Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/87

Contributor - Will Kroon

Title - Voting For or Against Capital Punishment

Topic - The Church In The World

A few days ago a leader from the Salvation Army asked me to mail her a copy of the Reformed Church's stand on the death penalty. As I looked through our Orange Books, I was unable to locate any statements on that subject. Consequently, I assumed that our denomination has been so divided on the death penalty issue that it has not been able to produce and approve a statement on it.

As I am writing this paper our political leaders in Ottawa are getting ready to debate whether or not capital punishment should be reinstated. This is a bit odd since the leaders of all the major parties favour the abolition of the death penalty. Their reasons for debating the death penalty once again is that they believe that the majority of Canadians favour the reinstatement of capital punishment and so the men and women in Ottawa want to cater to the sentiments of the populace.

In the meantime, the major denominations in Canada are beginning to present their views on the matter and it is already clear that Christians are divided on whether or not the death penalty ought to be reinstated. It must be confusing to an unbeliever to see that Christians are so divided in interpreting the will of the Lord on the death penalty. They must wonder whether Christians voice their own opinion or express the will of the Almighty God. They observe the fact that some Christians feel that God demands the death penalty for certain crimes while other Christians feel that He abhors it.

While on the one hand Christians may be honest in expressing their convictions on the matter, on the other hand, it may be equally true that they read the Lord's will through glasses that are coloured by personality and cultural biases. How else can we explain that Christians in the East express themselves differently on the matter than Christians in the West and that Christians belonging to the Pentecostal Church vote differently than Christians who are members of the major denominations. The former strongly favour the death penalty while the latter oppose it.

Many of those who favour the death penalty derive their support from the teachings of - the Old Testament. However, they are often very inconsistent in using the Old Testament teachings. For instance, we read in the first book of the Old Testament that the death penalty was prescribed for various offences such as for striking one's parents (Ex. 21:17), for adultery (Lev. 20:10), for sacrificing to false gods (Ex. 22:20) and for taking a person's life (Gen. 9:5, 6; Ex. 21:12). Therefore, it is inconsistent if one now demands the death penalty for some offenses and not for the other.

However, I do believe in taking the teachings of the Old Testament seriously and in seeing how the believers at that time applied these commandments. Furthermore, it may help us in our interpretation if we see how the Lord interpreted the laws from the Old Testament. It seems to me that there is little evidence in the Old Testament that the death penalty was the norm in dealing with the above mentioned crimes. When justice was pronounced in the Old Testament, the principle of "wisdom" played a major role, just as it did to the Lord Jesus Christ.

For instance, when the leaders of the Jews brought a woman to Him who was caught in the act of committing adultery, Jesus did not demand strict adherence to the Old Testament laws. He used principles that had a higher priority, in interpreting His Father's will. He said to the leaders: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." When not one came forward to condemn the woman, He said to her: "Neither do I condemn you: go and do not sin again" (John 1: I 1). We may conclude from this that quoting a text from the Old Testament alone is not enough in discovering the Lord's will on the death penalty.

Interpretive Principles

There are Christian principles that may assist us in getting hold of the biblical view of capital punishment. The first principle deals with the question: Who does God consider to be a murderer? An answer is implied in the words of the Master when He said: "Let anyone who is without sin cast the first stone." in order to answer my question it may be helpful to listen again to the interpretation which the Heidelberg Catechism gives to the commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." The catechism interprets this to mean "that I am not to abuse, hate, injure, or kill my neighbour, either with thought, or by word or gesture, much less by deed, whether by myself or through another . . ." Then the catechism goes on with the question: "Does this commandment speak only of killing?" The answer is no, for "in forbidding murder God means to teach us that He abhors the root of murder, which is envy, hatred, anger and desire for revenge, and that He regards all these as hidden murder."

The second principle deals with what not to do when bringing someone to trial. He said: "Repay no one evil for evil ... never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God" (Romans 12:17 - 19). Who are murderers?

Biblically speaking one not only has to look at the behaviour of vicious criminals but also at the hidden or slow murders committed by respectable citizens. Here I am thinking of the political leaders who give orders to test atomic devices in the atmosphere while they know that its fallout will kill or maim many of the unborn in the area of testing. Is that not a form of premeditated murder? What I want to point out is that mine operators, industrialists, farmers and others have at times, through negligence, contributed to the cause of an illness or a slow death of their employees or children by failing to provide necessary precautions for safety on the job. Christ put it even stronger when He said that we kill people by our hatred, anger and desire for revenge. By putting in that way He made it clear that not only the criminals are guilty of destroying people, but that we too are among the "killers" who deserve punishment. Yet, the facts of life are that it is mainly the coloured, the poor and the uneducated who will end up in the electric chair when capital punishment is reinstated while the other type of murderers go free.

Though capital punishment may satisfy the feelings of anger and revenge of many in our society, it does not do what its advocates claim it is doing - being a deterrent. At least there is not sufficient proof that it is a deterrent to premeditated murder. Therefore, the death penalty is an ineffective and cruel way to deal with the crimes committed in our society.

In closing, I would like to add that those who are against capital punishment ought to think along with those who seek an alternative to the death penalty. Other forms of punishment are required to provide justice and to protect society. Furthermore, there is a need to reform the correctional systems and review the ways parole is being granted to those convicted. And last but not least the victims of crime and their families need to be supported and/or compensated.

Since I believe that capital punishment is not in harmony with the overall teachings of the Bible, and since no conclusive evidence is brought forward that it is a deterrent to violent crime, I am in favour of the abolition of the death penalty.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.