I
will post information about the Orthodox Church’s stance on capital punishment
from different sources:
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Volunteers are hastily trained at bases of
the Russian Orthodox Army. Photo by ITAR-TASS
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INTERNET
SOURCE: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Capital_punishment
Capital punishment (commonly referred to as the death
penalty) is the execution of a convicted criminal, carried out by a State.
The punishment is applied in cases where someone has commited one or more capital
crimes or capital offenses (i.e. murder, treason). The definition of
a capital crime varies from country to country.
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Comrades of Sparta Battalion in a firing
practice at a shooting range.
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Capital
punishment in the Bible
Old
Testament
Supporters
of capital punishment point to Genesis
9:6, which states:
"Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image."
"Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image."
New
Testament
Many
also use the following passage from St. Paul as a
justification for not changing capital punishment laws:
Let
every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and the authorities
that
exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the
ordinance of God, and those who resist
will
bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)
The
Orthodox View?
It's
difficult to define the Church's exact position on capital punishment as it has
become a social issue mostly during the last century. Some jurisdictions
have denounced it in formal statements: for example, this 1989 Resolution
on the Death Penalty released by OCA. However, capital punishment has not been either fully
accepted or condemned by the Church as a whole.
An
argument against capital punishment
Capital
punishment is a topic of much debate among many in the modern world. This
practice however has had a long history and has often been accepted in many
countries. The most common form of capital punishment is the death penalty.
Moses Maimonides, wrote of capital punishment, "It is better and more
satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent
man to death." The ancient Babylonian culture lived by the code of
Hammurabi, which called for the violent punishment or death of an offender. In
today’s world there are many nations such as The United States, China, Russia,
Algeria, Mongolia, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Indonesia which
have capital punishment.
The
Old Testament presents us with a violent world. God gave the people of Israel a
law in order to prepare them for the coming messiah. Very often this law had
strict consequences. "Whoever strikes a man a mortal blow must be put to
death. Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death” (Exodus
21:12, 15). The LXX uses the word pataxh (coming from patasso
meaning to strike) in verse 12 and typtei (coming from typto meaning to
strike) in verse 15. The Hebrew text makes use of the word nakah also
meaning to hit or to strike. One can see that the words used are not meaning to
kill but to strike. Do we believe that striking is a penalty worthy of death?
As
Orthodox Christian people it is absolutely essential to remember that humanity
was created in the image and likeness of God. This should teach us that all
human life is sacred because it is a gift from God. Although capital punishment
is often seen as an accepted practice it opposes the basic ethical values of
Christianity. The following statement comes from the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese: “With more information available to us today about the
consequences of capital punishment, many Christians are of the opinion that it
no longer server as a deterrent to crime. Statistics of the United States show
that the existence of capital punishment in some states and its absence in
other states seems to have no measurable effect on the rate of various capital
crimes. For a long time now, persons accused of capital crimes who can afford
the legal expertise nearly always escape capital punishment. Generally
speaking, only the weak, the poor, the friendless have been executed in most
recent years.”
Two
important things must be added to this. First of all, this is not true and
faire justice where only those with money get help. Secondly, this statement
helps to show how many flaws there are in capital punishment. What is a human
life worth? There is something severely wrong with a society where everything
becomes a matter of money. Rather than being guided by basic Christian
principles many nations derive their understanding of justice from modern
philosophy. “Punishment is the right of the criminal. It is an act of his own
will. The violation of right has been proclaimed by the criminal as his own
right. His crime is the negation of right. Punishment is the negation of this
negation, and consequently an affirmation of right, solicited and forced upon
the criminal himself.” (Hegel). This ideology may seem sound to many, but it is
not ethical. The logic of such a statement is that two wrongs make a right.
Thus, if a man attacks someone he too must be punished for his crime.
The
philosopher Hegel himself believed in punishment as a means of reforming a
criminal. “Hegel says that punishment itself tends to reform them. Hegel’s
theory says that that it is the pain which will improve them, and therefore,
although it looks on pain itself as an evil, is by no means particularly
anxious to spare it, since it holds that through the pain criminals will be
raised, and we therefore have no right to deny it to them” The question I
feel that must be asked is what kind of a system breeds violent crimes and
violent criminals. Hegel’s understanding of capital punishment is not only
unjust it is also barbaric. When a society strives for the common good within,
then and only then can that society begin to overcome these problems. In order
for this to happen, people must first attempt to understand what in society
could be a cause of the violence. Does the world of today not believe in the
dignity and the value of a human life? Sadly, it seems as though the answer to
this question is no. Through the gift of our free will we have been awarded the
ability to grown closer to God. If a person has committed a violent crime they
rightly deserve to be punished for what they have done. However, taking a
person’s life is not the answer. Human beings are not capable of knowing where
and how the grace of God will work. Even in a state of imprisonment the grace
of God can still reach a person’s heart. This does not remove the punishment
for the crime, but it does allow the possibility that the individual may see
the wrong they did, repent and wish to redeem themselves.
People
often forget that when a life is taken, even of a violent criminal, it is
forever. Furthermore people forget that they too have a duty those people. “For
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a
stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for
me, in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35, 36). As Christian people we
should be visiting those in prison. Prison itself must be a horrible ordeal.
Not to minimize the crime committed, but prisoners are confined, have their
rights taken away and live in a setting where violence is a rampant.
As
I have already stated before examining this issue people should seriously
consider what is the root of the violence in society. Sociologists believe that
there is a direct connection between individual raised in broken homes where
violence is a strong deterrent and violent crimes. If this is true then there
are other factors that need to be addressed as well. The local and state
authorities need to be willing to remove children from violent homes. This type
of action should not come as a random idea, for we as members of humanity
should be living with strong concern for one another.
Because
human life is such a precious thing, reforming must be considered as a possible
alternative. What becomes the determining factor to deem that a person is
beyond the possibility of reform? Through attempting to reform an individual we
as a society are doing the right moral thing. It is right to attempt to
transform a violent person into a peaceful one. It seems as though people in
seeking the death penalty are trying in vain for justice. The crime to which
the person has been jailed is already been committed. Will their death bring
back someone else’s life? No it will not. Therefore it is through peaceful
methods that we must try to rehabilitate violent criminals and not try to
punish them.
Justice
is a corrupt business in this country. Very often those who can afford justice
get it. Ideally justice is for all people. People also need to ask themselves
whether or not they are trying to better their society or not. People should be
working for the good of the society be trying to help one another. This too can
be a very difficult notion. For example, citizens in a particular community would
most likely not wish to rehabilitate a serial killer, who has murdered in their
neighborhood. Yet such people must realize that such a person will probably not
be released into society again. However, as I have stated already all life is
worth something, even the life of a serial killer is not worthless. The Paschal
homily of St. John Chrysostom reminds us of the feast prepared even for those
that have come at the eleventh hour.
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Members of the Russian
Orthodox Army training in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Bojan Pancevski
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INTERNET
SOURCE: https://mospat.ru/en/documents/social-concepts/ix/
IX. 1. Christians are called to be
law-abiding citizens of their homeland on earth, accepting that every soul
should be «subject unto the higher powers» (Rom. 13:1) and at the same time
remembering the commandment of Christ to render «unto Caesar the things which
be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s» (Lk. 20:25). The human
sinfulness, however, generates crime, which is violation of the limits
established by law. At the same time, the conception of sin established by the
Orthodox moral norms is broader than the idea of crime expressed in the secular
law.
The primary cause of crime is the
darkened state of the human heart:
«for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies» (Mt. 15:19). It should be also admitted
that sometimes crime is provoked by economic and social conditions, as well as
the weak government and the absence of lawful order. Criminal communities may
penetrate public institutions and use them for their own purposes. Finally, the
authority itself may become a criminal by committing illegal actions.
Especially dangerous is crime disguised under political and pseudo-religious
motives, such as terrorism and the like.
To
keep crime in check, the state establishes law-enforcement bodies. Their aim is
to prevent and investigate crimes and to punish and reform criminals. However,
the task of eradicating crime and reforming those who took a false step should
be undertaken not only by the state, but all the people, and it means by the
Church, too.
IX. 2. The prevention of crime is
possible first of all through education and enlightenment aimed to assert in
society the authentic spiritual and moral values. In this task the Orthodox
Church is called to intensive co-operation with school, mass media and
law-enforcement bodies. If the people lack a positive moral ideal, no measures
of coercion, deterrence or punishment will be able to stop the evil will. That is why the best form of
preventing crime is the preaching of the honest and proper way of life,
especially among children and youth. In this effort, close attention should be given to the
so-called risk-groups or those who have already committed first
offences. These people need a special pastoral and educational care. The
Orthodox clergy and laity are called to take part in the efforts to overcome
the social causes of crime, showing concern for the just order in society and
economy and for the self-fulfilment of every member of society in his
profession and life.
At
the same time, the
Church insists on the need of humane attitude towards suspects, persons under
investigation and those caught in criminal intent. The crude
and improper treatment of these people can either fortify them on the wrong
track or push them on it. For this reason, those awaiting a verdict should not
be disfranchised even in custody. They should be guaranteed advocacy and
impartial justice. The
Church condemns torture and indignities towards persons under investigation.
The priest, even with a view to assist law-enforcement, cannot violate the
secrecy of confession and other secrecy safeguarded by law (for
instance, the secrecy of adoption). In
their care of those who went astray and were convicted, pastors, on learning
anything that was concealed from investigation and justice, shall be guided by
the secrecy of confession.
The
norm providing for the secrecy of confession is included in the legislation of
many states today, including the Constitution of the Russian Federation and
Russia’s Law on the Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations.
The priest is called to show special
pastoral sensitivity in case of a confession revealing a criminal intent. While
keeping sacred the secrecy of confession without any exceptions and in any
circumstances, the pastor is obliged to make all possible efforts to prevent a
criminal intent from being realised. First of all it concerns threats of homicide, especially
the massacre possible in the acts of terrorism or execution of a criminal order
during war. Remembering that the souls of a potential criminal and his intended
victim have equal value, the
priest should call the penitent to make authentic repentance, that is, to
abandon his evil intent. If this call is not effective, the pastor, keeping
secret the penitent’s name and other circumstances which can help identify him,
may give a warning to those whose life is threatened. In difficult cases, the
priest should apply to the diocesan bishop.
IX. 3. Any crime committed and condemned by
law presupposes a fair punishment. Its meaning is to reform an infringer, to
protect society from a criminal and to stop his illegal activity. The Church, without taking upon
herself to judge an infringer, is called to take care of his soul. That is why
she understands punishment not as revenge, but a means of the inner purification
of a sinner.
Establishing
punishment for culprits, the Creator says to Israel: «Thou shalt put evil away
from among you» (Deut. 21:21). Punishment for crime serves to teach people.
Thus, establishing punishment for false prophesy, God says to Moses: «All
Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this
is among you» (Deut. 13:11). We read in the Proverbs of Solomon: «Smite a
scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding,
and he will understand knowledge» (Prov. 19:25). The Old Testament tradition
knows of several forms of punishment including the death penalty, banishment,
restriction of freedom, corporal punishment and fine or order to make a
donation for religious purposes.
Confinement,
banishment (exile), reformatory labour and fines continue as punishments in the
contemporary world. All these penalties are relevant not only in protecting
society from the evil will of a criminal, but are also called to help in
reforming him. Thus, confinement or restriction of freedom gives a person who
outlawed himself an opportunity to reflect on his life in order to come back to
liberty internally purified. Labour helps educate a person for creativity and
helps him to acquire useful skills. In the process of reformatory labour, the
sinful element deep in the soul should give place to creative endeavour, order
and spiritual peace. It is important at the same time to ensure that inmates
are not subjected to inhumane treatment, that the conditions of confinement do
not threaten their life and health and that their moral condition is not
influenced by the pernicious example of other inmates. To this end the state is
called to take care of convicts, while society and the Church to help them in
it.
In
Christianity, kindness towards prisoners for the sake of their reformation has
deep roots. The Lord Jesus compares charity towards prisoners to the service of
Himself: «I was in prison, and ye came unto me» (Mt. 25:36). History remembers
many men of God who helped those in prisons. The Russian Orthodox tradition has
implied charity toward those fallen from old times. St. Innocent, Archbishop of
Kherson, addressed these words to inmates in a prison church in Vologda: «We
have come here not to condemn you, but to give you consolation and edification.
You can see for yourselves how the Holy Church has come to you with all her
Sacraments. So you, too, move not away from her, but approach her with faith,
repentance and your ways reformed… The Saviour is even now holding out his
hands from the cross to all the repentant; so you, too, repent and you will
come from death to life!»
In her ministry in penitentiaries, the
Church should arrange churches and prayer rooms in them, administer Sacraments
and celebrate, hold pastoral talks with inmates and distribute religious
literature. Especially important is the personal contact with inmates including
visiting them in cells. Every encouragement should be given to correspondence
with convicts and collection and distribution of clothes, medicines and other
necessities. These efforts should be aimed not only to relieve the heavy lot of
prisoners, but also to help in the moral healing of their crippled souls. Their
pain is the pain of the whole Mother Church who rejoices with heavenly joy when
even «one sinner repentieth» (Lk. 15:10). The revival of the care for prisoners
has become an important field of pastoral and missionary work, which needs to
be supported and developed.
The death penalty as a special
punishment was
recognised in the Old Testament. There
are no indications to the need to abolish it in the New Testament or in the
Tradition or in the historical legacy of the Orthodox Church either. At the
same time, the Church has often assumed the duty of interceding before the
secular authority for those condemned to death, asking it show mercy for them
and commute their punishment. Moreover, under Christian moral influence, the
negative attitude to the death penalty has been cultivated in people’s
consciousness. Thus, in the period from the mid-18th century to
the 1905 Revolution in Russia, it was applied on very rare occasions. For the
Orthodox church consciousness, the life of a person does not end with his
bodily death, therefore the Church continues her care for those condemned to capital
punishment.
The abolition of death penalty would
give more opportunities for pastoral work with those who have stumbled and for
the latter to repent. It is also evident that punishment by death cannot be
reformatory; it also makes misjudgement irreparable and provokes ambiguous
feelings among people. Today many states have either abolished the death
penalty by law or stopped practicing it. Keeping in mind that mercy toward a
fallen man is always more preferable than revenge, the Church welcomes these
steps by state authorities. At the same time, she believes that the decision to
abolish or not to apply death penalty should be made by society freely,
considering the rate of crime and the state of law-enforcement and judiciary,
and even more so, the need to protect the life of its well-intentioned members.
IX. 4. Seeking to help overcome crime, the Church enters into co-operation
with law-enforcement agencies. Respecting the efforts of their workers, aimed
to protect the citizens and the country from criminal designs and to reform
those who have stumbled, the
Church lends them a helping hand. This assistance may be
realised in various joint educational efforts for preventing offences, in
scientific and cultural work and in the pastoral care of the law-enforcers
themselves. Co-operation between the Church and the law-enforcement is based on
the church statutes and special agreements concluded with the leadership of
law-enforcement departments.
However,
it is the pastoral care
of the Church, given especially in the Sacrament of Repentance, that is called
to be the most effective means in overcoming crime. To any
repentant of an offence the
priest should resolutely offer to abandon in the Face of God any attempt to
continue his criminal activity as an indispensable condition
for the absolution from his sin. Only
in this way a person will be compelled to abandon the way of lawlessness and to
return to the life of virtue.
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"Introducing the death penalty is not
revenge, it is the highest degree of social protection."
- Vladimir Antyufeyev
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Thou shalt not kill - the Death Penalty
Thou Shalt not kill.
Death
Penalty
Let
us consider the appropriateness of the death penalty from the point of view of
Christian ethics. We shall begin with the arguments advanced for and then those
against the death penalty.
The
first argument for the death penalty--the Equity argument is fairly simple. It maintains
that elementary justice requires that an offender who has forcibly deprived
another person of life undergo the same experience. This argument draws on the
Old Testament, but is ruled out by the New Testament. A second argument for the
death penalty--the Utility argument--draws its inference from the general
benefit to society.
The
Utility argument has some persuasiveness. Because the thought of death provokes
primordial fear in most people, the death penalty may serve as an effective
means of preventing murder. Accepting that, then certain offenses of a violent
character must be punished by the death penalty in order to restrain potential
murderers from committing similar offenses. If the death penalty does not stop
other murderers, people may argue, society loses nothing except the life of the
murderer. Argument may carry on, that the evil nature of some people does not
yield to correction in confinement, and that they will inevitably return to a
criminal way of life. Depriving these people of life may bring benefit to
society.
Certain
advocates of the death penalty may impart a philosophical cast to their words.
They may say that the death penalty strikingly underscores the belief of
society in the Sanctity of Life. They argue that not using the death penalty in
appropriate instances will undermine belief in the sanctity of human life. This
sanctity argument can be turned against itself.
Turning
to the popular arguments against the death penalty, we can hear its opponents
recall the Sanctity of Life. They may say that every life, including the life
of a murderer, is sacred. Therefore, they characterize the institution of the
death penalty as a "cold-blooded" and "barbaric" violation
of the sanctity of life.
Another
popular argument against the death penalty is that death penalty satisfies only
the "base, barbaric" instinct of retribution. It is impossible to
justify it because desire for vengeance is immoral.
Certain
opponents of the death penalty also point out that human justice is fallible.
Human error is go great as to allow such gross errors as a court sentencing an
innocent person to death. This fact alone can justify repealing the death
penalty. These are the few basic arguments "for" and
"against" the death penalty in contemporary society. The problem of
the death penalty, however, is more complex. Anyone who seriously ponders the
problem of the death penalty knows no simple answers to this problem. All the
more so for the Christian.
All
systems of criminal justice, both ancient as well as modern, contain in
themselves certain aspects of the principle of retribution as the basis for
punishing the premeditated, violent taking of the life of another. The Old
Testament expresses this idea in the phrase an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth (Leviticus 24:20). From this Old Testament principle we arrive at the
inescapable conclusion expressed in the book of Exodus: He that smiteth a man,
so that he die, shall be surely put to death (Exodus 21:12).
The
early Church, however, was opposed to the death penalty and based its
opposition on the teaching of Jesus Christ. This teaching is expressed with the
utmost clarity in the words of the Savior:
Ye
have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
but I say into you, That ye resist not evil . . . .love your enemies, bless
them that curse you (Matthew 5:38-39, 44).
A
little later, during the time of persecution, Christian apologists developed
the teaching of Jesus against retribution. Early Christian writers raised
arguments not only on the grounds of self-defense, but also because they wished
to transfigure the pagan world through the Gospel of Christ. Early Christian
authors considered the death penalty a violation of the commandment Thou shalt
not kill. In this matter, Lactantius, a writer of the Western Church who lived
in the third century, wrote:
For
when God forbids us to kill, He not only prohibits us from open violence, which
is not even allowed by the public laws, but He warns us against the Commission
of those things which are esteemed lawful among men . . . . a just man (ought
not) accuse any one of a capital charge, because it makes no difference whether
you put a man to death by word or rather by the sword, since it is the act of
putting to death itself which is prohibited. Therefore, with regard to this
precept of God, there ought to be no exception God willed to be a sacred animal
(Institutes VI, XX, 15).
When
Christians were themselves persecuted by the state, they could not conceivably
hold governmental offices and oppose the death penalty through legislation. The
problem of the death penalty acutely confronted Christians only after the
Emperor Constantine the Great stopped the persecutions and made Christianity
the state religion. Christians began to occupy government posts as legislators,
judges, and preservers of the social order. They began to act according to the
principles of the words of the Apostle Paul:
He
is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be
afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil (Romans 13:4).
Many
Christians began to accept the death penalty as permissible for the sake of
justice, and for the sake of law and order that might prevent violence. Of
course, Christians never looked on the death penalty as something ideal or
desirable but as an unavoidable evil in a world far from ideal.
Even
if human logic can justify the death, all the same, the penalty is incompatible
with the injunction of the Sixth Commandment Thou shalt not kill. Laws and
customs must be more and more imbued with God's Laws. Judicial penalties must
strive to awaken the conscience of the criminal. There is power in the spirit
of mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
©Archpriest
Victor Potapov
1991-1992
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| The flag of the Russian Orthodox Army; a paramilitary group in Ukraine. |
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=32&catid=61
How does the Coptic Orthodox Church view Capital Punishment?
Our Coptic Church approves of fair capital
punishment. God Himself instituted Capital Punishment and gave us the reason
why he did. We read in the Holy Book of Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's
blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made
man." This passage regards the killing of a human as an offense to God
because humans both male and female are made in the image of God. The Holy Book
of Leviticus 24:17 requires that "whoever kills any man shall surely be
put to death." The Holy Book of Leviticus 24:21 repeats this. See also
the Holy Book of Numbers 35:16 and the Holy Book of Deuteronomy 17:6.
God killed individuals because they had engaged in various transgressions. He sent the flood to kill all the wicked (Genesis 7:6). In the Holy Book of Genesis 18:20, God heard that the people of Sodom were wicked and evil. Genesis 19:24, God demolished Sodom and all of its men, women, children, infants, plants and animals, except for Lot's family.
In the New Testament, God's love and Justice were proclaimed on the cross. For "Mercy and truth have met together" (Psalm 85:10). Now we live in the time of Grace; however the Grace of God goes hand in hand with His Divine Justice. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Both in the Old and New Testament God is revealed as a loving and just God. In The Holy Book of Acts 5:1-11, a couple, by the name of Ananias and Sapphira were punished by being struck dead instantly for lying to the Holy Spirit. Members of the church were understandably terrified. Ananias and Sapphira's punishment was in this life. God did not wait till the eternal life to punish them.
St. Paul tells us "Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). He also instructs Christians to submit themselves to the authority of the state, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and God appoints the authorities that exist. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (Romans 13:1-2).
Referring to the authorities, St Paul writes "For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (Romans 13:1-5). The reference to "sword" might be interpreted literally (to refer to capital punishment) or symbolically (to refer to the power of the state to punish wrongdoers).
OTHER
LINKS:
DPR to carry out capital punishment by
firing squad
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin backs
death penalty in some situations, favors elimination of terrorists before trial
Ukraine rebel leaders lay down law in
eastern area
PATRIARCH
KIRILL ON THE DEATH PENALTY & A DEFENSIVE WAR
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