capital punishment

The Ethics of Capital Punishment- OUTRAGEOUS ATROCITY OR MORAL IMPERATIVE?
Murder constitutes the initiation of lethal force against an innocent person; it is also the ultimate despising of divine authority. The murderer thereby forfeits his right to live by violating, with an intent to kill, the victim.
When in the defense of an innocent victim or preservation of moral order the authorities execute a premeditated murderer, no inalienable right is being violated. The moral rationale lying behind the life-for-life mandate is rooted in the efficacy of the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9. This imperative is directed at man as man and thus is universal in scope. Accordingly, deliberately killing a human being created in the image of God is tantamount to killing God in effigy.12
The ethical directive in Genesis 9 of a life-for-life policy exacted “by man” for premeditated murderers is validated in the New Testament by explicit statements from the apostle Paul with regard to the civil authorities. These authorities, irrespective of their inherent fallibility or moral character, exercise authority derived from God and are under obligation to extend protection to society at large from violent criminals. This they do by means of the deterrent (“Would you fear..?”) of the magistrate’s “sword,” the jus gladii.
Government, if it is performing a legitimate role in society, restrains by force those who are a violent and criminal threat to society. The implication of the Romans 13 text is ...

capital punishment

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