Front cover image for Religion and the death penalty : a call for reckoning

Religion and the death penalty : a call for reckoning

This important book is sure to foster informed public discussion about the death penalty by deepening readers' understanding of how religious beliefs and perspectives shape thiscontentious issue. Featuring a fair, balanced appraisal of its topic, Religion and the Death Penalty brings thoughtful religious reflection to bear on current challenges facing thecapital justice system. One look at the list of contributors reveals the significance of this book. Here are recognized leaders from the academy, government, and public life who also represent a wide range offaith commitments, including Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Like many people of faith and goodwill, the authors disagree with one another, variously supporting retention, reform, orabolition of capital punishment. As a result, the book presents the most comprehensive and well-rounded religiously oriented discussion of the death penalty available. -- Amazon.com
Print Book, English, 2004
W.B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich., 2004
Congress
xxiii, 294 pages ; 24 cm.
9780802821720, 0802821723
54685888
Series Forewordviii
Forewordx
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Prefacexiii
Contributorsxvi
Religion and Capital Punishment: An Introduction1(22)
Erik C. Owens
Eric P. Elshtain
I: Faith Traditions and the Death Penalty
Catholic Teaching on the Death Penalty: Has It Changed?
23(8)
Avery Cardinal Dulles
Can Capital Punishment Ever Be Justified in the Jewish Tradition?
31(17)
David Novak
The Death Penalty: A Protestant Perspective
48(9)
Gilbert Meilaender
Punishing Christians: A Pacifist Approach to the Issue of Capital Punishment
57(16)
Stanley Hauerwas
The Death Penalty, Mercy, and Islam: A Call for Retrospection
73(36)
Khaled Abou El Fadl
II: Theological Reflections on the Death Penalty
Categorical Pardon: On the Argument for Abolishing Capital Punishment
109(14)
J. Budziszewski
Biblical Perspectives on the Death Penalty
123(16)
Michael L. Westmoreland-White
Glen H. Stassen
Christian Witness, Moral Anthropology, and the Death Penalty
139(19)
Richard W. Garnett
Human Nature, Limited Justice, and the Irony of Capital Punishment
158(37)
John D. Carlson
Responsibility, Vengeance, and the Death Penalty
195(18)
Victor Anderson
III: Personal Commitments and Public Responsibilities
The Death Penalty: What's All the Debate About?
213(8)
Frank Keating
Reflections on the Death Penalty and the Moratorium
221(10)
George H. Ryan
God's Justice and Ours: The Morality of Judicial Participation in the Death Penalty
231(9)
Antonin Scalia
Why I Oppose Capital Punishment
240(8)
Mario M. Cuomo
Capital Punishment: Is It Wise?
248(6)
Paul Simon
Facing the Jury: The Moral Trials of a Prosecutor in a Capital Case
254(10)
Beth Wilkinson
The Problem of Forgiveness: Reflections of a Public Defender and a Murder Victim's Family Member
264(13)
Jeanne Bishop
Afterword: Lifting New Voices against the Death Penalty: Religious Americans and the Debate on Capital Punishment277(6)
E. J. Dionne Jr.
Index283