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Is it wrong as a Christian to support capital punishment?

It is not wrong for Christians to support capital punishment. God Himself instituted capital punishment and gave us the reason. Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man" regards the killing of a human as an offense against God because humans both male and female were made in the image of God. Leviticus 24:17 requires that "Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death." Leviticus 24:21, Numbers 35:16, and Deuteronomy 17:6 repeats this requirement.

God killed individuals because they engaged in various transgressions. He sent the flood to kill all the wicked (Gen 7:6). In Genesis 18:20, God had heard that the people of Sodom were wicked and evil. In Genesis 19:24, God demolished Sodom and all of its men, women, children, infants, newborn, plants and animals, except for Lot's family.

In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ said to St. Peter "But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Mt 26:52). Our Lord referred to the Old Testament commandment saying "For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God' then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition" (Mt 15:4-6).  

St. Paul instructs Christians to submit themselves to the authority of the state, because "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (Rom 13:1-2). Referring to the authorities, St. Paul writes "For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (Rom 13:1-5). The reference to "sword" might be interpreted literally (to refer to capital punishment) or symbolically (to refer to the power of the state to punish wrongdoers).

In the holy book of Revelation, we read "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?'" (Rev 6:10).






QUESTION






Catholic Baptism




I am a Roman Catholic, very interested in Orthodox Christianity. If I were to convert to Orthodoxy, would I have to be baptized again?




If you want to convert to Orthodoxy you would need to be baptized not only because Catholic baptism is by pouring not immersion; but because one is baptized to the faith of the Church he is joining. Unfortunately, today there are a lot of  differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism that we, as Orthodox, cannot accept all the Catholic Church dogmas. The Immaculate Conception, the Purgatory, the Infallibility of the Pope, etc, are just a few examples of the Catholic Church dogmas rejected by the Orthodox. You can read more about these differences at http://www.geocities.com/mgocsmbvli/orth_cath.htm.