Bottum and the Churches on Capital Punishment

The discussion of Joseph Bottum’s Blood for Blood , today’s “On the Square” article, has started up. Readers who have not yet read his provocative criticism of the death penalty, in which he takes a very different (and to me more compelling) position than the usual humanitarian arguments against it, will want to.

For readers who like to track these things down,  The Death Penalty page from Theology Library provides links to statements from the various churches, all against. It does not include any from churches that support it, as for example the Southern Baptist Convention. That group declared their support in On Capital Punishment , a resolution passed in 2000 and explained in a Baptist Press news story,  SBC support for death penalty based on Bible, Duke says .  The entire discussion, a Pew Forum that included Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish responses, can be found in Religious Reflections on the Death Penalty .