Tertullian's Arguments Against The Death Penalty
My fellow shepherds in Christ, I stand before you today a servant of our Lord, a firm advocate for justice, and a defender of the Church’s timeless teaching. But I am concerned. This past October, our Holy Father asserted that capital punishment was “inadmissible.” The Church’s view on capital punishment has been consistently against it but has had a couple of modifications throughout the years. In “the gospel of life,” pope John paul II says that the “death penalty should be very rare, if not practically non-existent.” The offender must be offered an opportunity to re-enter into society, after an adequate punishment. With an adequate punishment they are ensuring public safety and defending the public order while giving the person who committed
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the crime a chance to change their behavior. For this to be achieved in a successful and ethical manner the punishment must be heavily analyzed in order to determine a fair punishment without going to the extreme case of executing the offender. In the Old Testament the death penalty was listed as a punishment for all kinds of crimes. There was a dramatic shift between these ideals and those of the New Law which Jesus brought to light in his teachings of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus did not hinder the Old Law, but finished It by teaching that mercy is more important than vengeance.
Tertullian was a prominent Roman lawyer prior to his conversion and ordination in middle age.
Tertullian’s On Idolatry (between A.D. 198 and 220) indicates that Christians could not conscientiously inflict the death penalty. This writing discussed the contributions to sin in certain jobs and trades. This includes the Roman military because the higher ranks in society used capital punishment. Tertullian mentioned that killing of any sort excluded military service as a livelihood for Christians. In On the Resurrection of the Flesh, he classified hangmen in the same category as lascivious women, gladiators and priests of a pagan …show more content…
cult.
The Fourth Lateran Council also had a slight effect on the view of capital punishment. A major distinction between clerics and non-clerics was that clerics at the time could not execute a death penalty. The Church’s view on capital punishment ultimately shifted more towards the idea that the death penalty is completely wrong because of action being too cruel.
Aquinas believed that killing a guilty person is not intrinsically evil, but it is nonetheless a last resort when nothing else can be done for the good of the community. The Church typically avoids using St. Thomas Aquinas’s view on capital punishment because it believes that it would be a complicated concept to explain and may cause confusion to everyone trying to understand the Catholic Church. St. Augustine was also one that defended the ability to execute capital punishment.
In 1974, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, voted to declare its opposition to capital punishment.
A former president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed out “the issue of capital punishment that involves both “profound legal and political questions” as well as "important moral and religious issues.”” This issue continues to influence public controversy and cause confusion on the topic.
In the writing the Evangelium Vitae, the concept of capital punishment is made acceptable under certain circumstances and allows for a more accepting view on it. Even though the Church’s view on capital punishment is a hard concept to grasp, the Church’s view is more against than it is for the death penalty. As the opinions of our societies continue to change, the Church has a difficult time keeping up with different ideologies and political influences on capital punishment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church argues that if one’s life is at risk and there is no possible way to morally deal with the aggressor, then the defendant shall be able to defend themselves even if it includes the killing of another. In this situation the defendant should not receive any punishment because they had no other options in approaching the situation in a moral way. This demonstrates the shift in exceptions on capital punishment by coming to an agreement in which there is no punishment for people that have no other choice but to take ones life in order to save their
own.
the crime a chance to change their behavior. For this to be achieved in a successful and ethical manner the punishment must be heavily analyzed in order to determine a fair punishment without going to the extreme case of executing the offender. In the Old Testament the death penalty was listed as a punishment for all kinds of crimes. There was a dramatic shift between these ideals and those of the New Law which Jesus brought to light in his teachings of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus did not hinder the Old Law, but finished It by teaching that mercy is more important than vengeance.
Tertullian was a prominent Roman lawyer prior to his conversion and ordination in middle age.
Tertullian’s On Idolatry (between A.D. 198 and 220) indicates that Christians could not conscientiously inflict the death penalty. This writing discussed the contributions to sin in certain jobs and trades. This includes the Roman military because the higher ranks in society used capital punishment. Tertullian mentioned that killing of any sort excluded military service as a livelihood for Christians. In On the Resurrection of the Flesh, he classified hangmen in the same category as lascivious women, gladiators and priests of a pagan …show more content…
cult.
The Fourth Lateran Council also had a slight effect on the view of capital punishment. A major distinction between clerics and non-clerics was that clerics at the time could not execute a death penalty. The Church’s view on capital punishment ultimately shifted more towards the idea that the death penalty is completely wrong because of action being too cruel.
Aquinas believed that killing a guilty person is not intrinsically evil, but it is nonetheless a last resort when nothing else can be done for the good of the community. The Church typically avoids using St. Thomas Aquinas’s view on capital punishment because it believes that it would be a complicated concept to explain and may cause confusion to everyone trying to understand the Catholic Church. St. Augustine was also one that defended the ability to execute capital punishment.
In 1974, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, voted to declare its opposition to capital punishment.
A former president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed out “the issue of capital punishment that involves both “profound legal and political questions” as well as "important moral and religious issues.”” This issue continues to influence public controversy and cause confusion on the topic.
In the writing the Evangelium Vitae, the concept of capital punishment is made acceptable under certain circumstances and allows for a more accepting view on it. Even though the Church’s view on capital punishment is a hard concept to grasp, the Church’s view is more against than it is for the death penalty. As the opinions of our societies continue to change, the Church has a difficult time keeping up with different ideologies and political influences on capital punishment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church argues that if one’s life is at risk and there is no possible way to morally deal with the aggressor, then the defendant shall be able to defend themselves even if it includes the killing of another. In this situation the defendant should not receive any punishment because they had no other options in approaching the situation in a moral way. This demonstrates the shift in exceptions on capital punishment by coming to an agreement in which there is no punishment for people that have no other choice but to take ones life in order to save their
own.