6 days ago
Letter: Death penalty is in keeping with principles of Bible
I'm writing in response to 'The time to end the death penalty in Pennsylvania is at hand' (Reading Eagle, May 31). While one sympathizes with Vicki and Sylvester Schieber, whose daughter died at the hands of a serial rapist, their opposition to the death penalty may have been grounded in the teaching of the Catholic Church, but it was not based on the Bible.
If anything, it is not capital punishment that is 'an assault on human dignity' (Pope John Paul II), but murder itself; it is because life is sacred and people are made in the image of God that he called for the death penalty in Genesis 9:6 ('Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed'), just after he had destroyed the world by a flood because 'the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11).'
The intent of the regulations in the Law of Moses was to see to it that justice was done. If restitution was possible — as in the case of robbery or neglect — it was demanded; if not, the penalty was death. When a killing was premeditated (Exodus 21:14), or a rape was committed (Deuteronomy 22:25), there was no way someone's life or virginity could be restored, so the death of the perpetrator was required.
The apostle Paul in his explanation of the role of human government (Romans 13:1-7) stated that ruling authorities do not 'bear the sword in vain (verse 4); he is, in fact, 'God's minister,' an instrument in God's hand to 'execute wrath on him who practices evil.'
Greg Wasser
Colebrookdale Township
