Capital Punishment

*-This is what I posted in a Discussion Forum for my Christian Ethics Online Class-*

Capital punishment is a difficult topic to argue and discuss because almost everyone has a different opinion. Some people use the Bible to defend it, while others attempt to condemn it with the same methodology. For example, Elizabeth Morgan in her article Crime and Punishment uses her faith to debunk the death penalty argument. "It seems to me as a Christian that it contradictgs the gospel call for forgiveness and truncates the possibility of transformation." The second example is of someone using the Scriptures to argue for the death penalty. Rick Reed in his article Should Christians Support the Death Penalty? uses Romans 13:4 to support his argument. He says, "We also agree that governments with the responsibility of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty." The verse states that "he [a ruler] does not bear the sword in vain." Seeing these two sides, how can we really know which is correct?
It is very hard to determine which is the correct ideaology, but in the end you have to look at what God says. The one trick is to remember to interpret the scriptures as what God says and not what you think. This is my argument for whether or not the death penalty contradicts the 6th commandment. It does say "Thou shalt not kill," but the actual meaning of the word kill does not contradict the idea of punishing by killing. According to Strong's Online Concordance the word kill is ratsach which means "to murder or slay or kill with premeditation, or accidental means, or for revenge, or intentionally as a slayer when used as a participle." So, it does not contradict.
In the end, I believe the dealth penalty is justifiable by NT scriptures (Romans 13:4 is one), but that our governments ideas of the death penalty needs fixing. My idea (not sure if I can completely prove the idea with scriptures other than he should be killed)- the offender is one who has killed and should be killed the same fashion as his victim.

Sources:
KJV Bible
Morgan, Elizabeth. "Crime and punishment: wrestling with the death penalty." Christian Century 123.20 (2006): 30-33. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. EBSCO. Web. 10 June 2010.
Reed, Rick. Should Christians support the death penatly? Delve Into Jesus. Web. 10 June 2010.
Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for ratsach (Strong's 7523)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 10 Jun 2010