Nidal Hasan’s execution: What ‘public’ should mean for Christians

The close timing of two recent events has reignited a long-simmering debate over capital punishment: Tennessee's botched lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike and the announcement that former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan will be executed by firing squad. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013 for killing 13 people — 12 of them soldiers — and wounding 32 others in a November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans still support capital punishment under certain circumstances, although that support has slowly declined in recent decades. Support has held steadier in more conservative parts of the country than in places like the West Coast and the Northeast. While 27 states retain the death penalty, fewer than half of them have executed anyone in the last five years.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's announcement that Hasan would be executed by firing squad — and that the execution would be livestreamed — sparked considerable discussion. President Donald Trump has since overruled Hegseth on the livestream.

It was the livestream order that drew the most attention and debate. Please allow me to be crystal clear: I support the death penalty. In Romans 13, the Bible tells us that the divinely appointed civil magistrate:

"beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Romans 13:4)

The word used for "sword" was the word for the sword the Romans used to execute Roman citizens. Clearly, God granted the civil magistrate the continuing right, in punishing evildoers, to employ capital punishment at home and in military operations against aggressors.

The suggestion of livestreaming an execution set off a lively debate among death penalty advocates. I support the death penalty when it is applied equitably to someone whom a jury of their peers has found guilty of a crime worthy of such punishment.

However, I believe that if we as Christians are going to support capital punishment, we must be as committed to its equitable and just application as we are to its use. Historically, in the United States, you have been far more likely to be executed if you are poor rather than wealthy, a person of color rather than white, or a man rather than a woman. As we seek to redress these injustices, Christians can, with a clean conscience, support the fair and just application of capital punishment.

In the current controversy, a debate has arisen among capital punishment supporters about what it means for the execution of those found guilty of a capital crime to be "public." These supporters fall into two camps: 1) those who believe "public" means a small group of officials and perhaps victims' families, as is the current practice; and 2) those who believe "public" means open to the public and livestreamed, as Hegseth proposed.

This debate has opened a theological discussion among conservative Christians that might help dispel some misunderstandings about interpreting Scripture.

Those who seem to have no problem with more "public" exposure of the execution of those found guilty of capital offenses often cite Deuteronomy 13:11: "And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this among you." The offense in question was idolatry.

The argument is that "public" capital punishment deters potential perpetrators. It may. But at what cost? Such "public" or livestreamed executions make a spectacle of the event. I believe that cheapens and coarsens the public's view of human life, whereas the intent of capital punishment is to underscore the uniquely horrendous nature of taking another human being's life.

I believe that while human nature has not changed since Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden, God's revelation of Himself to us has evolved in extremely significant ways. One way the Christian community acknowledges this is by using the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament, rather than the other way around.

The Bible tells us that "in the fullness of time" God revealed Himself in His Son, Jesus the Christ. God has revealed Himself to man progressively, building on what has gone before. Let me be clear: We are talking about progressive revelation, not progressive inspiration. Genesis is just as inspired as Revelation, the Bible's last book.

However, God did reveal Himself progressively: first to Adam and Eve, then to His chosen people, the Jews, and then in His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. And what did Jesus say to His disciples as He was preparing to leave them?

His disciples were understandably grieved when He reminded them He was going back to His Father "that sent me" (John 16:5). Jesus responded:

"I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And when He is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

Of sin, because they believe not on me.

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it until you." (John 16:7–15)

In other words, after He had sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world, He would send the Holy Spirit in a new and mighty way, and the Spirit would permanently indwell each believer.

The classic example of how revolutionary the Holy Spirit's indwelling is can be seen in the change it produced in the Apostle Peter. At times, Peter seemed a little slow on the uptake, but by Pentecost he had been transformed. Reading Peter's sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14–38), I picture him stepping into a theological phone booth and putting on a spiritual Superman suit!

The Bible tells us that we have been given a new spiritual understanding through the Holy Spirit indwelling the hearts of believers. Our spiritual knowledge has been revolutionized by the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new and mighty way. For example, we learn in the New Testament that if you hate a person in your heart, you have already violated the commandment against murder, and if you lust after a woman in your heart, you are already guilty of adultery.

I would argue that in the church age, we are more responsible for living in a way that respects human life and for carrying out the civil magistrate's duties solemnly and respectfully, without in any way demeaning the life of the one guilty of taking a human life.

After Pentecost, are we held to a higher standard than Deuteronomy? Yes, I believe we are.