To: xone
It's not, strictly speaking, a change in doctrine but probably in emphasis. It has never been considered obligatory to execute criminals for capital crimes; for instance, the courts of the various Church Inquisitions had a lower rate of capital punishment than secular or royal courts. Historian Thomas Madden points to documentary evidence that accused criminals sometimes tried to have their trials transferred to ecclesiatical courts, where there were higher standards of evidence and procedural due process, and much lower rates of capital sentencing.
89 posted on
10/10/2015 8:19:05 PM PDT by
Mrs. Don-o
("Mercy means giving people a challenge; not covering reality with gift wrap." - a Synod participant)
To: Mrs. Don-o
Obligatory really isn’t the question, as much as that CP is the province of legitimate gov’t not the church. If this isn’t a recent change, why would there ever have been a death penalty levied and carried out in an ecclesiastical court?
90 posted on
10/11/2015 10:21:53 AM PDT by
xone
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson