Does the Bible Support Capital Punishment?

Many countries have abolished the death penalty, but the United States remains a notable exception, along with China, Iran, North Korea, and Somalia—nations not exactly recognized for enlightened governance. In the U.S., there also are concerns that the sentencing process in capital cases is tainted by racism and bias.

How should Christians address this topic? Does the Bible support the death penalty, or is capital punishment a barbaric relic of the past that should be abolished? Listen now to Dr. David K. Bernard's response.

If you enjoy this podcast, leave a five-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with family and friends.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Is the death penalty an appropriate punishment for heinous crimes like premeditated murder? Or is it a barbaric relic of the past that should be eliminated from modern society? Does the Bible have anything to say about this subject? That's the question we'll consider next on Apostolic Life in the Twenty First Century. Welcome to Apostolic Life in the Twenty First Century, a podcast dedicated to helping modern-day believers live out the teachings of the first century church. This podcast is part of the teaching ministry of Dr. David K. Bernard. Dr. Bernard has dedicated his life to studying the Bible and helping believers apply its message to their daily lives. In Apostolic Life in the 21st century, Dr. Bernard answers your questions about what the Bible teaches and how those teachings apply to everyday life. Thank you for joining us for this episode. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to check out Dr. David K. Bernard's books. Dr. Bernard has written more than 30 books on biblical theology and Christian living and leadership. Visit Pentecostal Publishing.com and search David Bernard for a list of available titles. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. That's Pentecostalpublishing.com, promo code DKB10 to save 10% at checkout. Many countries around the world have abolished the death penalty, but the United States remains a notable exception. Critics of the death penalty like to point out that we're on a list that includes China, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, nations that maybe are not exactly recognized for what we'd call enlightened governance. Now, in the U.S., we should note that there are concerns that the sentencing process for capital punishment cases is often tainted by racism. That's the charge. As a Christian, how should we address this topic of capital punishment? Is there any biblical support for the death penalty, or is capital punishment our a barbaric relic of the past that we should work to abolish?

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Let me say I think that Christians can have legitimate conscientious differences of opinion on this subject. And that, you know, we have Christian liberty to agree to disagree. But I do want to make two important points that I hope we can all uh agree upon. The first point, in principle, uh the Bible does provide a case for capital punishment in certain cases. So if you go to Genesis chapter 9, it reminds us that humans are created in the image of God. So therefore, if someone kills someone, they're actually attacking and attempting to destroy God's image creature. And as a result, Genesis 9 says, if you do that, then you will suffer the same consequence. If you shed blood in destroying God's image creature, your blood will be shed. So there is a biblical basis on the on the grounds of justice that if you kill someone, it is just for you to suffer the punishment of capital punishment. So there's the theological basis. Of course, I would hasten to add, God is the perfect judge. He created life, he has power to take life, he can judge us, he knows the heart, he knows the circumstances, he knows any justifications or exceptions. Um, and so he is able to issue perfect judgment. So, in in the case of a true theocracy, where God is the ruler, we can say capital punishment is just. So I do believe there's a case for that. The problem is humans are imperfect. And as you pointed out, often capital punishment is not administered uh properly or correctively. And so some of the regimes that you mention, uh, they deny human liberties, they take away human liberties, and they oppress uh good people, and uh, you know, so they use capital punishment for evil. And so that's why we certainly uh wouldn't want to support that. But then even in a just society or society that attempts to be just and fair, as the U.S. tries to do, many times um justice is administered unequally. Uh, so there can be racial prejudice. But I think also one factor that's not noted as much is there can be disparities due to poverty. So people that are poor, which is often correlated with race, they can't afford lawyers, they can't, they don't understand the process, they don't have the right defenses, or they're or they're looked down upon because of their poverty and social circumstances. And so there does seem to be a disproportionate application of the death penalty, certainly with regard to people who are poor. And then as it's administered today, there can be an extremely long time between the sentence and the execution, and it can seem arbitrary. It's just the luck of the draw. You you go 20, 25 years, multiple appeals to different judges, different courts, and it can seem random. It's like a toss of the coin of whether somebody's gonna find a loophole somewhere along the way and somebody's not. So it doesn't seem fair if people who've committed the same type of crime and they both escape the consequences for 20 or 25 years, that doesn't seem fair. So if the death penalty is fair, it doesn't seem fair to do that. And then uh, and some may even die waiting for the death penalty. Others may get off on a technicality or a loophole, and one is executed, the other is not, when the circumstances are the same. And so if you're going to have that kind of system, it seems it should be fair towards everyone. The time should be greatly limited. There should be appeals, but there should be an orderly, fair process that's fair to the victims and their families as well. It's fair to a sense of justice as well. Uh another danger, of course, is that no human judgment is perfect. And so what happens if you execute an innocent person? Uh, there have been people that at least have been suspected that that happened. And certainly there have been many cases where people have been on death row for years, and finally, through new evidence, through DNA, through uh subsequent um admission of prosecutorial uh uh wrongdoing, just wanting to get a conviction, wanting to win, or even testimony of witnesses that either had their own agenda of escaping justice themselves or protecting someone else, or misunderstanding or wanting vengeance and and just cooperating with what they thought. There have been cases where innocent people have been exonerated. And of course, I think our system is designed, and I think should be designed in the interests of justice, that we'd rather see, you know, ten people go free, guilty people go free, than one person be executed. Now, if it's a limited sentence, you might feel a little more philosophical that sometimes innocent people do suffer, but at least there's life after the suffering. But with execution, that's a permanent consequence that nothing could ever compensate. So the person that's unfairly imprisoned can be released and can be compensated financially. But the person's executed, nothing can be done. So that means in our imperfect human society, we should look very carefully at the administration of capital punishment. So I personally feel it should be very rare for extremely clear crimes. Even from a point of view of justice, you might say murder, but I would say where there are very grossly aggravating circumstances, um, and which that's usually the case under U.S. law, there have to be some additional um not just the mere fact of taking someone's life, but the manner, the extremity, uh, the violation of all human standards and uh, you know, usually against law enforcement judges and you know uh aggravated uh uh torture, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so it should be rare, it should be limited for the most clear cases, the most egregious cases. There should be a standard process of appeal that's not unlimited, but reasonable, long enough to ensure justice, uh to ensure the right decision, but yet not so long as to be arbitrary, whimsical, and no deterrence because for all practical purposes, no one can foresee the consequences. So that would indicate a very strict, rare system. And you might say, well, in the Bible, they executed people for all kinds of things. But I think you have to understand the Old Testament, God was giving principles and he was showing how wrong sin is and how evil it is, and how it cuts off people from God, and it cuts off people from society, and how the death penalty is just. However, even in the Old Testament, it seems that mercy was given far more than one might expect. That just because the law in principle said it would be just to execute someone, that doesn't mean in every case, or even the majority of cases, it was always implemented. The example of King David, who obviously committed adultery, which the penalty was death, yet he found mercy in God's sight. He did wrong, he suffered consequences in his family the rest of his life, but he did pray a prayer of repentance, Psalm 51, a beautiful prayer of repentance. God honored that. So even when it was justice, God himself offered mercy. We find that in the New Testament in John chapter 8, the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Again, under the law, she could be executed. It seems that was probably very rare if it even happened at the time of Christ, because the Jewish religious leaders tried to catch the Lord in that. So they said, here's a woman, she's caught in the very act of adultery. There's so here, there's zero question about guilt. So you don't have to worry about, is this unjust? You know, how do we know for sure? They said, she's she's guilty. And the law is clear, she deserves to die. So what do you say? Now, if if the law was routinely implemented at that time, it wouldn't have been much of an issue. It wouldn't have been a hard question for Jesus, or it wouldn't have made him look bad. But obviously, they were trying to put him to the test that he was going to give an answer that was going to be so offensive to people that he would lose his credibility. And of course, he wisely said, you know, whoever's without sin, cast the first stone. And so they they all left because none of them could say they were without sin. And it was obviously a setup because if she was caught in the very act, well, there's a man that's equally guilty. So why didn't they bring him? So already they were being unjust. But then Jesus did not say she wasn't deserving of the penalty, but he told her, Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. So he said, It's just that you would suffer consequences, but I'm going to offer you mercy. And so here's my second main point. I do believe that in rare cases society does have the right to institute capital punishment. So we might have different opinions of when it would be just, when it would be appropriate, what would be the right process, what is fair, can it be implemented fairly, without discrimination, without racism, without disadvantaging the poor, et cetera, et cetera. So all those are legitimate debates. So even if we say yes, in principle, there are some crimes deserving of death, but we still have many discussions about what's appropriate today in our culture, since we're not a theocracy. But then my second question, my second point would be this, as Christians, we opt for mercy. So while we recognize people deserving of death, and when I read of some horrible crimes of child torture and murder, or you know, mass murder, or a direct attack upon the fabric of our society, killing of police officers and judges, and you know, you know, I read some of these very horrendous crimes, I say that person deserves to die. Um, but if I, as a Christian and a minister, if I'm offered an opportunity to minister in prison, I want to do that, and I've done that many times. Um, and if someone is on death row, then I want to minister to them. I I had a a cousin who was in church in the early part of his life, but didn't live for God, got involved in drugs, etc., etc. And in rage, he killed his wife and her mother and father, killed three people. He was put on death row. He never was executed, he eventually died in prison, and he did go to a United Pentecostal prison ministry service. So I hope there was a good ending. But here is a man that I would say, by the law of the state as well as the law of God, he was deserving of death. But I personally didn't want to kill him and I didn't want to see him executed, I wanted to see him saved. So there have been times I've gone into a prison and I could say, this person that I'm trying to teach a Bible study to or that I'm preaching to, I'm praying for, I'm trying to get them to receive the Holy Ghost, they deserve to die. But I'm glad they're not dead yet. I'm glad my job is to minister the gospel. So if you're asking me, would I vote to kill them? If you're asking me, would I sign up for the job of being the executioner, uh, would I flip the switch on the electric chair, I would say no. I would say I have a conscientious objection to that. Even though I recognize that it would be just for society to do this, I don't think I should participate because I'm trying to save a life and save a soul. Now, some would say, well, that's a cop-out. You're, you know, you want other people to do the dirty work, but you're not willing. But I say, no, I think that's part of being a Christian in a secular society. We recognize the secular society has certain rights of justice, but we also, as Christians, we want to operate redemptively within our secular society. So some Christians might conclude, well, we shouldn't have capital punishment because all of us should have that redemptive attitude, or because the death penalty cannot be perfectly uh instituted. Or other Christians might say, you know what, the Bible does support the concept, and in some cases it's fair and just, and yeah, let's give them years of opportunity, but at the end, let's execute justice. So there are two different opinions. But where I personally would say is yes, the society as you know, government is instituted by God, and yes, government does have the right uh to implement capital punishment in certain circumstances. However, as a Christian, as an individual, I'm always going to pray and act on the side of redemption, mercy, and trying to save a soul.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Thank you for listening to this episode of Apostolic Life in the Twenty First Century. If you enjoy this podcast, please take a moment to give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We also appreciate it when you share apostolic life in the 21st century with a friend or family member. And make plans to join us again next time as we look at how the Bible applies to everyday life.