Is The Death Penalty Just?

The opposite of justice isn't mercy — it's injustice. When what God calls "just" and "unjust" is rejected as irrelevant, victims can be victimized, perpetrators pardoned, and the innocent indicted. Hebrews 2:2 says that in God's Law, "Every transgression and disobedience received a just reward." But at the same time, God's legal framework was flexible enough to provide both mercy and justice to victim, accused, and perpetrator alike.

What should we learn from how God originally defined justice and just consequences for crimes? From how He made exceptions? From how He took into account victims' rights? From how He designed primarily restorative consequences? From the checks and balances in God’s legal system to protect the accused? From what the Bible says about how the law can be used "lawfully" or "unlawfully"? And from why murder appears to be the only crime for which the death penalty was mandated?

Dr. Kayser shows in this booklet how "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25) dealt with some of the most complex crimes with nuance and compassion, including those that potentially involved the death penalty. If you're unsure of how much of God's Old Testament justice is relevant today, this handbook is both a quick read and a must-read.