Quote:
Originally Posted by toddpedlar  Quote:
Originally Posted by ServantofGod In Scripture we are told to not seek vengeance:
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”- Romans 12:19
Many will use that verse to condemn the seeking of justice against those who have done criminal things against us(e.g. Seeking the death penalty for your brother's murderer, ect...). Are we allowed to/is it possible to pursue justice being done to someone who has personally hurt us, without "vengeance"? Where would the line be drawn?
venge·ance /ˈvɛndʒəns/
–noun
1. infliction of injury, harm, humiliation, or the like, on a person by another who has been harmed by that person; violent revenge: But have you the right to vengeance?
2. an act or opportunity of inflicting such trouble: to take one's vengeance.
3. the desire for revenge: a man full of vengeance.
4. Obsolete. hurt; injury.
5. Obsolete. curse; imprecation. | Seeking the death penalty for a murder is utterly appropriate - or did God err in writing the Law? It isn't vengeance that one is seeking but the Biblically-defined penalty that the state is empowered to enact. One boundary have to be careful to respect, though, is that the solutions sought by us in legal proceedings for any crime do not go BEYOND the Law's prescribed restitution.
Quite honestly, I believe life imprisonment is far worse than the death penalty, in capital cases, and is not a biblical penalty. Imprisonment in general is problematic, in that it is simply detention - and restitution is very rarely actually made to the victims (e.g. as might be if the prisoners were required to work and the 'pay' for that work be made to an account for the restitution of the object in question). |
Good response, I would just clarify that exacting lawful Justice is an aspect of God's vengeance. The civil magistrate is the ordained institution that bears the sword against evil doers and is the temporal means of God's vengeance.
As Todd correctly pointed out imprisonment is a grave injustice to all parties, God, the victim, society and the criminal himself. Failing to enact penal sanctions within the general equity of God's law is an exercise of juridical atheism and violates both the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment to the United State's Constitution.