Argumentative Essay: Christians And The Death Penalty Debate

Gudorf gives a brief history on the transformation of Christian societies due to the death penalty. He explains that about a coupe centuries Christians were urged t live a non-violant life. On Idolatry, written at the turn of the third century, Tertullian insists that among the professions or trades forbidden to Christians were executioner and torturer. He states that until the end of the second century, Chrisitans were not in the army. As the Roman Empire in the third and fourth century became increasingly Christian, and was threatened by tribes from the East who were sometimes pagan they shifted in favor of just war policies. They started to support the use of both war and capital punishment. They predicted that if Christians ever controlled a state they would need to exercise both war and capital punishment. He states that he believes the death penalty should be abolished for two reasons. He does not believe that capital punishment is necessary. He explains the alternative to the death penalty is life in prison …show more content…
Of these is murder. But now the court only sees premeditated murder as an offense worthy of the death penalty. Michael Westmoreland-White and Glen Stassen ask as Christians why we single out premeditated murder out of the 25 other offenses. They believe that Christians who argue biblically for the death penalty base most of their arguments on Genesis 9:6 and Romans 13. They say that if we accept Genesis 9:6 as an argument for the death penalty, we also must not only punish those who premeditate but also people who accidentally kill people, minors, and the mentally retarded people who kill. They say we cannot do that so we should not accept this verse as a mandate. They also say that Romans 13 has nothing to do with capital punishment. It is talking about paying your taxes. The sword it refers to is that of which a policeman would wear upon him when he accompanies the tax