STATEMENTS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Annual Conference, 1959.

We commend current efforts to abolish capital punishment and call upon Brethren everywhere to use their influence and their witness against it.

Annual Conference, 1975.

(The following statement is part of a much longer paper on "Criminaljustice."  It is included in a section of recommendations entitled "Reforming the System.")

" . . .Brethren are encouraged to work for the following changes: that the use of capital punishment be abolished."

General Board, 1979.

The Church of the Brethren General Board views with deep concern and alarm the resumption of the use of capital punishment.  We affirm the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference Statements of 1957, 1959, and 1975 which uphold the sanctity of human life and personality, oppose the use of capital punishment, and encourage Brethren to work for the abolition of the death penalty.

We encourage Brethren to express their opposition to capital punishment, especially to governors and state legislators in states where capital punishment has been established or is being considered.

We deplore the taking of human life, whether by the hand of an individual or through the working of a judicial system.  We pray, in the spirit of Jesus Christ who calls us to share his ministry of reconciliation, that our society will turn away from the use of capital punishment.

Annual Conference, 1987.

The following excerpts are from a position statement which affirms the brethren’s opposition to the death penalty and undergirds it by examining biblical and theological basis as well as practical and social issues involved.

"The death penalty only continues the spiral of violence.  Jesus said ‘You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil.  But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt. 5:38-39).’   Do we not believe this to be true?  The only real way to deter further violence is to cease our claim to a ‘life for a life,’ to recognize that life and death decisions belong to God, and to seek mercy and redemption of God’s lost children.

"In a broader sense, we Christians must lead the United States in a total commitment to nonviolence as public policy.  All violent systems, structures, and ideologies should be challenged at their very core.

"Jesus came with a message of redemption and compassion for life, while the death penalty carries a message of condemnation and death."

Church of the Brethren

1451 Dundee Avenue

Elgin, IL 60120