近年來由於人權意識高漲,國際間亦有國家廢除死刑,採取其它極刑手段。這股風潮也延燒至台灣,有志之士組成聯盟開始積極推動廢除死刑,甚至馬英九總統簽署人權兩公約『公民權利和政治權利國際公約』和『經濟、社會及文化權利國際公約』,蔡英文總統亦曾公開表示廢除死刑是未來目標。教會內亦有部份牧者支持、推動廢除死刑,但是所持的理由卻是:死刑是殘忍的、死刑不合於聖經倫理原則、生命具有神聖不可侵犯性等等。但這樣的理由合乎聖經教導嗎? 教會傳統以來有關死刑的論述如奧古斯丁、多瑪斯.阿奎那、約翰.加爾文等神學家,幾乎都贊成死刑是不違背聖經倫理原則,並且認為合宜的政府在合宜的方式下可以執行這樣的刑罰。但近代由於刑罰學的發展,對於刑罰的目的有不同的著重點,從過去報應、報仇式的刑罰目的,轉向以改造教育為主,並在強調保護生命權是維護人權最高表徵。在這樣的轉變中,教會又該如何看待當代這個議題。 本論文以雙方在刑罰學、聖經詮釋等觀點上的差異,來檢視支持與反對廢除死刑雙方的聖經依據。從舊約律法的詮釋到新約耶穌與保羅的教導,這些支持廢除死刑者所提出的聖經詮釋觀點,與傳統的神學觀點、聖經釋義有什麼樣的差異。這樣的詮釋又是否合於聖經一貫的教訓?當我們強調上帝的慈愛與憐憫時,不該忽略了上帝公義、威嚴的層面。當我們強調生命的神聖不可侵犯性時,不該將人權高舉過於上帝的主權。當我們強調死刑是殘忍的刑罰時,是暗示在舊約以死刑作為懲罰的手段之一,在新約為罪人預備永刑的上帝是殘忍的。上帝使用死刑不是只為了嚇阻人犯罪,還包含懲罰對抗祂旨意的人,這種具有報應性的刑罰是彰顯祂公義的屬性。
Recent years, with the rising awareness of human rights, several nations hold the opinion that death penalty shall be abolished and replaced with other punishment measures. This trend also extends to Taiwan, and protestants together found associations to actively promote the abolition of death sentence. Furthermore, President Ma Ying-jeou signed two agreements for human right (which refer to “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” and “International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights”), and President Tsai Ing-wen also publicly suggested that abolishing death penalty is the future goal. Inside church, some pastors support and promote to abolish death sentence, but they ground on the bases that death penalty is both cruel and deviant from the ethic code of the Bible, and that life is sublime and inviolable. However, are those reasons compliant with the teaching of the Bible? In tradition, relevant theologians such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas., John Calvin from the church almost held positive opinion that death penalty does not violate the principles in the Bible, and they considered that it is acceptable to execute such penalty with appropriate measures by appropriate government. But in modern times, due to the development of penology, the primary goal and focus of penalties shift from the previous retributive purpose to rehabilitation education, and it is emphasized that protecting lives are the ultimate representation of reserving human rights. In such transition, how should the church treat this issue at current time? This paper research starts from the conceptual differences of both parties in respect of penology and biblical interpretations to review the pros and cons in the Bible for the abolition of death penalty. The study also explores the following aspects: from the interpretations of Old Testament Law to the teachings of Jesus and Paul in New Testament, and how the biblical interpretations proposed by supporters differ from those presented by traditional theological viewpoints. Do such interpretations comply to the consistent teachings recorded in the Bible? When we highlight the mercy and compassion of God, we shall not ignore God’s justice and majestic perspectives. When we underline the sublime and inviolable nature of life, we shall not place human rights over the sovereignty of God. When we emphasize that death sentence is brutal, it implies that God is cruel since death sentence is used as a measure of punishment in the Old Testament and eternal perdition is prepared by God in New Testament. Death sentence not only intents to deter people from committing crimes, but also includes the retributivism intention to punish whoever violates God’s will to manifest justice.
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