Timing, BLM, and the Death Penalty
MATTHEW LYNCH The U.S. Justice Department announced [last] Monday that it will resume federal executions after a hiatus of nearly two decades. The timing of this announcement in the middle of a nation-wide cry for police reform raises questions about the motives for resuming this practice. But for many Christians, the death penalty is a biblical mandate. Many Evangelicals appeal to the Bible’s supposedly clear teaching on the death penalty to defend its ongoing place in the American justice system. Genesis 9 is key here, since it seems to teach that God “requires” humans to take the life of a murderer in exchange for their deed (9:5-6). [2] Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest Christian prison-focused non-profit, declared that he now backs the death penalty on biblical grounds. Colson writes, The Noahic covenant (Gen 9) antedates Israel and the Mosaic code; it transcends Old Testament law per se and mirrors ethical legislation binding for all