Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Capital Punishment--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Should Christians support the death penalty? The resolving power to that question is controversial. Many Christians feel that the Bible has spoken to the issue, but others believe that the New will ethic of love replaces the centenarian Testament law. Old Testament ExamplesThroughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of jacket crown penalization. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either without delay or indirectly, in the taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel. One example is the flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities because of the flagitious sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). There were also punishments such as the punishment at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the Jews wandering in the wilderness. The Old Testament is replete with references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used peachy punishment to deal with Israels sins and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel. The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the Jewish law code. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even precedes the Old Testament law code. According to Genesis 96, capital punishment is based upon a belief in the sanctity of life. It says, "Whoever sheds mans blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man." The Mosaic Law set forth numerous offenses that were penal by death. Th e first was murder. In Exodus 21, God commanded capital punishment for murderers. Premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as "lying in wait") was punishable by death. A second offense punishable by death was involvement in the occult (Exod. 22 Lev. 20 Deut 18-19). This include sorcery, divination, acting as a medium, and sacrificing to false gods. Third, capital punishment was to be used against perpetrators of sexual sins such as rape, incest, or homosexual practice. Within this Old Testament theocracy, capital punishment was extended beyond murder to cover various offenses.