From:

Hi Lin,

You asked me whether you can be a Christian and support capital punishment.

YES!

In the Bible there are several occasions when capital punishment is the punishment that is required by God for certain major crimes such as murder. Deuteronomy chapter 19 sets out many requirements for a godly justice system. One witness is not enough to convict someone of a crime (verse 15), the judge must make a thorough investigation (verse18), but if it can be proved that someone has committed a serious crime then justice should be carried out on the basis of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' (verse 21).

The punishment should fit the crime. If an innocent man has been murdered and the murder was pre-meditated, the command God gave in the Old Testament, was that the criminal should be killed (verse 12). There is nothing in the New Testament to suggest that God has changed on this matter. When Jesus spoke of turning the other cheek, he was talking to individuals. Of course we shouldn't take the law into our own hands. Of course, as individuals we should forgive and love our enemies. God however gave the authority to the rulers of the land in the past to decide if there is enough evidence to convict a criminal and sentence him to death. In the New Testament, Paul states again that the rulers have a God-given right to rule. Surely, God has not taken away the right of rulers to pass the death sentence. I urge you to support the death penalty. There is no evidence to say that it is ungodly.

Will Hangem