Skip to main content

The Death Penalty

I was just reading an article by a progressive Christian on the sentencing of the Boston Marathon Bomber.  The gist of the article was that it is inconsistent for Christians to claim to be pro-life, while still upholding the death penalty.  Statistically, he quotes a Barna poll which reported that only 8% of Protestants believe Jesus would support the death penalty.

I have to admit this was a new one for me.  I have never run across someone who believes the death penalty is wrong because it is inconsistent with a pro-life stance.  However, I believe that the writer' argument is in fact anti-life - not pro-life.

It always amazes me that when the death penalty debate arises, that those who seek its abolition always seem to speak of the value of the life of the murderer.  Few of them ever mention the value of the life of the victim.  You see, the victim was a person made in the image of God.  As a consequence, that victim was of inestimable value. The murderer has made the most anti-life statement that it is possible for a human to make by snuffing out the life on a person made in the image of Almighty God.

5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Gen 9:5-6 ESV)
In this passage, Almighty God (including the second person of the Trinity, Jesus) says in order truly value human life, the life of the murderer must be taken. Ironically, the article claiming to be pro-life falls short by applying man's standards rather than God's and by attributing greater value to the life of the criminal than to the life of the victim.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Families' Fridays

From Focus on the Family 10 helpful tips for single parents Imagine this: you’re the sole parent for your children. You get them up, get them fed and send them to school. You do the housework, maybe you go to work yourself, you get home and you’re still the only adult there. There’s no one to relieve you. No one to pass the baton to while you take a shower or take a few minutes for yourself. You make dinner and gather the family around the table to eat. You play with them, read to them, give them baths, get them to bed and there’s no one there to sit with and process your day. There’s no one there to laugh with you or pray with you. Instead you keep working. You clean up the house again. You pack lunches for the next day. And you eventually crash into bed, knowing you’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow. For many, this is not an imagined scenario. When you parent alone – whether due to divorce, the loss of your spouse or having a spouse who works away from home for long periods of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Death For a Believer

We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. We think of death as ending; let us rather think of life as beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing; let us think of gaining. We think of parting; let us think of meeting. We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of death whispers,  "You must go from earth," Let us hear the voice of Christ saying, "You are but coming to me."   Norman Macleod
Post a Comment
Read more

Let Me Introduce

It is almost a joke to imagine I am introducing John MacArthur Jr. to you.  In our circles of evangelicalism his is a well known name.  He has spoken at the national convention of our Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists on at least three different occasions.  However, the last of these was almost twenty years ago.  I believe that is because we have changed as a Fellowship and have strayed from the message that Dr. MacArthur preaches.  Dr. MacArthur has served his congregation since 1969.  That, in itself, should commend this man's message to us. As a pastor, I appreciate his commitment to the expository preaching of the Bible.  He has published an entire New Testament commentary set based upon his faithful preaching of the text.  I have never met this man personally, but I have appreciated him laying down a faithful path which younger men, like myself, have been able to follow. Grace to You  
Post a Comment
Read more