Being put to death for crime or some misdemeanor is termed capital
punishment. This is not the most painful but is the most heinous of
all punishments. It is a heathenish practice, yet men make laws, sit
in judgment, render decisions, pronounce sentences, and thereby shed
the blood of their fellow men, trying to hide behind the laws that are
made, trying to screen themselves by the Bible, hoping all will be well
in the day of judgment. Because of such lawmakers and lawyers, many
are sentenced and hurled into eternity without being prepared to meet
God. Will God hold us innocent if we do such things? or if we cry not
out against such, will he not look down upon a government and nation
stained with human blood? Surely there is guilt that must be removed.
When the judge rises and pronounces the death sentence, to ease his
conscience in the matter he sometimes quotes from Genesis 9:6: “Whoso
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Even though that
scripture could apply in such cases in those days, it can not at the
present time. It is true that under the law of Moses life was given for
life as a punishment. For many trivial things people were stoned to
death, even for the breaking of the Sabbath.
“Then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand
for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe
for stripe.”—Ex. 21:23-25.
“Then thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”—Deut. 19:21.
“And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that
killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man cause
a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a
blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth
a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be
put to death.”
We are not living under the law of Moses in this day and age of the
world, neither are we justified by the law, but we are living in
a different dispensation. Paul says the law of Moses was a law of
bondage, and through Jesus Christ we are free from that bondage. The
law of Moses and the prophets were until John (Luke 16:16), and we now
live in the dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and nowhere
does he give men the privilege of making and enforcing laws that
would make the taking of man’s life justifiable. We do not read the
instructions of Jesus Christ to be “Life for life, eye for eye, and
tooth for tooth,” neither by way of rendering the sentence of the law
upon those who have taken the life of their fellow man, nor by acting
upon the impulse in taking revenge for personal offence or injury. In
speaking of the law of Moses and what was written concerning the people
of olden times, Jesus in that memorable sermon on the mount said: “Ye
have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”—Matt. 5:38,
39. Jesus Christ taught the law of love, even taught that we should
love our enemies and do good to them that hate us and despitefully use
us. He taught that people should show mercy to their fellow men. Even
when wicked Cain slew his brother Abel because of a slight offence,
and though he feared that men would put him to death, God gave him to
understand that he would not have him put to death, but that he should
be protected from such a penalty, although his hands were stained with
his brother’s blood.
In Galatians 5:4 Paul gave the people to understand that they were not
justified by the law of Moses; he said: “Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen
from grace.” Neither are people justified in the sight of God for
making and enforcing laws that will take the life of their fellow men.
Merely quoting the words, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his
blood be shed,” will not remove the guilt. To call such lawmaking and
enforcement heathenism does not give full expression to the subject;
nay, it is barbarism in the extreme. Some may severely criticize these
terms and the views expressed here, but we fearlessly assert that
such is truth. We are glad to know that a few states in our so-called
land of liberty have become awakened on this line and refuse to make
or enforce such a law. Those who still try to hide behind the law of
Moses, why not carry out that law in full and stone to death every man
or woman who breaks the Sabbath?
There is another side to the picture. It is sometimes the case that
a man who is put to death is innocent of the crime for which he is
charged. Whether innocent or guilty, a great number of those thus
punished pass into eternity unsaved. With many of them it has been
an act performed on the impulse of the moment. Their former lives,
perhaps, have been upright, viewing them from a standpoint of morality.
Again, it is often the case that a family is left in a critical
condition to battle for life with this cold world. A delicate wife with
helpless children must thus be weighed down in sorrow and bereavement,
poverty staring them in the face, crushed with shame and disgrace, with
no one to provide for them and no help nor special protection from the
state whose laws have forever removed the one to whom they looked for
maintenance and protection.