The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty.

• Author: Blankenship, Gary
• Position: Book Review

The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty by Dale S. Recinella

Florida Bar member Dale S. Recinella isn't looking to dodge controversy in his book, The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty. In more than 400 pages of research, analysis, interpretations of original Greek scriptures, indexes, and a bibliography, he reaches a conclusion bound to rile many people, namely that America's death penalty is incompatible and inconsistent with Biblical teachings.

Among the many points Recinella makes to those who seek to justify the death penalty with Old Testament writings is why the death penalty should survive for murder in the U.S. justice system, but not for more than 30 other offenses listed in the Bible. Those include adultery, greed, inciting greed, shopping on the Sabbath/Sunday, and fortune telling. Nor does the U.S. justice system meet the standards for trying and carrying out the death penalty, as spelled out in the Bible and Talmudic practices.

As for the New Testament, Recinella argues that it explicitly teaches that...