Marginal Christianity

Jonathan Merritt     |  May 5, 2014   |  22 Comments   117   498 reddit 1   0   Show caption Jesus’ love-your-enemies ethic is often juxtaposed with Paul’s sword-bearing theology in Romans 13. Who should Christians side with? – Image of “Conversion of St. Paul” from St. John’s College, Oxford, courtesy of Lawrence OP (http://bit.ly/1ngmtnB) By Preston Sprinkle and Jonathan Merritt After a botched execution in Oklahoma left an  inmate  writhing for 43 minutes before dying of a  heart attack  last week,  Christian leaders  began making their cases both for and against the death penalty. As with any time Christians debate political issues, it felt a bit like Ping-Pong—except opponents in this  game  swing Bibles instead of paddles. Pro- death penalty  believers  grounded their position in the Old Testament’s call for capital punishment  in the case of int...

http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2014/05/02/capital-punishment-dont-start-old-testament/ Jonathan Merritt     |  May 2, 2014   |  4 Comments   48   286 reddit 1   0   Show caption Some Christian leaders are asserting their support of the death penalty using scriptures from the Old Testament. Would starting with Jesus and the Christian gospel instead alter their conclusions? – Image courtesy of Adam Dimmick (http://bit.ly/1joS2ec) After this week’s  botched execution in Oklahoma , Albert Mohler, president of The  Southern Baptist Theological  Seminary, argued  why Christians should support the death penalty  at CNN.com. Grounding his argument in  Genesis 9:6 , where Noah is told that anyone guilty of intentional murder should be put to death, Mohler says, “The one who intentionally takes life by murder forfeits the right to his own life.” In my experience, mos...