Capital punishment from the Hollywood experts

I'm not Roman Catholic. That said, I remain amazed at the number of Roman Catholics who are cool with abortion depsite the unwavering teaching of the Catholic Church and the Bible itself. Why bother to call yourself a Catholic if you consider the fundamental teachings of your Church to be optional?

This silliness exists across the religious spectrum. The nominalists. The pick-and-choosers. The syncretists. Despite man's proclivity toward shopping the religious Wal-Mart to basket the aspects they find tasty while leaving the rest upon the shelf, not a religion on the books at its root tolerates such a "free-love" approach.

The God of the Bible is a jealous God. He establishes how man comes to him and not the other way around. He tells man how it is. When you have created the entirety of the universe, it's your word that governs, not the whim of the creature. We can either bow in love and worship or we can run in rebellion.

It's truly amazing the millions who proclaim to be Christian and at the same time, run contrary or believe contrary to what God has spelled out plainly in the Bible. Take for instance capital punishment. Actor (there's always a good source of expertise on any topic) Stephen Collins spoke with a reporter (here) at the annual "We Hate the Death Penalty" Awards dinner in--you guessed it--Hollywood, California. His response when asked, "What about all of the talk about whether Jesus would have supported capital punishment?"

"The death penalty solves nothing except a kind of understandable but misguided sense of justice and vengeance, and certainly Jesus never says anything about executing people. I go to church, I'm a Christian. I think it’s interesting that so many political Christians support the death penalty when Jesus Christ never says a single, slight word about putting people to death, never even slightly. I don't know where they're coming from as Christians. I don't understand."

Well, Mr. Collins, we're coming from that wacky place called the Bible. A few points.

• Jesus does speak of executing people. In John 8, as the Pharisees look to execute the woman caught in adultery (where's the guy, btw?) in accordance with the Mosaic Law. Jesus doesn't dismiss the fact that her sin warrants death, but recognizes the Pharisees' smug self-righteousness and the woman's deep repentance. So he turns the tables upon them. This event (and his seeking forgiveness for his executioners while on the cross, too) does not suggest Jesus' opposition to the death penalty


• An argument from silence is no argument. Simply because Christ does not speak of capital punishment within the Gospels, this does not somehow indicate his opposition to the practice either. Which carries us to the next point.


• God commands capital punishment. Life is sacred because God made it so. It has that value because he sets the value. Man, unlike anything else in the universe, is created in God's image, and so it has a value far surpassing any other living thing (Genesis 1). Because God gave man dominion over the planet, he gave man the responsibility to impute civic justice upon the created order. Therefore, if man has so wanton a disregard for human life, God commands that that individual's life is forfeit. Because he has taken life, so shall he lose his life (Genesis 9). This command came to Noah, apart from the Law, and therefore applies to all of humanity and not just Israel.

More biblical ignorance. If you call yourself a Christian, as Mr. Collins does, you understand that God the Son, Christ, has been around since eternity past with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. That said, when God instituted capital punishment to Noah (and all humanity) and to Moses (and all Israel), God the Son was present. In other words, God the Son has indeed spoken plainly about capital punishment. He instituted it!

Still More. Paul speaks of the government's responsibility to wield the sword as an instrument of justice in Romans 13 and the necessity of the believer to be in subjection to the government. Wielding the sword does not imply a swat across the posterior with the flat of the blade but a 'ka-chunk' across the nape with the really sharp segment.

Attending a hockey game does not make you a hockey fan. Nor does say that you are one. If you attend one game per year, have no team for which your heart bleeds, have no idea what the rules of the game are, make no attempt to determine the standings, then I would aregue, you are not a hockey fan. Despite your pleading. Despite your ticket stub.

God's word remains pretty clear. The problem within Hollywood and within Christendom today is that we are utterly ignorant about what God has said. We call ourselves "Christian" but have no idea what that even means.