Capital Punishment and Christian Soteriology: The Historical Relationship Between the Death Penalty and Christian Understandings of Christ's Salvation
The history of the Western world is one tainted by the ever-presumed existence of violence. From the ancient conquests of fourth-century Hellenism to the twentieth-century development of nuclear warheads, violence has been endemic in the existence of the Western world. This violence has existed perpetually in a variety of forms, from horizontal chaos and relational violence to the state-executed killing of condemned individuals. However, the latter is endemic to the West in a specific way – it lies at the center of its central religion. In this ethical study, I will explore the relationship between the religion of Christianity and the existence of state-mandated capital punishment. Specifically, I will engage in careful study of conceptions/depictions of salvation in both (1) capital punishment at the behest of the state and (2) historical soteriological understandings of the death of Jesus Christ. Through this, I aim to demonstrate the inextricable relationship that exists between th...