The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey
Enter the term death penalty into the search box of any online bookstore and your cup will runneth over with titles and choices. Sister Helen Prejean's popular Dead Man Walking (LJ 6/15/93) is only the tip of the iceberg; even Jesse Jackson has recently entered the fray (Legal Lynching, National Pr. Bks., 1995). To his credit, theologian Megivern (philosophy and religion, Univ. of North Carolina, Wilmington) remains focused, concentrating on establishing what he calls "Western Christendom's" (read: Catholicism's) culpability in developing that odious concept of capital punishment, first as a divinely ordained penalty and later as a response to heresy. He ultimately ends with the American Catholic bishops' public discomfiture with state-sanctioned lethal violence. The book's strength lies in its broad Western historical survey, but at more than 600 pages, it may be more than casual readers find they want. Still, with its 150 pages of endnotes and a comprehensive bibliography, Catholic religious scholars and ethicists should find ample grist for the mill. Recommended for a academic and large public libraries.?Sandra Collins, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Lib.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.