Bringing you the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and His Church While PROMOTING CATHOLIC Apologetic Support groups loyal to the Holy Father and Church's magisterium
Home About
AskACatholic.com
What's New? Resources The Church Family Life Mass and
Adoration
Ask A Catholic
Knowledge base
AskACatholic Disclaimer
Search the
AskACatholic Database
Donate and
Support our work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
New Questions
Cool Catholic Videos
About Saints
Disciplines and Practices for distinct Church seasons
Purgatory and Indulgences
About the Holy Mass
About Mary
Searching and Confused
Contemplating becoming a Catholic or Coming home
Homosexual and Gender Issues
Life, Dating, and Family
No Salvation Outside the Church
Sacred Scripture
back
non-Catholic Cults
Justification and Salvation
The Pope and Papacy
The Sacraments
Relationships and Marriage situations
Specific people, organizations and events
Doctrine and Teachings
Specific Practices
Church Internals
Church History

Dona John wrote:

Hi, guys —

God, through Moses in (2 Chronicles 15:12-13, Leviticus 20:13, and Deuteronomy 13:8-10) says to obey the Commandments but, at the time, the above verses say to kill.

  • If someone tells me the Bible does not teach peace based on the above verses, how should I answer?
  • Why doesn't God ask us to kill others even if they do something bad or tempt others?
Dona John
  { If someone tells me the Bible does not teach peace based on these verses, how should I answer? }

Eric replied:

Dear Dona —

None of these examples pertain to violating peace, at least in the sense of war. They are all mandates of capital punishment for individual offenses. In fact, they are intended to keep peace by purging evil, which brings war and destruction, from the midst of the nation. 

In the first case, God did not give the order; the nation decided themselves to do it.

In the second and third cases, grave crimes were involved, and God commanded death to purge the evil from their midst, evil that he knew would ultimately bring negative consequences on society.

There is a reason a policeman is also called a "peace officer", because when crimes go unpunished, it disturbs the peace of the community. 

True peace is found in obeying God's commandments, since he knows how we are made and what brings us authentic peace. We are fallen; we seek good things by evil means and bring evil and lack of peace to ourselves. We need the light of God's law to show us the way to true peace, and by imposing capital punishment for certain sins, God shows us how serious these matters are and motivates us to obey.

Eric

Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
© 2012 Panoramic Sites
The Early Church Fathers Church Fathers on the Primacy of Peter. The Early Church Fathers on the Catholic Church and the term Catholic. The Early Church Fathers on the importance of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome.