Next | | E-Mail | | V&FT

God and the Death Penalty: A Debate

This page opposes "capital punishment" and eagerly invites your participation in the on-going debate. It is assuredly the most unique page on the subject to be found on the Internet.

The author of this page is a "stark raving mad Bible-believing fundamentalist" and self-proclaimed "Christian Reconstructionist" who opposes "the separation of church and state" (building a web site here) and hopes to turn America into a Christian "Theocracy" once again, only this time getting it right.

There are three types of people who might be interested in this website:

"Christian Reconstructionists," or "Theonomists" -- those who believe that the Old Testament has something to say to modern law and politics.
Those Christians who oppose the use of the Old Testament because "we're under grace, not law." These Christians usually oppose "capital punishment," although many do support "capital punishment" for murderers, while they oppose it for homosexuals, wizards, and others against whom the Bible just as clearly commands "capital punishment."
Atheists, Secular Humanists and other swine who are busy secularizing this once-Christian land. If you can find some information on this site which will help you in your quest to abolish "capital punishment," more power to you.

It turns out that "Capital Punishment" in Western Civilization is based upon a misreading of several texts of Scripture. There is great irony here. The ACLU, which opposes capital punishment, will not admit that Western Civilization is Christian Civilization, and that America was a Christian nation. The ACLU downplays the interaction of Law and Religion in the Western World. But Princes and Jurists have long been advised by the Popes and theological Doctors of the faith. Unfortunately, the civil magistrates have received both good and bad advice.

Widespread support for capital punishment (though declining for the last few decades) is not evidence of Christian influence, but of our "culture of death." Support for the death penalty is related to support for war. Because of a mistaken belief that the Family cannot execute criminals (see Appendix A), support for the death penalty has meant support for a more powerful State. Had the Puritans recognized that the ritual shedding of blood which we call "the death penalty" was part of "the ceremonial law," the 20th century could well have been very, very different:

Hundreds of millions of human beings would not have been intentionally murdered by "governments."
Billions of human beings would not have been enslaved by communism, socialism, fascism, or Keynesianism.
Trillions of dollars worth of private property would not have been stolen, destroyed or "nationalized" by "archists."

In the 20th century alone.

This is an issue of profound political and cultural significance. I view myself qualified to address it based on the following:

I passed the California Bar Exam, said to be the most difficult legal examination in the world.
I was a "Chalcedon Scholar," and wrote a regular column for The Chalcedon Report.
My personal library is over 10,000 volumes (an anachronism in the age of the Internet), and I have studied this issue to a fair degree.

I don't claim to have "the final word." I raise questions I have, hoping readers will help me answer them. This page is a "debate," after all, not a decree. When I was a kid I would have thought that someone with my present views was some kind of "commie."

Post your comments here.

The Hidden Agenda of This "Debate"

Summary

Here is the structure of my discussion:

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND THE STATE.................................1
     Anabaptists
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND GOD'S LAW.................................2
     God's Will and God's Law....................................2
     Theonomy in Christian Ethics................................2
     Circular Reasoning in Western Civilization
GOD'S KINGS AND GOD'S PRIESTS....................................4
     Adam in the Garden..........................................4
     Noah after the Flood........................................5
MOSES, THE CHURCH, AND THE STATE.................................5
     "The Separation of Church and State"........................6
     The Administration of God's Law: The Church or the State?...7
     POLITICS AND RELIGION: Where Do You Draw the Line?.........11
          Priests in the Capitol................................12
          Senators in the Temple................................12
     Law and Liturgy............................................13
     Why Religion got Separated from Politics...................13
     Preliminary Conclusions....................................16
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: CEREMONIAL OR MORAL?........................17
     The Cleansing of the Land..................................
     One: Genesis 9:4-6.........................................19
     Four: Exodus 22:18-20......................................20
          "Utterly destroyed"...................................20
     Leviticus 18-20............................................21
     Thirty-One: Leviticus 24:17-22.............................24
          Lex Talionis..........................................24
     Thirty-Three: Numbers 35...................................25
          The "Kinsman Redeemer"................................25
          Expiation: Blood Atonement............................25
     Thirty-Five: Deuteronomy 13:12-18
          Holy Wars and Capital Punishment......................26
          Cultural Details of the Ceremonial Law................27
APPENDIX A - The Patriarchal Power of Capital Punishment
APPENDIX B - Raising Cain - The Origin of the State
CONCLUSIONS.....................................................29

NOTES

I was personally told this by John Warwick Montgomery, who has been admitted in several U.S. jurisdictions and is also an English Barrister.
[return to text]