When faced with a capital criminal and challenged to condemn her to death, Jesus instead said, “I do not condemn you” (John 8:11).
Responsibility, consequences, and society’s appropriate response to crime are embodied in incarceration for the reasons I’ve mentioned.
The reason people believe in punishment by death is mainly because it seems like justice for the man’s acts. But full justice and the death penalty has already been dealt. So society must look elsewhere for appropriate consequences and rationales to deal with criminals. I have named a few of them.
The full text of John chapter 8 reveals that the crime and sin were adultery, not murder, in this case. Further, the scribes and Pharisees were using the woman as a means to imperil Jesus’s ministry on Earth. He responded by challenging the accusers, who then dissipated.
The lesson was more about the accusers than the accused.
I do find it interesting that you assert to know the minds of those who support the death penalty - asserting that they believe in it because it “seems like justice”. You then assert that the death penalty has already been dealt - despite the fact that all are born sinners, and thus subject to eternal death regardless of what they choose to do in their life. It is only by turning away from one’s sinful nature through Christ that one can avert that sentence.
Having read your posts, I must admit I fail to see the “reasons” you cite for your opinion. What I see is the assertion, as though it were self-evident. That is why I asked for your rationale.
We disagree, FRiend.