I'm reading through the Bible this year, and am currently in Leviticus in the Old Testament. In the 20th chapter, the 9th verse, I read this....."If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death...." Do you believe that cursing your Dad should be a captital offense, too, Truth? It's God's law, isn't it? And you ascribe to God's law, don't you?
I repeat. Jesus' death changed the punishment, in that he fulfilled the law, and took our punishment on Him.
Talking of stoning adulterers here is irresponsible.........especially for a Christian. I deserve death for lies and for disobedience to God at all levels. But I can be forgiven through the blood of Jesus, the Risen and Regnant Lord, if I confess. That's the whole story.
I'll be honest, ohioWfan, I'm still sorting through all this, though I do think that we have written off more in the OT than we should.
Christ eradicated the requirement for sacrifies to pay for sins as He became the ultimate sacrifice through His innocent blood shed on the cross. But I don't believe that His sacrifice eradicated the need for earthly punishment. I believe that He gave that responsibility to government.
I could however be convinced that His mercy in the NT toward the sinner would allow him to live in order to give him a chance for repentance and eternal life. But if that is the case then I couldn't believe in capital punishment at all, even for the murderer.
Christians have always and will always disagree on how much of the OT to take literally today. Please don't write me off as a nutcase. :) I'm just another Christian trying to sort through my own understanding of Scripture.
BTW, good for you for reading through the Bible this year! I've done this for quite a few years and it truly does help to give a larger picture of things. It's just way too easy to read our favorite Scriptures over and over and miss some of the more "dry" parts, but they're important, too, and I've found some real nuggets in the midst of some of those passages.