2002 REPORT OF THE UNIFIED COMMITTEE
ON THEOLOGY AND SOCIAL CONCERNS
I. MEETINGS, OFFICERS AND EXPIRATION OF TERMS
A. MEETINGS AND OFFICERS
The Unified
Committee met
B. EXPIRATION OF TERMS
The Unified Committee notes that the term of Dr. Robert McClure expires in 2002. Your committee has few responsibilities less appealing than to say farewell to a member who has served his church faithfully and who has been a loyal friend to those of us who have been honored to serve with him. Dr. Robert McClure departs having served nine years. We offer heartfelt thanks to God that this servant of our Lord brought his faith, intellect, humor, and gentle ways to our midst. Dr. McClure has faithfully served the Unified Committee for nine years, and is ineligible for re-election. The General Assembly owes a debt of gratitude for the work of Dr. McClure and his commitment to theological thinking on the concerns of society today.
RECOMMENDATION
1: That the Stated Clerk be directed to write a letter of appreciation to Dr.
McClure and to his family for his time and commitment to both the Unified
Committee on Theology and Social Concerns and to his church.
C. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE
The Unified
Committee will be represented at the General Assembly of the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church held
II. CLONING
The Unified Committee appreciates the General Assembly’s position against the cloning of human beings. This issue continues to be of great concern to our committee because of ongoing activity in this area. We also have concerns with the related fields of genetic engineering and stem cell research. We will continue study of these topics and plan to request that Dr. Barbara Holmes assist us in our ethical and theological reflection on these issues. With Dr. Holmes’ help, the future hope of this Unified Committee, is to sponsor a variety of joint activities involving Memphis Theological Seminary, University of Tennessee Medical School, and others. For further study we recommend the Science, Religion and Technology Project of the Church of Scotland at http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/srtscot/cloning.shtml.
III. STATEMENT CONCERNING
Recently, violence
and unrest have greatly increased in
IV. CHURCHES UNITING IN CHRIST
On
As a part of the CUIC agreement, the member churches officially recognized one another as true churches in which the gospel is truly proclaimed and the sacraments rightly administered. The churches also formally pledged to work in partnership with one another in local communities, regularly sharing in worship, sacraments, and mission. Each member denomination will maintain its own denominational structure and identity.
The Unified Committee is studying whether or not the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches should consider formal membership or partnership in CUIC. We will report to a later Assembly on our recommendations.
V. FOLLOW-UP ON A DIRECTIVE FROM THE 171ST GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF THE
This Unified Committee was directed by the 171st Assembly to “develop and/or list congregational resources that will empower the Christian community, by the grace of God, to pursue healing and reconciliation in all human relationships. We specifically request guidance, guidelines, and resources concerning premarital counseling that will enable the church to help couples build strong Christian marriages.”
The Unified Committee has much more study to do in this requested area. It is evident to the Committee that there is an ever growing need for couples to be adequately counseled and prepared for the sacredness of the marriage covenant. For now, your Committee offers the following resources in assisting pastors and church leaders engaged in premarital counseling with individuals:
1. The
Confession of Faith for the
2. Pre-marriage Awareness Inventory Review Kit by Peter C. Valands available from Logos Productions: 1-800-328-0200 or www.joinhands.com
3. When a Couple Marries by Jim Taylor and Marion Barnett
4. Marriage and Sacrament by Michael Lawler
VI. STATEMENT ON THE TRAGEDY OF
Your Unified
Committee met
“As your Unified
Committee on Theology and Social Concerns met on
We believe that the faith that we hold dear has an opportunity to mature in these trying times. The paradigm for living our lives has changed forever. The principalities and powers that we trusted for our security were revealed as inadequate and even ephemeral as the towers collapsed, the Pentagon burned, the planes collided, and the casualty list grew. The isolated ways we live our lives were called into question as neighbor turned to neighbor for support and strength. The casual relationship so many of us have with our God became a deep and tangible cry for help from the One Source of hope. Faith is maturing in these trying times. Let us encourage that sort of growth.
We also fear for those who suffer from continued acts of irrational violence and hate in this ever-widening cycle of terror. Innocent citizens who share the same democratic values that our nation espouses are being targeted for abuse, both physical and psychological, because of their faith. We call on Cumberland Presbyterian Christians to embrace our neighbors of various ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds and, in so doing, bear witness to the Christ who “breaks down the dividing walls.” We also call on our government for justice - but for justice against the guilty. We must resist the temptation to consider the innocents who might well suffer as “collateral” or “incidental” to the violence the world faces. May the nation that upholds justice for all extend the hand of compassion to those most affected by these disasters, wherever they may be.
We believe that this is a time for healing. Our minds and hearts could scarce believe the message of pain that our eyes couldn’t avoid. The scars of broken buildings and shattered lives bear overwhelming witness to the sin of this world. The incredible irony is that “by his scars we are healed.” No adjective could describe the pain we feel, the despair that we face, and the fear that confronts us. But Christ is our example. The Great Physician does not sleep nor has our God developed laryngitis. The comfort of the Holy Spirit and soothing ways of faith are already turning the tide in this epidemic. The God who spoke us into existence now speaks of new ways of existing. We call on Cumberland Presbyterian Christians to stand tall and stand firm as people who have been healed and who are called to bring healing. The greatest labor of our lives is before us. Let us begin that work encouraged by our own experiences of New Life in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
VII. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
A. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON
THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES
Theological
reflections on the death penalty in the
B. THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE
DEATH PENALTY
1. Abolitionist and Retentionist
Countries
Over half of the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Amnesty International’s latest information shows that:
• 75 countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes
• 14 countries have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes such as wartime crimes
• 20 countries can be considered abolitionist in practice: they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more making a total of 109 countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. 86 other countries retain and use the death penalty, but the number of countries that actually execute prisoners in any given year is much smaller.
2. Progress Toward Worldwide
Abolition
More than three
countries a year on average have abolished the death penalty for all crimes in
the past decade. Over 30 countries and territories have abolished the death
penalty for all crimes since 1990. They include countries in
3. Moves to Reintroduce the
Death Penalty
Once abolished,
the death penalty is seldom reintroduced. Since 1985, over 40 countries have
abolished the death penalty in law or, having previously abolished it for
ordinary crimes, have gone on to abolish it for all crimes. During the same
period only four abolitionist countries reintroduced the death penalty. One of
them,
4. Death Sentences and
Executions
During 2000, at least
1,457 prisoners were executed in 27 countries and 3,058 people were sentenced
to death in 65 countries. These figures include only cases known to monitoring
agencies; the true figures are certainly higher. In 2000, 88 percent of all
known executions took place in
5. Use of Death Penalty Against
Child Offenders
International
human rights treaties prohibit anyone under 18 years of age at the time of the
crime being sentenced to death. The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child all have provisions to this effect. More than 110
countries whose laws still provide for the death penalty for at least some
offenses have laws specifically excluding the execution of child offenders or
may be presumed to exclude such executions by being parties to one or another
of the above treaties. A small number of countries, however, continue to
execute child offenders. Seven countries since 1990 are known to have executed
prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime –
6. The Deterrence Argument
Scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in 1996, concluded: “Research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment and such proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. The evidence as a whole still gives no positive support to the deterrent hypotheses...”
7. Effect of Abolition on Crime
Rates
Reviewing the
evidence on the relation between changes in the use of the death penalty and
crime rates, a study conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in
1996 stated that “the fact that all the evidence continues to point in the same
direction is a priori evidence that countries need not fear sudden and serious
changes in the curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death
penalty.” Recent crime figures from abolitionist countries fail to show that
abolition has harmful effects. In
8. International Agreements to
Abolish the Death Penalty
One of the most important developments in recent years has been the adoption of international treaties whereby states commit themselves to not having the death penalty. Three such treaties now exist:
• The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has now been ratified by 43 states. Six other states have signed the Protocol, indicating their intention to become parties to it at a later date.
• Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“European Convention on Human Rights”), which has now been ratified by 39 European states and signed by three others.
• The Protocol to
the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty, which has
been ratified by eight states in the
Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights is an agreement to abolish the death penalty in peacetime. The other two protocols provide for the total abolition of the death penalty but allow states wishing to do so to retain the death penalty in wartime as an exception.
9. Execution of the Innocent
As long as the
death penalty is maintained, the risk of executing the innocent can never be
eliminated. Since 1973 more than 90 US prisoners have been released from death
row after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were
sentenced to death. Some had come close to execution after spending many years
under sentence of death. Recurring features in their cases include
prosecutorial or police misconduct; the use of unreliable witness testimony,
physical evidence, or confessions; and inadequate defense representation. Other
10. The Death Penalty in the
85 prisoners were
executed in the
C. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
REFLECTIONS ON THE DEATH PENALTY
“It is tempting to pretend that minorities on Death Row share a fate in no way connected to our own, that our treatment of them sounds no echoes beyond the chambers in which they die. Such an illusion is ultimately corrosive, for the reverberations of injustice are not so easily confined...And the way in which we choose who will die reveals the depth of moral commitment among the living.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan
McClesky v. Kemp
1. The Bible and the Death
Penalty
As Cumberland
Presbyterians, we believe that the Bible is “the infallible rule of faith and
practice.” As such, it provides the lens through which we interpret our reality
and the base of our engagement with our culture and government. It is
appropriate and necessary that we examine the scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments as we discuss capital punishment in the
The Confession of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America establishes clear guidelines for the interpretation (exegesis) of biblical texts.
1.06 God’s word
spoken in and through the scriptures should be understood in the light of the
birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of
1.07 In order
to understand God’s word spoken in and through the scriptures, persons must
have the illumination of God’s own Spirit. Moreover, they should study the
writings of the Bible in their historical settings, compare scripture with
scripture, listen to the witness of the church throughout the centuries, and
share insights with others in the covenant community.
We have observed these guidelines in our work with the texts that follow. It is not possible to simply lift out of context certain biblical texts and use them to prove a point, no matter which point one is trying prove. This is an improper use of scripture that serves to distort the total biblical witness. The exegesis that follows will take the guidelines of the Confession of Faith seriously. Any serious Christian interpretation of scripture must begin with “the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.” The ministry of Jesus as it was interpreted through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provide several opportunities for reflection on the death penalty.
2. Biblical Reflections
“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 an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek,
turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give
your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second
mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to
borrow from you.”
This text comes within the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount, a collection of teachings of Jesus that Matthew places toward the beginning of his gospel. These teaching form the foundation of a particular ethic that becomes central to Matthew’s gospel, and plays a central role in the other gospels as well: the ethic of the cross. Simply put, Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection takes on the tenor of suffering love. The rubric of suffering love is one that forms a people into the shape of the cross. A particular people, formed by the cross, no longer conducts itself according to the laws of retribution, but according to the law of grace. This text from Matthew must be seen in this larger context or else we run the risk of proof-texting. Jesus is teaching a new way of life in this text, a life that is cruciform in its shape. Most of Jesus’ teachings and ministry actions can be seen within this theologia crucis, theology of the cross (Martin Luther).
Those who argue against the death penalty see this as a foundational text. In this teaching it is clear that Jesus is speaking against a form of justice that seeks retribution for injustice. Instead of retribution, Jesus teaches that injustice be met with a suffering love that is willing to sacrifice rights for the sake of grace. By directly quoting a law from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that is often used by death penalty proponents to support their view, Jesus in essence reinterprets it in light of suffering love.
Those who argue for the death penalty see this text as a specific example of interpersonal relationships, but not intended to be applied to governmental policy. Indeed, they argue, to take this text as a Christian and try to apply it to secular governmental policies, is to breach the line that separates church and state. Christians would certainly practice grace and forgiveness when they have been personally wronged, always seeking reconciliation between parties in a conflict. But the government has certain communal responsibilities pertaining to its role to protect society and maintain order that compel it to exercise justice according to the severity of the crime committed. The death penalty is one means of exercising this governmental responsibility. Death penalty advocates argue that Christians are naive at best to think that Jesus’ ethic of suffering love can be legislated. Are we to simply release all prisoners, since incarceration is a form of justice and punishment for offenders of society’s laws? It seems a slippery slope toward chaos when we open the door for an ethic such as this to hold sway in our society.
These arguments from death penalty proponents emerge from a particular understanding of the role of government that takes its cue from Romans 13, to which we now turn.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:1-4 NRSV).
It is clear in
this passage that we are being called as Christians to support the government as
a servant of God for order. The authority of government bears the sword in
order to punish the bad, not the good. Therefore, death penalty proponents see
capital punishment as a legitimate use of this sword for the purposes of
justice and order. Others read this text as affirming government, as long as
government exercises its laws within the larger context of God’s purposes.
However, this cannot be seen as a blanket endorsement of all that a government
seeks to do. Paul Achtemeier writes, “Is the Christian under obligation to
support whatever policies the governing authorities may deem appropriate,
whether these policies are for the good of the people or simply for the purpose
of keeping those governing authorities in power? Is that what these verses mean?
That is the interpretation given to them in the late thirties and early forties
of the twentieth century by a group within the Protestant church in
Christians should
not frivolously disregard civil authority. As long as government is acting as a
servant of God, by upholding justice and maintaining order, it is to be obeyed
and supported. If government, however, acts in ways contrary to God’s will and
way in the world, it is to be opposed. Death penalty opponents believe the
While we all look to the Bible as our infallible rule of faith and practice, we can and do interpret it with some diversity. Any statement by a church body will not end this diversity. Therefore, we encourage the continual engagement with scripture on the part of all our members as we continue to struggle with this important issue.
D. THE CONFESSION OF FAITH
What does the Confession
of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in America say to us about the ways we can approach this issue
faithfully as Cumberland Presbyterians? The law of God is taken up in Sections
1.19-1.22 of the Confession.
1.19 God gives
the moral law to govern human actions and relations. It is the principle of
justice woven into the fabric of the universe and is binding upon all persons.
1.20 The moral
law is a gift of God’s grace. While it consists of the basic principles of
justice revealed in the scriptures and upheld by God, it does not wholly
describe the pattern of his actions toward persons. The judgment of God, in
which the moral law is upheld, is, at the same time, an expression of
redemptive love.
1.21 The moral
law is fulfilled in the gospel. Therefore, the behavior of Christians in human
relations should reflect the pattern of God’s behavior toward them, in which
love and justice are intertwined.
1.22 The
purpose of the moral law is to create wholeness or health in human life –
spiritually, mentally, physically, socially. Therefore, it is the intention of
the moral law that the forces of human personality which create integrity of
life in all its aspects be used to achieve that wholeness.
Here we see
clearly articulated a view of God’s justice that recognizes that God’s
sovereign justice is always in the direction of redemption, and that love and
justice are expressions of the same grace of God. It is hard to reconcile a
punishment that is as unforgiving and as final as death with the restorative
and redemptive justice-love of God. We echo our Lutheran sisters and brothers
by calling for a society ruled by the law and influenced and nourished by the
Gospel of Christ. Renewed by the Gospel, Christians, as salt of the earth
(Matthew
We believe that opposition to the death penalty is a more adequate reflection of the Confession of Faith’s articulation of the moral law of God as an expression of redemptive love, and that restorative justice most closely approximates the justice/love that God wills for all humankind. The Confession of Faith, under the heading “Christian Freedom,” describes the proper relationship
between Christians and governing authorities:
6.04 Believers
who, under the pretext of Christian freedom, defy the proper exercise of just
and lawful authority, either civil or ecclesiastical, are subject to the
discipline of the church.
6.05 Christians
owe ultimate allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord, and must never yield that
ultimate allegiance to any government or nation, and should in Christian conscience
oppose any form of injustice.
Again we see the tension between obeying and supporting the laws of the state and opposing those laws that we determine to be in conflict with the teachings of Christ, to whom we owe our ultimate allegiance. If, as we argue, the death penalty is unjust on many grounds, then it is the responsibility of Cumberland Presbyterians to oppose it.
Finally, the Confession of Faith deals more explicitly with the nature of civil government:
6.27 The
purpose of civil government is to enable God’s creation to live under the
principles of justice and order. As it faithfully upholds the welfare of God’s
creation, civil government lies within the purpose of God and functions as a
useful instrument to enable people to live in harmony and peace.
6.30 The
covenant community, governed by the Lord Christ, opposes, resists, and seeks to
change all circumstances of oppression – political, economic, cultural, racial
– by which persons are denied the essential dignity God intends for them in the
work of creation.
6.31 The
covenant community affirms the lordship of Christ, who sought out the poor, the
oppressed, the sick, and the helpless. In her corporate life and through her
individual members, the church is an advocate for all victims of violence and
all those whom the law or society treats as less than persons for whom Christ
died. Such advocacy involves not only opposition to all unjust laws and forms
of injustice but even more support for those attitudes and actions which embody
the way of Christ, which is to overcome evil with good.
Here we find the Confession
of Faith boldly advocating for Christians to stand and oppose, resist, and
seek to change all circumstances of oppression. We believe that the death
penalty in the
As the previous excerpts from the Confession of Faith make clear, Cumberland Presbyterians hold that, through the divine activity of the law, God preserves creation, orders society, and promotes justice in a broken world. God works through the state and other structures of society necessary for life in the present age. The state is responsible under God for the protection of its citizens and the maintenance of justice and public order. However, this does not mean that governments have the right to take life. Nor does it mean that governments must punish crime by death. We increasingly question whether the death penalty has been and can be administered justly.
E. A
PENALTY
Violent crime is
as ancient as humankind. Since Cain slew Abel, the blood of countless victims
has cried out to the Lord (Genesis
However, as
followers of Jesus Christ, we also recognize that our feelings of sadness and
anger make us vulnerable to feelings of revenge and cause us to long for simple
solutions, often, overly-simplistic solutions. One such solution is currently
embraced by the majority within the
We believe the
death penalty is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
We believe the
death penalty violates the confession of Faith’s understanding of God’s justice
being tempered with love.
We believe that
the government’s use of death as an instrument of justice places the state in
the role of God, who alone is sovereign.
We believe the
use of the death penalty in a representative democracy places citizens in the
role of executioner. Christians cannot isolate themselves from corporate
responsibility, including responsibility for every execution, as well as for
every victim.
We believe
there are currently no adequate safeguards to insure that innocent persons are
not executed by the state.
RECOMMENDATION 2: That the
General Assemblies of the CPC and CPCA churches reaffirm the decision of the
1977 General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, that “Cumberland
Presbyterians support measures to abolish the use of the death penalty,” and
that the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America
declare our opposition to the death penalty.
RECOMMENDATION 3: That the
General Assembly of the CPC and CPCA churches call upon governing bodies and
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in America to work for the abolition of the death penalty in those
states which currently have death penalty statutes, and against efforts to
reinstate such statutes in those which do not.
RECOMMENDATION 4: That the
General Assembly of the CPC and CPCA churches urge continuing study of issues
related to capital punishment within presbyteries and local congregations of
the two denominations.
RECOMMENDATION 5: That the
Stated Clerks of the CPC and CPCA notify the President and Congress of the
F. CALL FOR A MORATORIUM
Our brothers and
sisters in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and nineteen other religious groups
have recently issued the following call for a moratorium on the death penalty
in the
“There is strong
evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner. In 1990, the
United States General Accounting Office reported a pattern of evidence indicating
racial disparities in charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death
penalty: ‘Nationwide, 82% of those put to death have been convicted of
murdering a white person even though people of color are the victims in more
than half of all homicides. In 82% of their studies, race of the victim was
found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or
receiving a death sentence, i.e., than those who murdered blacks. This finding
was remarkably consistent across data sets, states, data collection methods,
and analytic techniques. The finding held for high, medium, and low quality
studies.’ (U. S. General Accounting Office, Report GGD-90-57, Death Penalty
Sentencing: Research Indicates Pattern of Racial Disparities, February 26, 1990,
at 5). ‘Of the recorded 17,000 legal executions in the history of the United
States, only 35 have been for white killing black, and a mere five of those
have occurred since capital punishment recommenced in 1975.’ (Michael L.
Radelet, Executions of Whites for Crimes Against Blacks: Exceptions to the
Rule?, 30 Soc. Q 529, 1989). The United States Congress has failed repeatedly
to pass the Racial Justice Act, which would allow prisoners to challenge their
death sentences using standards
recognized as normal in civil racial discrimination cases. Prisoner
appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk of imprisonment and
execution of innocent people: ‘Gross deficiencies exist in the area of
representation of indigent defendants. In a series of rulings since 1991, the
Supreme Court has drastically restricted the rights of death row prisoners to
appeal their convictions and death sentences in federal courts, even in cases
where prisoners present compelling evidence of innocence. Counsel for impoverished
capital defendants are most often under trained and underpaid. Judges routinely
deny lawyers’ requests to hire experts or to pay for investigative fees.’
(Marcia Coyle,
On
RECOMMENDATION 6: That the
1. Calling for an immediate
moratorium on all executions in all jurisdictions that impose capital
punishment.
2. Directing the Stated Clerks
of the CPC and CPCA General Assemblies to communicate the call for an immediate
moratorium to the President of the United States, our representatives in
Congress, as well as the governors and legislators of the 23 states with
persons incarcerated while awaiting execution.
Respectfully submitted,
The Unified Committee on Theology and Social Concerns