To be fair, you would need to ask him that question. But I assume he means that we have clear NT warrant for capital punishment, including:

Matt 15:3-4: Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death’.”

And Paul before Festus in Acts 25:11: “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

The law of Christ would be all that he commanded us to do, I suppose. Thus all that he affirmed we should affirm. If he seems to affirm the ongoing necessity of capital punishment (something given by God well before the Mosaic law) then so should we.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

Jonathan says above “the death penalty for murder is in the Law of Noah (applying to all mankind) and in the Law of Christ.” Where is the death penalty spelt out for murder in the Law of Christ? (and what is the Law of Christ)?

Thanks.
David Roberts

Fascinating read tonight. I haven’t yet read Part II, but will after I comment.

Personally, I believe in the Death Penalty. Its something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, and yes, it should be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. There are too many murderers- Serial Killers, like Ted Bundy, The Green River Killer, and others, who without a doubt, killed- and continually killed until they were incarcerated and then executed. You just simply cannot imprison someone until they die-they ultimatly would go mad. These people are very sick and filled with sin.

I also feel that it should be public- and it shouldn’t be a form of euthanasia. These people made many suffer- horrible and painful deaths. In the end- we put them out- like horses.

Our prisons are filled with people who kill their husbands, wives, pregnant wives and babies, girls, boys, you name it.

Its nice that the European Union can pass laws to not have capital punishment. Eventually, the pendulum does swing back- and they will again have it.

As for religeous monarchies in the west. We have had them too. Most notable- the English Monarchy- the King refers to himself as the “Defender of the Faith” and the states religeon is the Kings. That sounds like a Theocracy to me. ‘Twas the same in Austria for a very long time up until the end of WWI.

Oh well.

I don’t question what the Bible says about Capital Punishment. The Koran on the other hand, and Sharia, are very strict- more so than any of the Western ideas of punishment. Its been roughly two hundred years since Western Europe, in some places, ceased to use brutal methodes of torture and punishment. Granted the age of enlightenment helped change some of that- but capital punishment still existed.

**
As for Our Lords Passion, Death and Resurrection (sp), he did falter in the Garden whilst praying to his Father in heaven- his feelings were so strong as to produce the stigmata- he literally bled from each pore. I cannot imagine the strength it took to go through all of that- knowing what was coming and the pain that it would induce upon a mortal body. He had many chances to stop it- but fulfilled his mission.

Frankly, I am in Awe of it…

Historically, if you study crucifixion, and the other punishments of Our Lords period of time- you learn that what he went through- was incredable. A normal Man, couldn’t have gone through it- would have died during the flogging more than likely. He truly was the passover lamb.

Thanks again Bill- a very thought provoking essay. I am looking forward to Part II.

J.C. Wolfgang A. Mozart

This is getting off the topic somewhat, but these are important issues.

The first reply is to say that for your various important questions, they deserve better treatment than what I can provide here. So I am now preparing a number of full length articles, not just for your sake, but for others. The first will be on the case for the resurrection. Others will be on the reliability of the Gospels, and so on. So stay tuned.

Second, you may move in limited circles. There are many Europeans who do take the Bible as God’s word. I can even point you to some in Belgium if interested.

Third, when I say I read the Bible literally, I say it in a similar sense to reading the daily newspaper literally. One of course makes allowances for various literary features, such as metaphor, poetry, and the like. But both are read with the belief that they are making statements of fact, truth claims, and so on. Admittedly the truth claims of Scripture are of a higher order, but the Bible absolutely claims to speak of what has happened in time and space history. The Bible is quite adamant about that.

I suggest you go back to the Gospels and give them a read. To any fair-minded reading, they clearly do not come across as fairy tales. Indeed, how are we supposed to read the Gospels? They are written as real historical accounts. They were intended to convey real information to us about a real historical figure.

You said you believed that Aristotle, et. al., existed. But why? What is the basis of your assurance about their existence? When you answer that question, I will argue that similar methods of getting back to historical realities also apply to Jesus. And if you do believe that Jesus existed, but think the Gospel accounts are myth, then I need to go back much further as I address your position!

As to the evidence for the resurrection, as I say, soon an article will appear outlining the case. As I will explain in it, there are different types of proof, and historical proof is different in some ways from scientific proof, and so on. But the reliability of the accounts can be soundly established.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

“If the events described in the Bible have not happened in real time and space and human history, then the Christian faith is mere myth and foolishness.”

do you mean you interpret the bible in a literal way? because in that case I think you have really lost me – I mean in europe I have yet to meat somebody who does (except for jehova’s witnesses) – such a view is regarded here as just plain silly, by believers and non-believers alike. I know about the united states, but i do not really want to take those “radio-reverends” serious. I am sure though that I must have misinterpreted your words?

Luke Quisquater, Belgium

Three replies here. There is some division in the pro-life movement as to whether a woman who has an abortion should be regarded as someone who has simply killed her baby or in fact is guilty of murder. Pro-lifers rightly believe a human being is killed in abortion. But it is possible that many women have fallen for the lies of the pro-choice crowd, and they really do think they are just expelling a clump of cells. So given that misconception, the one aborting the “cells” has certainly killed something living, but may not – at least in their eyes – be guilty of premeditated murder.

And in a democracy, citizens can have a say in whether the death penalty exists in the first place, and what sorts of crimes should be worthy of capital punishment.

Finally, as to the Mosaic law it self, according to Exodus 21:22-25, if a pregnant woman is injured by someone else, if there is no serious harm to child, the penalty is monetary compensation, but if there is serious harm, then the death penalty applies.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

But you need not be so historically sceptical. Do you question the existence of Aristotle? Of Alexander the Great? Of Augustine? Of Napolean? If not, why not? In all cases we can investigate the historical evidence of their existence. We can do that with Jesus as well. And we not only have excellent evidence that he lived, but also that he died on a cross and rose again. This is not the stuff of blind faith, but historical evidence. For example, we know that over 500 people saw Jesus after his death. This is but one of many pieces of evidence, the cumulation of which is very persuasive indeed.

And why rule out a resurrection today, unless you have a pre-commitment to philosophical naturalism?

Finally, Christianity is above all else an historical religion. If the events described in the Bible have not happened in real time and space and human history, then the Christian faith is mere myth and foolishness. The claims of Christ are absolutely bound up in the stuff of historical reality. No historical Jesus and resurrection, no Christianity. It is that simple.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

we cannot do that of course with the resurrection of jesus, so we cannot call that a reliable fact as we define it in today’s world. as a kid I was told many times (when asking such questions) that proof would be fatal to faith, it would somehow ruin the beauty of the true belief. it is a premise I did accept as a kid, but find hard to do as a critical adult; and not literally believing historical facts does not prevent one from living by the message. what is your opinion on that?

Luke Quisquater, Belgium

For starters, Jesus himself made that claim: “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

And I have discussed before your problem with “ancient books”. Your implication is that if something is new, it may be true, but if it is old, it cannot be true, or reliable. But we have a lot of evidence for the historicity, reliability and accuracy of the Bible. Again, the evidence about all this is there waiting to be examined, if you are really interested.

As to your last question, there is no Christianity without the resurrection. Jesus based his entire message on the truth of the resurrection, and Paul says if Jesus is no raised from the dead, our faith is in vain (1 Cor. 15:17).

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch