----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------Capital Punishment--------- -------------------------------------------------- ---------------------Should Christians support the death penalty? The answer to this question is controversial. Many Christians believe the Bible addressed the issue, but others believe the New Testament ethic of love supersedes Old Testament law. Old Testament Examples Throughout the Old Testament we find many instances where God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first and foremost with the acts of God himself. God was involved, directly or indirectly, in the taking of life as punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel. An example is Noah's flood in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities due to the atrocious sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians (Exodus 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exodus 14). There were also punishments such as that of Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the wandering Jews in the desert. The Old Testament is full of references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used capital punishment to address the sins of Israel and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel. The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the code of Jewish law. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even predates the legal code of the Old Testament. According to Genesis 9:6, capital punishment is based on belief in the sanctity of life. It says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man by man, his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” The Mosaic Law provided for numerous crimes punishable by death. The first was murder. In Exodus 21, God commanded capital punishment for murderers. Premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as "lying") was punishable by death. A second crime punishable by death was involvement in the occult (Exodus 22; Lev. 20; Deut. 18-19). This included witchcraft, divination, acting as a medium, and sacrificing to false gods. Third, capital punishment was to be used against perpetrators of sexual sins such as rape, incest, or homosexual practice. Within this Old Testament theocracy, capital punishment was extended beyond murder to cover various crimes..