Reprimanding, punishing, and executing criminals for their wrongdoing has been commonplace throughout history, but as Christians, are we to take part in this practice? Are we commanded to enforce it in the New Testament? And if so, who deals out the punishment? To answer these questions let's start at the beginning.
Old Testament
Genesis 9:6 – Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
This was the first time Capital punishment was commanded by God in the form of what to do to a murderer. It was part of the larger covenant that God made with Noah after the flood. Strong defines the word “blood” as “(that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal...” There were no conditions other than they be put to death at this time. Later, God gives conditions to this command and also expands upon who can be put to death for their actions in the following passages:
Exodus 21:12-21, 22:18-20, 35:1-2
Leviticus 20:1-16, 24:10-23
Deuteronomy 22:13-30
To summarize all of them, He ordained execution for murder (not accidental killings), striking one's father or mother or cursing them, kidnapping another to sell them, and anyone who bought the one who was kidnapped, killing one's slave, witchcraft, bestiality, sacrificing to other gods, working on the sabbath, incest, child sacrifice, homosexual intercourse, and others. In addition to the conditions above, there also had to be at least two witnesses of the murder taking place to testify against the accused.
Numbers 35:30 – If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
So, if someone was found guilty and sentenced to death, who carried out the execution? Typically, the entire congregation or the community.
In Leviticus 24:10-23, a man who blasphemed the name of the Lord was stoned to death as commanded by God. The responsibility for stoning the blasphemer was placed on the entire congregation of Israel.
Leviticus 24:10-23 – Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) They put him in custody so that the command of the Lord might be made clear to them.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him. You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
‘If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. The one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good, life for life. If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him. Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death. There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’ ” Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
In Deuteronomy 17:2-7, individuals who engaged in idolatry or other offenses were to be stoned by the witnesses and then the entire community.
Deuteronomy 17:2-7 – “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
And lastly, in Deuteronomy 22:21-24, a woman who was found not to be a virgin at the time of her marriage was to be stoned to death by the men of the city.
Deuteronomy 22:21-24 – then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
“If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
“If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
There are several other examples, but they all essentially say the same. The congregation or community administered the punishment to the evildoers.
So as New Testament Christians, do we still uphold this command? Though capital punishment is not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, there are implications of its existence, although handled differently.
New Testament
It is implied capital punishment can be taken upon an evildoer in Acts 25:10-11 where Paul was being falsely accused by the Jews.
Acts 25:10-11 – “But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
If Paul had done anything wrong he was willing to be put to death. If capital punishment is no longer in effect why would he be okay with this?
In Romans 1:29-32, Paul gives a list of sinful and unrighteous behavior and says that those who know the ordinance of God know that those who do the sinful things he lists are worthy of death.
Romans 1:29-32 – being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
The last implication of capital punishment can be found in Romans 13:1-5.
Romans 13:1-5 – Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Here, Paul implies it is the state's obligation to execute evildoers or murderers, not individual Christians or congregations, “for he does not bear the sword in vain.” A sword is meant for killing, so “bearing the sword” implies the use of it to punish (kill) evildoers. This doesn't necessarily mean the state (governing authority) is commanded to put to death evildoers, but they are permitted to, if they so choose.
John 8:1-11 Argument
There are several passages in The Bible that some use as an argument against capital punishment. At this time, we'll be looking at two of them.
The first one we'll look at is John 8:1-11. This passage is sometimes used as an argument against capital punishment because Jesus himself does not condemn a woman caught in adultery.
John 8:1-11 – But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
We see Jesus did not condemn her even though the scribes and Pharisees said she was caught in the act of adultery. Does that mean Jesus was saying capital punishment was no longer in effect? Well, no. There are four reasons why I think this:
First, in Deuteronomy 22:22 it says both the man and the woman were to be put to death if caught in adultery. Where was the man in this story, why didn't the scribes and Pharisees bring him too?
Second, where were the witnesses to her crime? all the scribes and Pharisees say she was caught in the act, but don't elaborate any further. As we learned earlier, there had to be at least two witnesses.
Third, this takes place before all of Paul's writings and implications of capital punishment we just learned about. If Jesus was teaching that capital punishment was no longer in effect why was an apostle of His still teaching it later?
And lastly, it's important to keep in mind why the scribes and Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus. They were trying to trap Jesus between the Roman law and the Mosaic law. As we read later in John 18:28-31, when Jesus was on trial, the Romans had forbidden the Jews to execute anyone.
John 18:28-31 – Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.” So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,”
If Jesus said that they should stone her, He would break the Roman law. If He refused to allow them to stone her, He would break the Mosaic law. Jesus saw through this ploy and answered accordingly. One by one the Pharisees left until it was only the woman and Jesus. Despite all indications that the woman actually was an adulterer, Jesus was not a witness. By law, He could not condemn the woman. Instead, He essentially tells her to leave and turn from her sinful lifestyle.
Very few of the commands God gave were being followed. The scribes and Pharisees were simply trying to get rid of Jesus through dishonest ways. Jesus knew this, which is why He responded the way He did. The woman went free because the command God instituted was not followed as it should've been. Additionally, capital punishment is implied in Scripture after this incident. Due to all of this, I don't see how this passage could be an argument against capital punishment.
Romans 12:17-19 Argument
The second passage we'll look at is Romans 12:17-19. It is occasionally used as an argument against capital punishment because Paul states not to take vengeance on anyone.
Romans 12:17-19 – Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.
Instead of condemning capital punishment, what this passage is actually condemning is Christians taking personal vengeance. This should be apparent in verse 19 where it reads, “Never take your own revenge.”
Instead of personally retaliating against someone who has done us evil, we're to, “leave room for the wrath of God.” As we read earlier, in Romans 13:4, the state is the servant of God who carries out God's wrath on evildoers. Therefore, capital punishment is a method God uses to repay evildoers for their deeds.
Vengeance is in the hands of God. He will see to it that the evil done to you is repaid. Either in this life or the next.
Conclusion
So, to recap, in the Old Testament God commanded murderers to be put to death. He later added conditions, such as there needing to be two witnesses, and expanded who could be put to death. Also, the community or congregation were the ones to administer the punishment.
In the New Testament, capital punishment is still in effect, however, the state or governing authority is the one to administer the punishment, not the community or congregation, and Christians are to submit to the governing authorities, even as they put evildoers to death. And, as listed in Romans 1, just like in the Old Testament, there are various wrongdoings that make an individual worthy to be put to death, not just murder.