Jeffress argued that “this is not just an Old Testament.”
“In the New Testament, Romans 13, Paul says, ‘Government is established by God. It does not bear the sword for nothing, but it’s an avenger who brings wrath upon those who practice evil,’” Jeffress said. “Capital punishment does not contradict the sanctity of human life. It actually affirms the preciousness of human life. And thankfully we have an attorney general and a president who understand that.”
Arguing for the practical effectiveness of capital punishment, Jeffress said, “People want to say, ‘Well, there’s no study that says capital punishment’s a deterrent to crime.’ Well, there are mixed studies about that.”
“But think about it—it is a deterrent in one very real sense. When you execute somebody, you’re removing from planet earth one more criminal who kills people,” Jeffress argued. “Our country, our world is safer whenever we get rid of murderers.”
“And by the way,” he added, “I really think that this is behind what the president’s doing on exporting these criminals. Government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. And that’s the primary responsibility, and I think that’s one of the great things this administration’s doing.”
Despite Jeffress’ apparent praise for the Trump administration’s vision for mass deportation, data indicates that immigrants commit violent crime at a significantly lower rate than U.S.-born citizens, and recent research shows that the majority of people most adversely affected by mass deportation polices are Christians.
Nevertheless, Jeffress’ remarks about capital punishment largely comport with the widely held beliefs among American evangelicals. For example, the SBC passed a resolution in 2000 that urges that “capital punishment be applied as justly and as fairly as possible without undue delay, without reference to the race, class, or status of the guilty.”
However, diversity of thought on the issue of capital punishment does exist within the Christian tradition. The American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. (ABCUSA) stands opposed to the death penalty, as does the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), among others.
RELATED: TX Church Evicted After Pastor Preaches That Gay People Are ‘Worthy of Death’
Other denominations, such as Assemblies of God, do not take an official position.
