A Christian Perspective on the Death Penalty

Many Christians state that they follow Christ but also support the death penalty.  I believe the two to be incompatible because of what Jesus taught and how he behaved.  We can think of many reasons why we should do the things that we believe are the correct course of action.  But if we call ourselves Christian, the followers of Jesus Christ, then our actions and beliefs must be based upon what our Lord said and did.  There are other reasons a Christian would best be against the death penalty. Reasons not specifically spoken of by Jesus but which can be inferred. I shall discuss why they make me opposed to the death penalty.  I will look at some scripture and argue from that before reaching a conclusion.  Only from reading the words of Christ can we decide what the truly Christian path is.  In areas where the evidence is equivocal, it is surely best to err on the side of caution and forgiveness, to take Jesus teaching as a whole.

The death penalty existed in the Jewish society that Jesus lived in.  Mosaic law prescribed stoning to death as the punishment for a variety of crimes such as adultery, murder and even disobedience of a child to a parent. Many say that Jesus stated he had not come to change a letter of the law and that Biblical accounts of God instructing the killing of criminals means that we are free to do so today.  But he proceeded to do exactly that and not only with regard to judgement and punishment of sinners. The Old Testament lists the commandments of God with regard to what may and may not be eaten.  But Jesus totally contradicted that when he said that it doesn't matter what you eat, what goes into the mouth, but what comes out.  Similarly when confronted by those who said the Law demanded the adulteress be stoned, what did Jesus say?

" He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." John 8:7

Jesus stated that the greatest commandment was love:

Matthew 22:37  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

But surely, the response might be, Jesus wasn't talking about criminals? Jesus himself stated that he was talking of EVERYONE, even our enemies who might try to kill us.

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

It is natural for humans to want to impose justice, fairness.  If they are wronged they wish to wrong the perpetrator.  But what does Jesus say?

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you... whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." Mat. 5:38-39

"But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Mat. 6:15

:Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse... Repay no one evil for evil... do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I Will repay," says the Lord." Rom. 12:14, 17, 19

Repay no one evil for evil and let God settle questions.

Jesus says that we should not judge at all.  Many argue that He meant you could judge but only if you applied the methods of judgement to everyone, including yourself.  However, that ignores the second half of the statement.  Context is everything.  Jesus was saying that you should not judge AT ALL.  He referred to pointing out the faults with others when you yourself have faults.  Only those without sin may judge.


Matthew 7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.


Mercy.  God is ever merciful.  If we are instructed to be perfect, as God is perfect, even with those who can be considered evil then we too must be merciful.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Mat 5:7 KJV)

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

It is too easy to see another human being in terms of one act that we believe deserves to be punished but they are more than that.  Illness, fear, pressure, circumstance all may cause an individual to commit terrible acts.  Not one of us can tell how we would behave in all circumstances.  A psychological study in the 1960's found that ordinary, everyday people were quite willing to administer what they believed were lethal electric shocks to victims given the right circumstances.  Interestingly, one man refused and later went on to win the Purple Heart.  The vast majority of people could be manipulated into performing actions of which they would have thought themselves incapable.  So not only are we directly instructed by Jesus that we are sinners and should not judge others - we have proof that we can be just as bad as some of the worst offenders, given the right circumstances.

God loves us so much that He sent his only son to save us.  We state every week, in church, that this is what we believe.  God loves ALL of us, the good, the bad (and of course the ugly!) according to the quotes of Jesus, above.  He tells us that he will judge us and that we should not judge each other.

Even after accepting that Jesus meant us to love the evil, some may say that murder is such a terrible crime that it is deserving of death.  Is there any sin that is unforgivable?  What did our Lord say?  In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says to the Pharisees:

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come"

Jesus didn't add "Oh, I forgot, and murder too."  If almost every sin - except speaking against the Holy Spirit - are forgivable, who then are we to kill another of God's children?

In fact by killing another human being, are we not being hypocritical?  If we state, every Sunday, that our sins have ALREADY been forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ are we not guilty of killing one that Christ has already forgiven?

If we kill someone we end their spiritual development.  The person can no longer learn about God, can not change.  God wishes for us to turn away from evil and to return to him.  The parable of the prodigal son tells us this. There is no return of the prodigal son if we have killed him.  In killing another we deny them the chance to repent.

The taking of human life was so against what they saw as the teachings of Christ that the early Christians refused to kill, even in self defense during the first centuries after Christs death.  This even extended to the armed forces.  Although there were Christians who became soldiers, many writers claimed that to be a soldier was not compatible with Christianity and that such people were not suitable for baptism. Hippolytus of Rome "A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God." Arnobius of Sicca "For since we, a numerous band of men as we are, have learned from His teaching and His laws that evil ought not to be requited with evil, that it is better to suffer wrong than to inflict it, that we should rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another, an ungrateful world is now for a long period enjoying a benefit from Christ, inasmuch as by His means the rage of savage ferocity has been softened, and has begun to withhold hostile hands from the blood of a fellow-creature."

Our society can not function without the enforcement of Law. But we have to accept that the application of law may not be what Christ intended for us.  As I said at the start, we can think of many logical reasons for behaving as we do but if our words and actions do not follow those of Christ, then we are not Christian.

In order to prevent those who commit evil deeds from continuing to do so, we may accept that we should restrain them and prevent them from doing so.  But for the reasons stated above, we should not destroy another of God's children and deny them the chance of redemption.


Christian or otherwise, there are other reasons for being against the death penalty.  Those reasons concern human fallibility.  Fully one in seven criminals on Death Row in America during the 1990s, were proven by the new technology of DNA profiling, to be innocent...  Think about that.  How many entirely innocent people were killed by the state?

Aside from simply being wrong, another failing of many is racism. This is true of prosecutors, jurers and judges passing sentence.   Consider Georgia.  The 1998 Baldus Study found that the racial combinations of murderer and victim had a dramatic affect upon the sentence of death. Prosecutors sought the death penalty in 70% of the cases involving black defendants and white victims; 32% of the cases involving white defendants and white victims; 15% of the cases involving black defendants and black victims; and 19% of the cases involving white defendants and black victims.  When it came to actual sentencing black defendants charged with killing white victims were 4.3 times as likely to receive a death sentence as defendants charged
with killing blacks. Overall black defendants were 1.1 times as likely to receive a death sentence as other
defendants.  Again, think about that.  How many innocent black men were killed by the state, simply because they were black?

The mentally ill: It is only since 2002 that the Supreme Court has stated that it is illegal to execute the mentally disabled.  Prior to that date people who had no idea that their actions were wrong, who had no idea what was happening to them, were killed by the state.  Many states are still executing those who are severely mentally ill.

Effectiveness: What is the purpose of the death penalty? To punish and prevent further murders? Britain, as most of Europe, does not have the death penalty but has a lower murder rate than the US. Hardly effective then is it?

From Christian, humanist and simple practical perspectives support for the death penalty is unsustainable and barbaric.