Aside from the fact that some of the biblical quotes (6th Commandment, etc.) are not explained in the context of what biblical scholars now know, one of the most compelling statements I've read for Christian opposition to the death penalty was written by Nicolai Berdyaev who was exiled from Russia by the Bolsheviks. He was a Christian, a remarkably erudite scholar, and witnessed the horrors of their indescriminate murders first-hand. It's too lengthy to go into now but I recommend his work on this topic. In any case, the definitive answer can never be
determined by scriptural quotes.
I think we can agree there is a difference between a system of justice (punishment of murder by death) and mass murder by a regime such as the Soviet Union. Beware of relativism..
The doctrine of the Catholic Church, as expressed in the Council of Trent, is that the death penalty upholds the fifth (I think Protestants consider it the 6th) commandment by maintaining civil order, and satisfying the righteous impluse for justice. The Pope has issued statements which the left has deliberately misconstrued as doctrine, finding that the death penalty is bad policy in the modern, Western world.
The doctrine of the Catholic Church, as expressed in the Council of Trent, is that the death penalty upholds the fifth (I think Protestants consider it the 6th) commandment by maintaining civil order, and satisfying the righteous impluse for justice. The Pope has issued statements which the left has deliberately misconstrued as doctrine, finding that the death penalty is bad policy in the modern, Western world.
CORRECTION:
The PREVIOUS Pope did that.
The Bolsheviks grossly abused imprisonment as well; should Christians oppose the confinement of criminals?
Europeans oppose the death penalty because it reminds them of the gross abuse of the death penalty that permeated their continent for millenia. This is the continent that produced trial by ordeal, drawing and quartering, burning at the stake, Reign of Terror, Holocaust and Great Purge. Furthermore, these tactics were used not simply to rid society of murderers, but also of petty poor criminals, the undesirable, and religious and political enemies of all sorts.
In America, one has to go back to the 1600's to find state sanctioned death penalty abuse akin to what was a normal feature of European life. Not even the leaders of the Confederacy faced the noose.