Jesus keeps me from being pro-death

by Krystofer Penner | Published 19th May 2014 in Ways of Seeing

Shane Claiborne believes the death penalty is wrong. In the this article he shows the ways in which Jesus was also against the death penalty, and argues that we must make room for grace and redemption instead if we wish to truly follow Jesus.

“For hundreds of years, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, and other early Christians explicitly forbid other Christians from participating in or supporting capital punishment. Other writings (such as the Apostolic Tradition) go so far as to prohibit the baptism of Christians who participate in the apparatus of killing. It was inconceivable to worship Jesus, a forgiving victim of the death penalty who died with grace on his lips, and call for the execution of others. Of all people, we who follow the executed and risen Christ should be people who are consistently pro-life, pro-grace and anti-death.”