The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1965

VOL. 37, No. 12 The Ohio OCTOBER, 1965 Independent Baptist CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Right or Wrong? Periodically the ubject of capital puni hment come before the State Legi lature of Ohio. Ju t recently a bill planned to alter our pre ent law by eliminating the death entence for crimes of murder except an assas ination or murder of a police officer in the line of duty and related in tances, was defeated in our State Legislature. We mu t realize that thi s defeat was not the "death-blow ' to the i ·3ue in Ohio. The proponents of the elimination of capital puni hment v. 1 ill see that the i sue tays very much alive. Since thi s problem relates to a subject about which the Bible speaks, Bible-believing people need not be swayed by socialistic philosophies which tend to ob cure Biblical instruction. The very nature of justice is thait the puni hn1ent meted the offender must be in direct ratio to the •3eriou - ness of the crime. In other words, the punishment fit the crime. Although it is true that the rehabilitation of the criminal is a responsibili1ty of the courts, it i not the major one. The enforcement of the law and the pro– tection of the innocent made mandatory a retributive form of justice. Web ter defines puni hment as a "retribu– tive suffering, pain, or 10S'.:>; a penalty inflicted upon the offender through judicial procedure." In other word , the first purpose of the law i the protection of society not the rehabilitation of the offender. Some crimes are so hideous, and the permanent loos so great, that only the forefeiture of the life of the criminal can be accepted a proper punishment. That the Bible support uch a po ition i quite clear. In enesis 9: 6 we read, "Wh~o sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for jn the image of God made He man." This decree ,predate the Mosaic law, therefore it is not isolated to the Hebrew economy. In fact , the Mo.;aic law expanded the decree and administered capital punishment for adultery (Lev. 20: 10) , rape (Dcut . 22: 25), Kid napping ( x. 2 1: J 6), triking or cttr~ing parents ( x. 21:15, 17), etc. We rccogn11c that the Mosaic aw is not binding upon natio11 . However, we find nowhere anything that wot1ld suggest tl1at ,cnes1·; 9: 6 11as been replaced, and certai11ly the Mosaic ! .,aw can be helpful as a guide. In stt1dying tl1c Biblical aspect of capital ,puni. h1nent, it is •..;ignifica11t tl1at hrist die.I not peak agai11st it. he Apostle Paul likc\.vise recogn11ed tl1e right f civil g ,,ern111ent to e ect1te a crir11ir1al 1or l1e s infers i11 Act 25: l I anLI agai11 i11 l{ o111 ·,11s 13 :4. THE OHIO INDEP~ND NT BAP IST Pastor Brown Street By Dean Henry Baptist, Akron, Ohio . . - - . . SPECIAL FEATURE .The Bible doe·"' not teach, either by precept or illu- tra t1on that the death penalty i mandatory for murder. God wa graciou to both David and Mo e , and who can que -tion grai:e when administered by uch a judge (Ro– man 2: l 1) ? Every believer will agree with Abrahan1 when he '"'aid, Shall not the judge of a'll the earth do right?, The citie of refuge in the land of Promi e again provide uf!icient evidence that grace can play a part 1n the e th111g . Under our present tate law it i the duty of the court to assume the re ponsibility of determin– in~ the pro.per degree of puni hment for the particular crime. Law not enforced It ha been repor 1 ted that Governor Mark Ha,tfiel<l recently signed a law bani hing capital puni hment jn the State of Oregon on the basi that under the old law the death penalty wa not fairly enforced. Rarely. if ever , are middle--i ncome or better Prote·-- tant , who can afford colorful and experienced criminal lawyers, en,tenced to die. Wherea the 'lower-cla " n1ember of a minority group i often called upon to pay the "full price.' ' We regret that the evidence ttpport Governor H atfield' po•3i tion , but i it not true that the problen1 i one f ad mini tration, not legi lation? It hottld be bviou that the correction of law t1nfairly adn1ini tered i not to aboli h the law, bt1t to adn1ini · ter the111 fairly. It i~ to be expected that a gen ration that tt1rn it back upon God, wot1ld likewi e reje t od, n1 thod f dealing with in of every kind. genera,tion that ha " u ed n1t1rder, drunkenne , and ic a the ba i~ f it ~par time entertainn1ent in the theater and on tel i ion wotild look din1ly ttpon the nece 1t 1 for , ev rity in jt1dg- 111ent of the e cri111e . Bt1t n1a} we \v ho na111 the nan1e t hrt\t not he o led a tra)' . To fcllo\v bclic\'~r , 1 \vOttlll \Ltggc·.,t that we cont1nt1c to: I C 11 1Jcr 111t1rllc1 tt\ \' i11.· 2. ()ra),' f r tho1.,c Vt t10 arc ct1lle I t111011 lL> aLl111i111\lc1 l l1c la\\ 3. L~ncot1ragc tt1c "' Late to t t. c all it 10Ll-g1, ~11 tt)l)l'i t<.> 1)rotc l tl1t: i11no~c11t ; ..i. l :.r1Llcavor to 11~1111it ll il1li al 1)rinci11le·· ll) £L>V~r11 t>ttr t)\\ 11 a ltl)tl~ . OCTOBER , 190 5 PAuf 3