The Death Penalty

 “Which applies: Old or New Testament theology?”, so asked a young reader.  And the answer is extremely simple, “Vengeance is mine…”, as is so eloquently stated in Deuteronomy.  God and Jesus claim the right of vengeance, or better stated - revenge.

However, here is the situation:  In Israel, from its inception, cities of refuge were established.  These cities were places where someone responsible for the accidental death of another, could flee to and live out their remaining days in peace.  No vengeance (ie: being killed by the family of the victim) could occur as long as the guilty remained in the city.  If they ever left, well, they were toast if found by the family of the victim.  If it was a flat out case of murder, well you were to be driven out of the city of refuge to face your fate!

So the Old Testament was pretty straight forward: commit murder – you die, commit accidental murder – like your ox trampled someone – you might live, if God let you.

Okay, if we take into account 1 Peter 4:15 and Romans 12:19, which place us under the grace of God, you will notice that the statement is: God will handle it, within the body of believers.  So, we as Christians, are to separate a murderer from among us - for justice from God though the World system – but that is also true of all criminals.  We are not to fellowship with them; we are to allow secular justice to work.  I get uneasy when I think of the implication of: we may be wrong to have prison ministries – they may not be Biblical.  And please do remember I am talking about criminals as described in the Bible – not North Korea or America!

Now, should the World System, which we truly are not supposed to be a part of, participate in the death penalty?  That is a hard one.  When I think of men such as Ted Bundy, whom totally made a disaster of my life (his description was not far from my own, we both drove a VW, we both were in Seattle at the time, we both had an arm in a cast at the same time, etc).  I can not blame fathers for chaining their daughters up!  Well then, other than my own personal frustrations with the man, and the fact that two of my friends were survivors of his attempts, should he have been allowed to live with dozens of dead to his credit?

In any Godless society, actions are taken from a point of pragmatism: if you can not live within the rules of the culture, then you must be removed.  Be it Ted Bundy in Florida, a Christian in China or a drug smuggler in Singapore – death comes to those whom do not abide by the rules of that culture.  Of course, many nations choose to simply lock the undesirables away instead.

I am comfortable knowing Ted Bundy may have accepted Jesus as his savior.  I am comfortable he had to pay a price for his past sins against man and God, which was death.  But, I am no less guilty and no less deserving of death as well before God……  So, the joy expressed by the ‘Christians’ outside of his prison over his death leaves me a bit shaken.  I fear this culture has lost the concept of human worth or the sanctity of life. 

We are all made in the image of God.  That is supposed to be what sets us a part in creation and makes us special.  To one another we are to honor that reflection of God for instance, by not rejoicing in the misfortune of others or exploiting them for our own benefit. 

These as well as many other examples could be used to show how we denigrate the Image of God.