Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1846-08-27
From the Christian World.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
ExpOSitiOu of the Ninth Chapter Of
A.

Genesis.
There are two modes of dealing with a subject OF
reform in Institutions, one positive, laying open the
foundation principles Of your own faith; the other
negative, answering objections of opponents.
The negative side makes large part OF the work OF
all reforms The old thought, which the institution
stands, is in the way of the thought, opposes all
Its declarations and must be answered to the utter
most No matter whether the objection has any thing
in II to you, or me- 1t has to somebody IL is made
and the truth must it, putting it forever
out of the way, aud going then forward to establish
itself.
Especially on the subject Of abOlishing capital pun
ishment; the negative side is full. Church and State
to De answered. Human law here claims the
sanction of the divine will upon. lis reasons Of civil
policy. The church interprets the Bible 10 command
capital punishment, and the State seeks to found Its
statute on the Bible, so interpreted.
The support which capital punishment is supposed
to have from the Bible, is popularity called the scrip
tural argument; and this scriptural argument rests
mainly the ninth chapter of Genesis-the reyela-
ton therein Of Gods law to Noah.
And il is to be taken, that the great body Of all
persons who inclined TO orthodox views Of religion,
with the orthodox clergy at their head sincerely be-
leve capital punishment sanctioned by the express
revelation of the voice of God, in that chapter of
Genesis. The shadow Of this belief more or less
dark, 1t may be- rests upon almost the whole heart
Of Christendom
If to this chapter. prepared beforehand to
find II authority for capital punishment, with minds
filled with prejudices, leaving for present
Judgment, may find it such authority forever But
without such preparation and preoccuPation of mind,
we shall find II no such thing. As we in this
respect, so is Interpretation likely to be. Let us
dismiss prejudice, if SO it may be; let clear our
hearts of the dark shadow, that we may have them
open to the image Of the shining truth.
Let US first read the chapter it stands in our
BIble,-the first verses,-which belong together and
complete the whole of one subject matter:
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said them
Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth
And the fear OF you and the dread Of you, shall be
earth and upon every fowl of the
arr upon all the fishes Of the into your hand they
delivered.
Every moving thing that iveth shall be for you
even as the green herb have given you, all things;
l. But flesh with the life thereof. which is the blood
thereof, We shall not eat.
And surely your blood Of your lives will require:
the hand Of every beast will require it, and at the hand Of
Whose blood by shall his blood be
shed: for in the image of God made he man.
.. And you, be We fruitful and multiply; bring forth
abundanty in the earth, and multiply therein.
The common Interpretation supposes that God will
here have every man-sayer put to death, and has
appointed it here-that in the 9Th and 9th verses lies
the divine requirement of capital punishment. In the
discussion, at the Broadway Tabernacle, in New
York, Il have heard 1T called the pirot of Gods
moral unirerSe, resting its eternal basis here
First-it is to be noted, that if this be divine
qurement of capital punishment, II is only for
Staying. There sanction here for the death
penalty to be inflicted for any other crime-no
rant for it, except for thanksgiving alone not for
treason, nor rape, nor robbery, any other crime
usually punished with death-only for the single fact
of Staying man.
And it requires equally that you nflict the death
penalty upon the beast that sheds mans blood, well
as man. And this the Mosaic law did, And in the
old English law, beast, any other article of pro-
perry, which was the Of death to a human be-
ing forfeit TO the King, and devoted to pous uses,
and known in law deodand. that is Dec dandum, to
be given to God. Whence in our old forms of ndict-
ments for murder, the value of the instrument of
death is set forth, as thus with certain deadly
weapon called a dirk, of the value of fifty cents
But does our modern civilized law require the blood
of the beast to be shed! Yet the divine law, if it
must stand for divine to us, demands the sacrifice
We believe il not. Webang the man-muiderer, only ;
we spare the beast-murderer, Withholding him from
the divine demand. Does any one of those who stanI
for this sanction of the death penalty sacrifice to
Deity the horse that has Kicked and by kicking killed
man! Yet, so to interpret the chapter as to demand
the human sacrifice, is also to demand that of the
beast And surely the blood of your lives will
qllre; at the hand of every beast will require it,
and at the hand of man; for In the image of God
made he man. Beast and man must equally die and
the insane man, as well the sane; and the man who
kills on sudden provocation, well as on deliberate
malice. Is this the law of society! But this is
the law Of this chapter Of Genesis, if YOU will inter-
Now if you depart from its authority by dispensing
with 1t In the of the beast of the insane man.
who IN the view of our society, is Irresponsible like
the beast; OF the man-slayer in sudden passion then
you have used your discretion to set aside what
you yet call command of the Almighty, and you
may not stop short. You may dispense with the
whole, In your discretion, if you may dispense with
part, In your discretion. Human discretion is your
law, not the word of scripture But is the man to be
found In society," who contends for the requirement
CT the whole OF that scripture Yet part of it is
more sacred than the rest and if the whole then
no part is sacred command TO man.
If, then, you take the common Interpretation, the
uIvIne demand of the civil magistrate, the divine
command to the civil magistrate is Just his-no more
and let civilized society see to it. no less-deah for
htn 'oho Kills man, far other crime and death Of
teast Killing man, loeH as man and death If tn
sane, as tce sane, and death for nan-saughter as
I7eA as for murder But neither of these last three
cases could any called civilized law exact such penal
y any called civilized sect of religion be found to
sustain IT, Society," the sects do disalow their own
Interpretation; and shall they nevertheless hold our
hearts and minds bound by their will For it is their
'slA their discretion which they act upon, and
the expressed will of the Almighty, as they would
have it seem to be.
But that 9th chapter of Genesis is wholly misin-
terpreted In the usual mode II has no reference TO
murder at all, understand that crime hut touches
far dreadful subject Let me ask Won 10 read
those verses again, and then follow on in this expo
siton.
You find the subject matter of the chapter to be the
multiplication of the of Noah and the food they
should eat
To Adam and his race the herb bearing seed and
the fruit Of the tree yielding seed alone, had been
given fo- food.
And the account of the posterity of ADAM of Noahs
fre, is that all flesh had corrupted the way of God
upon the earth, and that the whole earth was filed