saintsandsats on Nostr: The death penalty is actually applied in a NT context, but it’s not stoning. It’s ...
The death penalty is actually applied in a NT context, but it’s not stoning. It’s excommunication. St. Paul says:
‘But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”’(1 Corinthians 5:11-13, Nkjv)
That last sentence is a reference to the OT death penalty (Deut 21:21 for example), which St. Paul re-applies to the church.
So that makes me agree with your intuition that stoning no longer applies. From what I’ve read, the Christendom of the first millennium (especially the east) was actually quite reluctant to apply the death penalty. But it may be more complicated than that.
‘But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”’(1 Corinthians 5:11-13, Nkjv)
That last sentence is a reference to the OT death penalty (Deut 21:21 for example), which St. Paul re-applies to the church.
So that makes me agree with your intuition that stoning no longer applies. From what I’ve read, the Christendom of the first millennium (especially the east) was actually quite reluctant to apply the death penalty. But it may be more complicated than that.