I just read the book, The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice by Elizabeth Vartkessian. It is a phenomenal treatise on the dignity of all people, including the worst criminals, and introduces the important work of mitigation experts, who help others see how generational trauma and life experiences have impacted those on death row. Best book I've read this year.
Thanks, Paul! I always appreciate your ability to summarize and break it down. Human dignity is one of my retreat points for this Year of Saint Francis. While the saint is often watered down to the animal, tree-hugger saint, I've discovered his real holiness comes from the wonderful God given grace he had to find God in the marginalized, the poor and weakest of persons. Your encouragement reminds me to keep my head up, my eyes open and to pray for the grace to see others as God does! Amen!!
How do you square this with Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.
Precisely because the ontological dignity of man, because we bear the very image and likeness of God, God himself prescribed that the only currency in which human life could be measured was "the blood of man" (i.e. human life). To punish murder by any other currency (incarceration, monetary penalty, etc.) is to devalue Imago Dei.
I'll appeal to how the magisterium interprets that passage:
1. "I ask Christians who remain hesitant on this point, and those tempted to yield to violence in any form, to keep in mind the words of the book of Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares” (2:4). For us, this prophecy took flesh in Christ Jesus who, seeing a disciple tempted to violence, said firmly: “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52). These words echoed the ancient warning: “I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen 9:5-6). Jesus’ reaction, which sprang from his heart, bridges the gap of the centuries and reaches the present as an enduring appeal" (Fratelli Tutti 270).
2. "And yet God, who is always merciful even when he punishes, "put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him" (Gen 4:15). He thus gave him a distinctive sign, not to condemn him to the hatred of others, but to protect and defend him from those wishing to kill him, even out of a desire to avenge Abel's death. Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this. And it is precisely here that the paradoxical mystery of the merciful justice of God is shown forth." (Evangelium Vitae 9)
In other words, Gen 9:6 is a warning, the same warning Jesus gave to Peter in the Garden. It's not giving permission, let alone mandating, that men must kill murderers to avenge the death of the innocent. Part of the "paradoxical mystery of the merciful justice of God" is that "not even a murderer loses his personal dignity."
I just read the book, The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice by Elizabeth Vartkessian. It is a phenomenal treatise on the dignity of all people, including the worst criminals, and introduces the important work of mitigation experts, who help others see how generational trauma and life experiences have impacted those on death row. Best book I've read this year.
Thanks, Paul! I always appreciate your ability to summarize and break it down. Human dignity is one of my retreat points for this Year of Saint Francis. While the saint is often watered down to the animal, tree-hugger saint, I've discovered his real holiness comes from the wonderful God given grace he had to find God in the marginalized, the poor and weakest of persons. Your encouragement reminds me to keep my head up, my eyes open and to pray for the grace to see others as God does! Amen!!
Thank you for this very informative and insightful video on the infinite Dignity of Every Human Being. God bless! Maureen Davis
How do you square this with Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.
Precisely because the ontological dignity of man, because we bear the very image and likeness of God, God himself prescribed that the only currency in which human life could be measured was "the blood of man" (i.e. human life). To punish murder by any other currency (incarceration, monetary penalty, etc.) is to devalue Imago Dei.
I'll appeal to how the magisterium interprets that passage:
1. "I ask Christians who remain hesitant on this point, and those tempted to yield to violence in any form, to keep in mind the words of the book of Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares” (2:4). For us, this prophecy took flesh in Christ Jesus who, seeing a disciple tempted to violence, said firmly: “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52). These words echoed the ancient warning: “I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen 9:5-6). Jesus’ reaction, which sprang from his heart, bridges the gap of the centuries and reaches the present as an enduring appeal" (Fratelli Tutti 270).
2. "And yet God, who is always merciful even when he punishes, "put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him" (Gen 4:15). He thus gave him a distinctive sign, not to condemn him to the hatred of others, but to protect and defend him from those wishing to kill him, even out of a desire to avenge Abel's death. Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this. And it is precisely here that the paradoxical mystery of the merciful justice of God is shown forth." (Evangelium Vitae 9)
In other words, Gen 9:6 is a warning, the same warning Jesus gave to Peter in the Garden. It's not giving permission, let alone mandating, that men must kill murderers to avenge the death of the innocent. Part of the "paradoxical mystery of the merciful justice of God" is that "not even a murderer loses his personal dignity."