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| Susan M. Recinella, Clinical Psychologist for mentally ill adults, and
Catholic Lay Minister to Families of the Executed |
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Upcoming Events:
Florida Community College of Jacksonville FL
Downtown Jacksonville Campus
Death Penalty Analysis Class (Not open to the public).
Wednesday April 8, 2009 - 11:00 a.m. to 12:50pm
Presentation: Biblical Teaching and the Realities of the American
Death Penalty
Guest Speaker: DALE S. RECINELLA
Catholic Lay Chaplain for Florida Death Row and Solitary Confinement
For information, contact: Professor John Elac
ph. 407-321-9386 or 386-503-1517
St Peter’s in the Glen Anglican Church, Glen St Mary, Florida
The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty and the Death Penalty Up Close
(open to the public).
Saturday April 25, 2009 - 9:00 a.m. to Noon followed by free lunch
Guest Speakers:
DALE S. RECINELLA - Catholic Lay Chaplain for Florida Death Row and Solitary Confinement
DR. SUSAN M. RECINELLA – Catholic Lay Minister to Families of the Executed and Families of Murder Victims
For information, contact: Ms. Sue Leger Krall
cell 613-2542 Hm 259-6568
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The American Death Penalty and Jesus’ Words to Pilate in the Bible
By: Dale S. Recinella
“The modern logic of biblically-based support for the American death penalty follows the same track as the biblical logic for
defending slavery: the death penalty is present in the Hebrew scriptures, is not expressly prohibited by the Gospels, and is arguably
supported by a particular way of interpreting Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (out of context).
Some Christian death penalty proponents have gone so far as to argue to the author that Jesus drove the moneychangers from the temple, but He did not stop his own execution
under Pilate, thereby verifying Jesus’ approval of capital punishment.
The logic of the Bible-belt’s pro-slavery biblical arguments has been resurrected with new verses to defend the death penalty.”¹
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Some pro-death penalty Evangelicals like to quote the following passage from the Gospel of John as biblical proof that Jesus supports the death penalty. The scene is the trial of Jesus before Pilate:
SO PILATE SAID TO HIM, “DO YOU NOT SPEAK TO ME? DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT I HAVE POWER TO RELEASE YOU AND I HAVE POWER TO CRUCIFY YOU?”
JESUS ANSWERED [HIM], “YOU WOULD HAVE NO POWER OVER ME IF IT HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN TO YOU FROM ABOVE.”
Such pro-death penalty Evangelicals stop there and fail to quote the rest of what Jesus said. The entire exchange reads as follows:
SO PILATE SAID TO HIM, “DO YOU NOT SPEAK TO ME? DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT I HAVE POWER TO RELEASE YOU AND I HAVE POWER TO CRUCIFY YOU?”
JESUS ANSWERED [HIM], “YOU WOULD HAVE NO POWER OVER ME IF IT HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN TO YOU FROM ABOVE. FOR THIS REASON THE ONE WHO HANDED
ME OVER TO YOU HAS THE GREATER SIN.” JOHN 19:10-11
This full text can hardly be claimed as Jesus’ support for capital punishment. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that Pilate’s reaction
to this exchange was just the opposite:
CONSEQUENTLY, PILATE TRIED TO RELEASE HIM.” JOHN 19:12
Catholic biblical scholars tell us that: “Jesus probably does not single out any specific individual, but by ‘the one’ he means anyone
of the Jewish leadership that had handed him over to the Romans. They are all the more guilty because, possessing the authority that has
been committed to them by God, they have used this authority to encompass the death of an innocent person.”²
The American death penalty is inherently defective in that it creates a great risk of executing the innocent. This defect goes
against the explicit commands of Scripture Ex. 23:7 – “Thou shalt not execute an innocent person.” The American legal precedents,
doctrines and statutes against courts hearing late-discovered evidence of innocence increase the risk of executing the innocent.
This is especially true of the American legal doctrine called “procedural bar” which limits or prohibits late discovered evidence
of innocence, even if it was hidden by the state.
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The man or woman on the gurney, even if innocent, is killed in our name:
In the name of “The People of our State”
What does the response of Jesus to Pilate in John 19:11 tell us about the
American death penalty and about all of “The People of our State”
If that man or woman is innocent?
¹Recinella, Dale S., The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004),
p. 100. ©2004 Dale S. Recinella. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
²The Jerome Biblical Commentary (1968), p. 460
© 2009 Dale S. Recinella
Used with permission. All rights reserved
No further reproduction or republication without prior written permission.
www.iwasinprison.org
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I Was In Prison
News & Updates
This ezine is targeted for people involved in prison ministry or in stopping the death penalty, we think you will find helpful information for people who are undecided about capital punishment, for those who have never experienced the inside of a jail or prison, and for those who feel called to participate through prayer and adoration.
Your name and information will never be used or shared with anyone. We promise!
Dale S. Recinella, Catholic Lay Chaplain, Florida Death Row and Solitary Confinement
Susan M. Recinella, Clinical Psychologist for mentally ill adults, and
Catholic Lay Minister to Families of the Executed |
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