The Christian Vanguard

The following is a handout I typed up for the Newman Bible Study that I lead. Feel free to use as you wish. What Does the Bible Say About: Capital Punishment Definition: What is Capital Punishment? It is the power of the government to take the life of a person who had been convicted of a crime . Biblical Data: Genesis 9:5-6 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind . Old Words: The verb “shed” is the Hebrew word shaphak, which means “to pour out in large amount, causing death.” So, death is being referred to here. Discussion: What is the context? What just happened to Noah and his family? Why is God giving Noah these commandments? Who is supposed to carry out this punishment? God or man? “I will req...

A good faithful Catholic sent me this link by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding the death penalty. They are various quotations about the death penalty taken mostly from their pamphlet A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death , and the idea is that they want the faithful lay to be against the death penalty. I want to examine each of the bullet points and this, by extension, should suffice as a response to the longer pamphlet. 

There have been debates emerging about gun control after each tragic shooting that I have seen on the news. Virginia Tech, Aurora, and now Newtown (I was too young to remember the reaction after Columbine). The debate that has emerged after the Newtown shooting seems to be fiercer since many of the victims were little children, and as responsible Christian citizens, we ought to have some biblical background to the debate, so that we may safely navigate through the issue. So, what does the Bible say about gun control?

When one hears of tragedy like the recent massacre in Aurora, Colorado, a feeling of anger often rises. We sometimes ask, "Where was God? Where is his justice?" While God will have his day of judgment in the future, what are we, as human beings in this temporal world to do? Many, like myself, say justice for the society is to be found in capital punishment (hence forth CP). I am aware that other Christians strongly disagree. I argue that CP is the more Biblical position.