Is capital punishment a Christian position?
I write this because of the recent Norwegian mass murder. Anders Behring Breivik is charged with murdering 77 people, in two connected attacks. These were heartless and calculated crimes.
Opponents of capital punishment cite New Testament passages such as “turning the other cheek” to counter. Jesus stopped a capital execution by saying, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”[1] How can one reconcile Christ’s act of forgiving his Roman executioners with the administration of sodium thiopental to a death row felon? Who has a right to throw that stone?
Yet capital punishment seems clearly biblical. Yahweh declared in the Law, “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.”[2] No negotiation. There are numerous examples of God instigating executions.
Christ Himself, along with two criminals, died by crucifixion, the Roman form of capital punishment. He referred to Pilate’s authority as “given … from above.”[3]
There are two aspects of punishment, - human and Divine. In the 1995 movie “Dead Man Walking,” Sean Penn plays a cold-blooded killer who seemingly escapes Divine punishment, only to be executed by men. Forgiveness is one thing. Consequences of our actions is quite another. The Bible condones an avenger who kills his loved ones’ murderer as “without being guilty of murder,” [4] provided it was done within the legal framework. Executing a serious offender is sanctioned.
How can a loving God endorse the death of a person? Could it partly be the deterrent effect the death penalty has? One study concluded that from 1977-97, “each additional execution decreases homicides by about five.”[5]
Norway has no death penalty. Anders Breivik faces a maximum of 21 years in prison under Norwegian law. It seems Norwegian lawmakers could not envision such a horrific crime. Breivik faces 99 days for each life he took unless the sentence is changed. Does the punishment fit his crime?
The criminal crucified near Jesus admitted, “… we are getting what our deeds deserve.”[6] That is the tenor of the Bible regarding capital punishment. Some crimes “deserve” the life of the perpetrator, while others do not. It is right that a judge should have the option of capital punishment.
Should Breivik get the death penalty if he is finally convicted? Definitely. Would God spare him from Divine punishment if he repents of his sin of murder? Yes, He will.
After all, He doesn’t cast stones.
[1] John 8:7 NIV Bible
[2] Exodus 21:12 NIV Bible
[3] John 19:11 NIV Bible
[4] Numbers 35:27 NIV Bible
[5] “Getting off Death Row: Commuted Sentences and the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment,” 1995, by Naci Mocan (University of Colorado at Denver) & R. Kaj Gittings (Cornell)
[6] Luke 23:41 NIV Bible
