary: "Jewish ethics enlarges the notion of murder so as to include both the doing of anything by which the health and well-being of a fellow-man is undermined, and the omission of any act by which a fellow-man could be saved in peril, distress or despair."
Martin Luther writes in the Large Catechism on Exodus 20:13:
" Briefly, then, to impress it unmistakably upon the common people, the import of the commandment against killing is this: In the first place, we should not harm anyone. This means, first, by hand or by deed; next we should not use our tongue to advocate or advise harming anyone; again, we should neither use nor sanction any means or methods whereby anyone may be harmed; finally, our heart should harbor no hostility or malice toward anyone in a spirit of anger and hatred. Thus you should be blameless toward all people in body and soul, especially toward him who wishes or does you evil. For to do evil to somebody who desires and does you good is not human but devilish.
In the second place, this commandment is violated not only when a person actually does evil, but also when he fails to do good to his neighbor, or though he has the opportunity, fails to prevent, protect and save him from suffering bodily harm or injury. If you send a person away naked when you could clothe him, you have let him freeze to death. If you see anyone suffer hunger and do not feed him, you have let him starve. Likewise, if you see anyone condemned to death or in similar peril and do not save him although you know ways and means to do so, you have killed him. It will do you no good to plead that you did not contribute to his death by word or deed, for you have withheld your love from him and robbed him of the service by which his life might have been saved."
So how can this be applied to the state? Look directly at Luther's words "Likewise, if you see anyone condemned to death or in similar peril and do not save him although you know ways and means to do so, you have killed him." How many of us have heard of cases in the USA where innocent people have been either days or hours from death only to be spared because it was discovered they could never have been at the scene of the crime?
Michael Radelet (a University of Florida death penalty researcher) and Hugo Admam Bedau (of Tufts University) have documented at least two dozen defendants who were executed but later found to be innocent within this century. In the last 20 years they have documented at least 60 prisoners who have been released from death row because they were innocent. Many of these people were not released because the government (local, state, or federal) or by lawyers (ACLU or defense lawyers) did any extra work, but rather through the hard work of college students. They interviewed witness and reviewed documentation that the police and prosecutors missed (or manipulated) in order to get a conviction.
Knowing this, and knowing that the rules have been changed to "stream-line" the process, I don't understand how any Christian can condone and support capital punishment in the USA. To do so is to break the spirit of Exodus 20:13 and the letter of Exodus 23:7.
What other ways does God's Law safeguard us against the misapplication of the death penalty.
Deut 19:15-21 "One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." "If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time." "The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. "The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you." "Show no pity; life for life; eye for eye; tooth for tooth; hand for hand; foot for foot."
The first thing I noticed is that the famous verse (Deut 19:21) shows up at the end of the discourse on false witness during a trial. Could it be that God is making a statement about lying to the court, rather than a general and blanket statement about justice and mercy? Unless you are the kind of "Christian" that likes to single quote the Bible, it is unmistakeable that God is talking about false witness and what should be done to those who lie to the court. Afterall, what is the "evil thing" being spoken about in Deut. 19:20? It must be the "malicious witness".
So let us look at a famous case that recently occured, the OJ Simpson trial. Where are the two witnesses against him? Did anyone actually see the murder's? Are OJ Simpson's accusers merely things (samples and speculation)? God's Law demands a human witness to the crime. Where are those witnesses? I am not saying whether or not OJ Simpson is guilty or not (I don't know that and can never know that since I am not in the jury box), but what I am saying is that God's Law makes a heavier demand on His people than any law we create.
Some will be angry with this because that would mean that there was an unsolved murder. But God's Law even deals with that case, Deut. 21:1-9.
"If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns." "Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck." "The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minster and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault." "Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neak was broken in the valley, and they sall declare: 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.'" "'Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed O Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.'" "And you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord."
This sacrifice did not atone for the murderer's sin, rather it was an act of atonement for the community for it's inability in keeping innocent blood from being shed and from finding the person who shed the innocent's blood.
Based on these Old Testiment verses, and many more there are three requirements necessary before any government can carry out the death penalty to the satisfaction of God's Law:
The government must set up righteous laws and obey them: As for righteous I looked to Websters for a definiton. The definiton seems to revolve around the concept of justice. Websters definiton of justice is "a being righteous; fairness; rightfulness; reward or penalty as deserved; the use of authority to uphold what is just; the adminstration of law".
We know that governments are pretty good at carrying the last statement (the adminstration of law), especially if you are without means and friendless. Recently here in Phoenix a homeless man was arrested, tried and convicted of a felony robbery. He broke into a bread truck stole a lot of bread and sweet cake items, ate what he could and gave away the rest. If memory serves he got an outrageous sentance, something like 1 or 2 years for stealing ~$200-500 worth of bread. Does that sound like "reward or penalty as deserved"?
If our government has a difficult time dispensing "justice" for that kind of crime, how are they going to handle a murder trial with lots of emotional overtones and violence involved?
Earthly governments must carry out the punishment fairly: Please look up the definition of fair in Webster's, the part of the definition that applies is "according to the rules." So if the law states that if you murder someone you will receive the death penalty, it would be fair. But it also means that your status or popularity can not enter into the decision about whether the death penalty is applied to your case.
Earthly governments must do everything possible to protect innocent people from the death penalty: The problem here is that there have been many cases in recent years where it was proved that an innocent person (ie couldn't have been at the scene of the crime) was almost executed. If the government would have carried out the execution, then the punishment would not have been fair or just because an innocent person would have been murdered by the government. And in fact innocent people have been murdered by our government. The government murdered them on our behalf and because of our demand for vengence.
Recent changes in the laws of the United States have made it even harder for someone on death row to prove their innocence. And I am not talking about proof by some legal technicality, but rather evidence that demonstrates that the person couldn't have been at the scene of the crime. How has our government protected the innocent from being executed by enacting these laws?
Earthly governments must carry out the punishment in a non-discriminatory way: This is really a part of fairly applying the law. There seems to be growing statistical evidence that if you are a minority in the USA you will receive the death penalty; as opposed to being a member of the majority.
Again look at the famous cases of the day and you will also see a pattern where the wealthy can "buy" justice, but the poor must accept whatever "justice" society is willing to pay for. Someone recently said that in the US "Capital punishment is what happens when you run out of capital." A sad commentary on our legal system.
As a Christian I have found that many of my long held opinions and beliefs are not compatible with God's Law and Will. The more I study His word the more I learn that I should reflect His Will and never my opinion. My position on the death penalty is based on a strict reading of the scriptures and how the laws of the USA are actually applied.
I do not see how there can be any other position for a Christian in the USA. If someone does please use demonstrate it to me by following the same criteria I did - what does God's Law have to say about the subject and how is justice served in the USA today.
Do not use emotional arguements about the victim and their rights, because I agree that the guilty should be punished. I am only interested in insuring that an innocent person isn't punished in the place of the guilty.
Do not use the emotional arguement about the death penalty and war, these are separate issues and are dealt with in God's Law in different ways.
Do not use the emotional arguement that the death penalty is a form of self-defense, self-defense almost always occurs in the heat of the moment, the decision to use the death penalty can never be a heat of the moment decision.