Should christians believe in the death penalty?

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Originally Posted by gloryseeker

...the Bible is very clear Old and New Testaments about fornicators and adulterers and also on rebellion, which is a different subject than witnessing to and trying to be a light and leads others.

Not really. Does the NT tell us that we should stone someone caught in adultery? What does Jesus say in John 8.3-8? And how is it a different subject than witnessing to and trying to be a light and lead others? What does our witness say about the grace and mercy of God if we are saying "kill them"? What does it say about our respect for God-given life, and the soul that dies without Him? How much do we really believe in a gospel of peace and reconciliation when we've come to the conclusion that people should die for their crimes. And not only that, but that our God endorses it. And what does that say to our world? Certainly there's a penalty for sin - eternal punishment and separation from God. But that's not to be our message! You'll never get someone to have a relationship with God based on fear of eternal punishment. You might get them to come to church, give in the offering, and even be saved. But unless they develop a relationship with God based on His mercy and grace, they won't stay saved for long.

We shouldn't just assume the Bible supports our views without really studying to make sure it does. Even more, we should not be trying to find scripture to support our views, but rather searching the scriptures to find out which views WE should support. That's why I asked in my opening post if anyone had done a Bible study on this topic. I've seen people in this thread say general things like "the Bible is clear..." or quote from the OT law and say, "see, God says they should die..." That's not a Berean study. Show us something, in the context of NT grace and mercy, that truly demonstrates that we should support this stand.

Let God be true and every man a liar. Let's put aside our preconceived notions and the "this is what I've always been taught" attitudes, and admit that there might be something we don't understand. I'm there. As I've said, I'm pretty conflicted. I feel in my spirit that the DP is wrong, but in my flesh I'm somewhat satisfied with retribution. More than anything, I really want to know the mind of Christ - on this and every other topic.