Is the death penalty morally wrong? What does the Bible say about government and punishment?
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Answer:
Several years ago Dan Van Ness, then president of Justice Fellowship wrote A Call to Dialogue on Capital Punishment. It was not meant to take sides on the death penalty, but rather explore some of the important issues raised by the various sides. This article is excerpted from Dan's monograph. Dan now works with Prison Fellowship International.
Does Scripture mandate, prohibit, or permit capital punishment? Christians are divided on this issue. Let's summarize the arguments for each position:
SCRIPTURE MANDATES CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
The principal argument is that because life is sacred, those who wrongfully take another human life must lose their own lives. This is a form of restitution; a matter of justice— the state purging itself of those who shed innocent blood. Proponents of this position cite three scriptural arguments:
ARGUMENT 1
Genesis 9:6 says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." This is part of the larger covenant that God made with Noah after the flood. It not only reflects the great value of human life, but also gives the reason for that value: Man is made in God's image.The absolute language of Genesis 9:6 suggests that all those who kill another human being must be killed. And since this mandate was given long before the Mosaic Law to all who survived the flood, it apparently has universal application.
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Answer:
Thermal energy refers to several distinct physical concepts, such as the internal energy of a system; heat or sensible heat, which are defined as types of energy transfer; or for the characteristic energy of a degree of freedom in a thermal system kT, where T is temperature and k is the Boltzmann constant.