Genesis 9:6:
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God, He made man.”
Exodus 21:12:
“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.”
Leviticus 24:17
“Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.”
Numbers 35:31
“Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.”
Deuteronomy 19:19-21
“Then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
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Originally Posted by Force-of-the-Truth";p="
No Christian who understands the meaning of their professed religion supports killing any defenseless person.
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Is that because only
true Christians “look the other way” when they see controversial scripture? Or that only
true Christians do not acknowledge these strict Old Testament barbaric rules.... but instead, soften up New Testament interpretations of:
Romans 13:1-4
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
Acts 25:11
“For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.” – Paul
1 Peter 2:13-14
“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” – Peter
...and again...you’d have to “look the other way” when Jesus was being crucified on the cross next to the two murderers. The one murderer turns to Jesus, repents, and acknowledges that he righteously deserves his punishment; if Jesus was against capital punishment for murderers, he would
TOLD the man that he did not deserve this punishment, but will still “be with me in paradise."
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Originally Posted by JavaBlack";p="
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Originally Posted by DeadCenter";p="
Amos 5:15
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph..
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But Jesus said to love your enemy. He said to turn the other cheek. The New Testament said that you are to let the wicked continue being wicked and let the righteous continue being righteous. |
He said: when your enemy hits one side of your cheek, offer him the other side. I do not apply this generality to all situations, but instead to the personal/anger/retaliation of someone offending me. Considering 9/11, I do not think Jesus would have said: “Well, they took out buildings on the East Coast and killed 3,000 innocent people, let’s forgive them and offer them the West Coast.
Yes, Love your Enemy, but Hate Evil. Saving innocent lives requires the forces of good to respond to the forces of evil.
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Originally Posted by JavaBlack";p="
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Originally Posted by DeadCenter";p="
Jesus also acknowledged this when he was on the cross with the two other murderers. The one criminal confessed that they committed the crime and that they are righteously receiving their punishment, but the other didn’t express regret and he didn’t repent, so Jesus only turned to the one criminal and said: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
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He was talking about the afterlife punishment in this case.
Capital punishment is simply assumed in the bible, as it was the norm. The bible seems to claim it justified... but does not say that it is good... at least not in the New Testament. |
No he wasn’t talking about afterlife punishment; the afterlife was never even brought up before the murderer said those lines. The three were beaten and suffering on the cross for a while before these lines took place. The one murderer mocked Jesus: “This man can save other people but he cannot save himself” “If you are the son of God, save yourself” “etc”....and the other looked at Jesus and said “we (the murderers) deserve this punishment, but he (Jesus) does not”....this was in the act of beating, nails through hands and feet, and preparations for the final blow. He wasn’t talking about afterlife consequences; he was talking about the overall punishment for committing murder. And he knew Jesus didn’t commit murder and didn’t deserve that punishment.
Paul and Peter seemed to think that if you love God and hate Evil, that it’s justified to let the governing authorities punish criminals accordingly, Acts 25:11 and 1 Peter 2:13.