The Biblical Truth about America's Death Penalty (Paperback)

by Dale S. Recinella (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
A longtime supporter of the death penalty, Recinella underwent a radical change of heart when a colleague asked him to step out of his legal specialty to help with a murder case. That experience launched a lengthy investigation during which Recinella uncovered damning evidence that American courts administer the death penalty in ways deeply at odds with the biblical faith Americans often invoke to justify it. In the first place, Recinella shows, Americans often quote the Bible's eye-for-an-eye verses without understanding the scriptural and Talmudic context that defined the offenses meriting death. Scripture-quoting advocates of the death penalty abound in America's Bible Belt (where a disproportionate number of executions occur), but Recinella concludes that these fervent religionists have attended little to the scriptural insistence on strict equity in administering capital punishment. What reading of sacred writ, Recinella asks, can possibly justify the punitive imbalance that puts so many poor blacks on death row? Some readers will resist the author's call for a moratorium or outright ban on executions, but this book will greatly enrich the national debate over the issues. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Review
"Recinella isn't looking to dodge controversy in his book, The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty. In more than 400 pages of research, analysis, interpretations of original Greek scriptures, indexes, and a bibliography, he reaches a conclusion bound to rile many people, namely that America's death penalty is incompatible and inconsistent with Biblical teachings... Recinella brings a unique perspective to his work."--The Florida Bar Journal

"His conclusions are eye-opening." --The Florida Bar News

"Recinella concludes that people of biblical faith must abolish the American death penalty in our time, and that moratorium is a way of stopping the practice while others of biblical faith become educated to the biblical truth that demands nothing less than abolition."--New Testament Abstracts

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555536328
• ISBN-13: 978-1555536329
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,046,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on the topic!, June 14, 2005

By	Nathan Eanes (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Biblical Truth about America's Death Penalty is a must-read. It deals with Biblical standards of Capital Punishment and then compares them to the system used in America today. It is the best-researched, most faithful to scripture, and most evenhanded analysis I have ever read concerning the Death Penalty. Whatever your persuasion on the issue, this book will teach you a great deal. Recinella is a trained lawyer and committed Christian who now volunteers full-time on Florida's death row. He thus understands law, the Bible, and the system of execution in America. I challenge anyone who supports the Death Penalty to read this book.

1.0 out of 5 stars Feelings over Truth, March 8, 2009

By	R. Eigsti - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author uses over 300 pages to convince us of something that only needs 2 Bible verses. that is, if you believe the Bible.
Genesis 9:6 says, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Ezekiel 13:9 says, "And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live"

Man was made in the image of God, and the Bible is clear, if you kill a person, you are to be put to death. God is not happy when we keep alive those who should not live!
But go ahead and base what you believe on your feelings and not the truth of God's word.
Proverbs 14:2 & 16:25 both say, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
It might seem right, and your feelings might agree, to not put a man to death. But are you going to go with your feelings or with God??

Man is not perfect, and if you dont have Christians in positions of power, you DO run the risk of possibly having someone on death row who shouldnt be there. But that is no reason to ignore God's word and do away with His commands!!

300+ pages of feel good words. Few pages of Bible truth!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and convicting, May 28, 2008

By	Laura Hattaway (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This should be a must-read for everyone who claims to be a Christian and also supports the death penalty in the United States. I'm guessing that because the writer is a lawyer and wants to make his point bullet-proof, he repeats himself frequently, and that becomes tedious. However, the meat of the book is incredibly challenging. It is a wake-up call to use the entirety of Scripture in our approach to criminal law, rather than thoughtlessly picking and choosing sound bites to support an only marginally thought-out point of view.