Should christians believe in the death penalty?

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

What it says, in context, is that we should submit ourselves to the ordinances and the leaderships of man...

Whether it be to the king AS supreme.

Or whether it be to governors AS unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers.

This is not a scriptural acceptance of any form of punishment.

This is a scriptural admonition to submit to the legal authorities that are in power.

If this does pertain to a Christians attitude toward the death penalty at all then the message would be one that... if you are brought before the governor to be punished then accept that punishment.

We do have several examples where brethren did just that. The only example we have where a punishment was not fully accepted and allowed to be carried out was when Peter was in jail and the people prayed...

Even then they submitted and God was the one who freed him.

This scripture is about our attitude and submission to the authorities of this world... possibly... even to the point of being wrongly put to death... at which time... having seen my brother put to death wrongfully by the governor... I would not find myself a big fan of the death penalty.

What was the main punishment of murderers and such when that scripture was written?