Should the death penalty be restored as a state punishment in the UK? The argument in favour has been brewing ever since the Dowler family called for Milly’s killer to pay ‘the ultimate price – an eye for an eye, a life for a life’ for his murderous actions. Recently the political blogger Paul Staines has added his voice to the campaign and has launched an on-line petition calling for parliament to debate the issue.

I am – and always have been – totally against the proposal. In this post I want to sketch out some theological reasons why as a Christian I should be against capital punishment. There are three main reasons why I believe this: the sanctity of human life, the opportunity for redemption, and the application of Old Testament laws. In today’s post I will cover the first two points and cover the third tomorrow.

The sanctity of human life
The first reason is the sanctity of human life. A central teaching of both Jewish and Christian faiths is the doctrine that humans are created in the image of God and that this invests in humanity a value that is great indeed. The taking of such a life is a very serious matter. It is why we condemn murder after all. For a minority of Christians this should even be extended to war – that even in a time of conflict, where human life is threatened, violence in the defence of life should not be used to threaten the life of the attacker. The majority do not accept this proposition – but even for these Christians the issue of the sanctity of life applies and the taking of life when one’s own life is not threatened is not acceptable. Capital punishment surely falls within the category of killing when a life is not threatened. The guilty person has been apprehended and while incarcerated is not a threat to others.

One reason presented in favour of the death penalty for murder is that without this ultimate penalty the life of the one murdered is somehow devalued. We would show how much we valued human life if the punishment for taking life would be death. I can understand the reasoning behind this argument but I feel it would be far better to value life by preserving it and, as I will note below, human life was taken in OT times for far more trivial things than murder – blasphemy (Lev 24:14-23), spirit divination (Lev 20:27) and breaking the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36) being only a few examples.

The opportunity for redemption
The second reason involves each human being’s opportunity for redemption. At the very core of the Christian faith is the belief that despite our sin and alienation from God, each person is loved by him and through the death and resurrection of Jesus has the possibility of being forgiven and that the relationship with God can be restored and life can be redeemed. No single sinful action is too bad to be forgiven and no single person is too sinful to be rejected by Jesus.

Most – though not all – Christians believe that the opportunity for redemption must be taken while a person is still alive and that this opportunity is lost post-mortem. Death, therefore, is a line beyond which no second chances can be gained. For the state to kill a person, therefore, would mean that the state could decide that that person is not deserving of God’s forgiveness and second chance. This is placing the state above God and is idolatrous. There are other areas where Christians are in danger of investing far too much power in the state but maybe allowing it to have the power of life and death is the most serious of all.

In tomorrow’s post I’ll look at applying the OT.


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