Capital Punishment and the Bible

By Gardner C. Hanks

Book Overview

This title is Out of Print from the Publisher. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836191951
• ISBN13: 9780836191950
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Herald Press (VA)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Reading Scriptures with a gentle eye

While I am opposed to the Death Penalty in all circumstances and think that Jesus was and remains our best model for how a human should live, I would not call myself an evangelical Christian. I believe that Hindus, doubters,atheists, Buddhists, Muslims & all manner of believers serve God by being true to what they believe. Furthermore, I do not as a general rule try to make sense and explain the Bible - there are too many follies in both the Hebrew story and in the Christian story for me to consider it important to appreciate every little detail or peccadillo in the Christian Bible. Indeed, taking the Bible too literally is often just another self-justifying form of idolatry--in this case, bibliolatry. However, I was wonderfully surprised by this book. Gardner Hanks tells a story of spiritual movement - the Mosaic 'lex talonis' replacing untethered vengeful feuds, Talmud injunctions making clear that punitive and non-restitutional punishment is counter to God's mercy, until the story reaches the forgiving standard of Jesus on the Cross. This book illustrates that the spirit of the reader can be as important as the actual stand alone text. There is a firm and consistent gentleness in this book that reminds me of St. Francis of Assisi. [This is a standard that I cannot match.] I was particularly moved by how Gardner gets so quickly to the heart of the matter - esp. when he describes and characterizes our own caste-and-class, revenge driven capital jurisprudence as little more than 'updated' forms of human sacrifice. Lon Clay Hill

A stringent denouncement of state-sanctioned execution

Written by death penalty abolitionist Gardner C. Hanks (Amnesty International State Death Penalty Action Coordinator for Idaho) as a stringent denouncement of the process of state-sanctioned execution, Capital Punishment And The Bible draws directly from the Christian scriptures to emphasize the importance of forgiveness, love, and restoration. A strongly worded, powerfully articulated, highly persuasive, theological and humanitarian stand that invokes both Biblical and secular reasonings against capital punishment, Captial Punishment And The Bible is a welcome and timely contribution to the on-going national dialog, especially in these troubled times. Also highly recommended reading is Gardner C. Hanks earlier work, Against The Death Penalty: Christian And Secular Arguments Agasint Capital Punishment.

Personal Prejudice

Gard wrote this book in response to readers' reactions to the first two chapters of Against the Death Penalty. And I read it because I helped edit it, and therefore my five star rating is biased. However, Gard and I thought it was much better written than his first book, but it definitely only examines the biblical/religious arguments against the death penalty. In the Old Testament someone could only be sentenced to death under very stringent conditions. For example: Two eye witnesses had to testify. No relative of the victim could testify. No person involved in the crime could testify. The cultural and historical examination of Old and New Testament beliefs is very thought provoking and you will find close parallels to Ohio's recommended guidelines for ending the moratorium on the death penalty. Gard died on February 2nd after being sick for over a year with cancer. He did not see this book in publication.