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The Death Penalty: Godly or Ungodly? (Endnotes)

1. Maxie Dunnam, Mastering the Old Testament, Exodus (Word Publishing, Dallas, 1987), p. 263. Close

2. C.F.Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, The Pentateuch (William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, reprinted July, 1976), Vol. 1, Book II, pp. 123,124, note on Exodus 20:13. Close

3. Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, A New Edition with the Authors Final Corrections (Abingdon Press, Nashville), Vol. 1, pp. 405,406. Close

4. See Don’t Blame God, available from CES. Close

5. James Jordan, The Law of the Covenant (Institute for Christian Economics, Tyler, TX, 1984), pp. 27,28. Close

6. Jesus Christ ended the Levitical Law governing worship, animal sacrifice, etc., but he did not end the moral law or civil as represented by the 10 Commandments. For a complete discussion of this topic, refer to The Bible and Civil Law and The Ten Commandments, audiotapes available from CES. Close

7. The entire Bible is “the truth,” yet there are things in the Bible that are not true. How can this be? When the Bible records a man speaking, it records what he said and therefore is a “true” record of what happened. That does not mean that the words the man spoke are the truth. They may be out-and-out wrong, such as when the religious leaders said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons” (Mark 3:22). It may also be the case that a man would speak by revelation to a specific situation, but what he said did not apply in every case. Elisha told Naaman that if he dipped five times in the Jordan River, he would be healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5). Yet it is obvious that not all lepers are cleansed by washing in the Jordan, so while Elisha’s statement was true for Naaman, it is not true (i.e., does not apply) to everyone. Another example of this is when David said of Saul, “the LORD himself shall strike him” (1 Sam. 26:10). This was not a part of the Law of Moses, and David obviously did not believe this to be true for every evildoer, because David executed the man who claimed to kill Saul (2 Sam. 1:15,16) and the men who killed Ishbosheth, Saul’s son (2 Sam. 4:12). David was speaking specifically about Saul, not about how to run the justice system of a government. Close

8. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN, 1943), pp. 244,245. Close

9. It is common today to make light of the Bible, but the testimony of Scripture is that it is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16) and there is much evidence to back up that claim. Of course it is a subject of controversy. What better strategy can the Devil have than to discredit the Word of God so that people ignore it? If you are in doubt about the integrity of Scripture and that it is in fact “the Word of God,” please contact us at CES and allow us to point you to sources that will verify its truth. Close

10. For a fuller explanation of the sins of adultery, prostitution, homosexuality and bestiality, and information on polygamy in Old Testament, see Sex and Scripture, a book available from CES. Close