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The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies
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REFORMATION AND
REHABILITATION
PART II
(For Part I go
here)
All Scripture references
are to the King James (Authorised) Version (KJV) unless stated otherwise.
The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalms 51: 17
ALBERT
PIERREPOINT (1902-1992), served as
Executioner for the British Home Office from 1932 to 1956. Pierrepoint never
gave a definite figure but it is claimed he carried out over 400 executions.
Hanging had long been the appointed method in Britain for enforcing the death
penalty; it was the Executioner’s job to prepare the scaffold and escort the
prisoner to the gallows. For the one to be hanged, the Executioner would be the
last person he or she would see.
The
Executioner was subject to strict employment conditions, imposed by the Home
Office. The job required one of sober and dignified character, discreet and
respectful, both during and after the penalty was carried out. It is clear from
a BBC interview with Pierrepoint that he considered it his solemn duty to
fulfil these conditions. In a formal but friendly manner Pierrepoint would lead
the condemned to the trapdoor, place a white bag and the noose over the head
and then enact the prescribed punishment.
The
Beast of Belsen
During
his time as Executioner, Pierrepoint never publicised the details of his work.
Nonetheless he became famous, especially after the execution of Nazi war
criminals sentenced to death at the Belsen Trials, including Joseph Kramer,
commandant of Auschwitz and Belsen. The press consequently made Pierrepoint an
icon of British justice.
Pierrepoint
served in nine countries and believed that Britain had the finest laws and
judges in the world. He never doubted the instructions given to him during his
career, neither did he admit to any pains of conscience over his work. His
confidence that he was doing right contrasts sharply with the later view he
espoused after retirement. In his biography, he writes that ‘executions solve
nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge’.
His words
carry weight in the current debate in Britain over the possible resumption of
the death penalty. In another interview with BBC Radio in 1976, some years
after his biography was drafted, Pierrepoint had again changed his opinion. He
states that he is ‘on a balance and does not know which way to think’.[fn1] He explains that at the time he wrote his book the country
was pleasant and quiet and there were not the crimes ‘that there are today’. He
justifies his revised view by the increase in violence and crime. His
perception is reinforced by government statistics which show, that from a low
rate of crime, there has been a steady rise from the 1950’s in the number of
indictable offences, especially bodily assault and burglary, although the
number of homicides per 100,000 of the national population is still relatively
low, compared to most western countries.[fn2]
His view
now seems to resonate with the current mood of the British public. For four
days in early August rioting and looting began in North London and soon spread
to several major cities in England. Over 1,000 arrests were made in London
alone, and magistrates worked round the clock to sentence the offenders. The
anarchic rampage led to a public outcry and calls for harsh treatment of the
guilty. An on-line petition of over 100,000 signatures urged that social
security benefits be withdrawn from the guilty. Such a public reaction chimes
with Pierrepoint’s revised opinion – that a drop in the common moral standard
warrants a proportionate increase in the severity of justice.
An Eye
For An Eye Makes Everyone Blind
In considering
the Biblical injunction of ‘an eye for an eye’ many reject capital punishment
and reckon the severe retribution of the law to be impractical and futile. What
was God’s purpose in demanding such a hard exchange?
Genesis
9: 5, 6, sets out the principal reason:
And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the
hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of
every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood,
by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Of this
text, Hard Sayings of the Bible, says:
The person who destroyed another being made in God’s image
in fact did violence to God himself – so sacred and so permanent was the worth
and value that God had invested in the slain victim.[fn3]
The
Law of Moses
The death
penalty in the Law given through Moses to Israel is representative of the
perfection a holy God requires in those who understand His ordinances and are
capable of keeping them. It is unvarnished Justice, which demands that the man
or woman who sins wilfully against knowledge and ability be punished to the
extreme extent of the Law: the soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel
18: 20). The Law’s demands are exact, a characteristic necessary to ensure an
ordered society. Nonetheless, God is not without mercy, a divine quality later
revealed in Christianity, yet traceable to the Jewish ordinances. The laws of
Israel did indeed make allowance for those guilty of an offence but who lacked
what is termed legally, ‘malice aforethought’ – that is, the harm which
resulted was not intended. For example, in cases of manslaughter the Mosaic
code provided cities of refuge to which the unfortunate culprit could escape
(Deuteronomy 19: 5):
As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew
wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the
head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he
shall flee unto one of those cities, and live.
In the
sacrifices made on the annual Day of Atonement there was a further merciful
provision for those Israelites burdened by guilt. In a foreshadowing of a
better future arrangement, God forgave the sins of His people Israel (Leviticus
16: 34):
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make
an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.
These
sacrifices for sin did not pardon those who transgressed Israel’s laws;
God required obedience and condign punishment for those who refused to obey.
The bloody ceremonies of the tabernacle and the temple pointed (as types)
towards the true sacrifice that would indeed bring forgiveness of sin (Hebrews
9: 13, 14):
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?
Power
to Forgive Sins
The
rigour and exactness of these injunctions served as a ‘schoolmaster’ to bring
the nation of Israel to Christ. Nathanael was one of those Israelites indeed
whose heart had been disciplined by the law and whose conscience was tender (John
1: 47-49). Such as he were ready to recognise the
Lamb of God that ‘taketh away the sin of the world’ (John
1: 29). Only a heart so prepared could accept the
good news declared by Jesus, whose teachings promised a release from the
penalty of the law. Christ’s crucifixion was a substitutionary death on the
part of Adam, who made his descendants heir to his sin and consequent
punishment. Jesus’ unselfish obedience unto death undid Adam’s sin and
purchased life for Adam and his children (Romans 5: 17):
With
Jesus came the hope of life and the gift of the holy spirit. This heavenly gift
offered assurance to offenders of the law that its reforming powers would
strengthen and rehabilitate the transgressor (Titus 3: 5):
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Here was
something new: for the Jews, a righteousness apart from the Law, an opportunity
to demonstrate repentance by conforming one’s character to the image of Christ.
It is a principle which has shaped Christian thinking and society for the last
two thousand years and encouraged the belief that there is something redeemable
in all humanity. It is worth noting that an acquaintance with the supposedly
harsh regulations of the Mosaic Law did not harden the hearts of those who saw
in it a pointer to Christ.
Forgiveness
is not Forgetting
The media
gives prominence to victims speaking words of forgiveness towards their
attackers. Such mildness and placidity appears saintly when juxtaposed with
those crying for vengeance. But true forgiveness means more than putting aside
personal feelings of hurt. When Jesus announced the forgiveness of sins he was
not displaying an ordinary kindness. He spoke anticipating success in the work
before Him, laying the foundation for atonement between God and man.
Kind
words alone are not enough. To forgive unconditionally may confuse an
impenitent offender, and is in itself unjust. True forgiveness is the graceful
acknowledgement that justice has been or will be served and so prepares to
welcome back into friendship the offender.
Reformation
and Rehabilitation
There are
over 130 Prisons and Young Offenders Institutes in the United Kingdom, run with
the aim of reforming and rehabilitating the more than 84,000 inmates. Several
programmes attempt to reform hearts and minds in preparation for life on the
outside. Success is judged by the rate of recidivism – how many prisoners go on
to commit other crimes within a year of their release. A rough average of 5 out
of 10 prisoners are re-convicted within twelve months of their release into
society.[fn4]
This figure
suggests that for about half of the criminals who have served their time,
prison has done its work of reform. But it is perhaps rare that a deep work of
atonement has been achieved. Nor does prison reconcile the victim to the
offender. The desire for reconciliation motivates organisations like the
Restorative Justice Council to bring victims and offenders together, in the
hope that through discussion the offenders come to understand the injury they
have inflicted on their victims.
Fruits
Worthy of Repentance
It is by
such interaction that the first feelings of repentance may be aroused, a sense
of sorrow for the wrong done. This kind of remorse is referred to by Paul in
his letter to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 7: 9, 10):
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner . . . . For
godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death.
Paul knew
by experience God’s work of repentance in the heart. An accomplice to the
stoning of Stephen, Paul had zealously persecuted the first Christians, even
‘breathing and threatening slaughter against the disciples of the Lord’.
Christ’s confrontation with Paul on the road to Damascus pierced his
conscience. Blinded and shocked, Paul realised he was in opposition to God. In
his letter to Timothy, Paul confesses his early waywardness. His description of
himself testifies to the work of reformation God can do through Christ Jesus (1
Timothy 1: 13-16):
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and
injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And
the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit
for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth
all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him
to life everlasting.
Conclusion
John the
baptist reproved the crowd that came to hear him preach, exhorting them to
‘bring forth fruits worthy of repentance’ (Luke 3: 8). What sort of fruit?
After the apologies and expressions of remorse, deeds must demonstrate
that words are in earnest. The work of repentance is not complete until the
offender has repaired the wrong to the best of his ability. Restitution is the
golden aim of the truly penitent heart.
________________
NOTES
Citations to Web pages are correct as of the
dates retrieved, but sites may expire or be moved.
^[fn1] A recording of Albert Pierrepoint’s interview with BBC
Radio Merseyside in 1976 is available on the internet. Pierrepoint’s manner is
candid and to the point. His straightforward answers reveal an integrity of
character that is no longer widespread. The recording is available to listen to
in RealPlayer on the BBC website here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/04/27/pierrepoint_lasthangman_feature.shtml
(retrieved
13 August 2011).
^[fn2] Joe Hicks & Grahame Allen, A Century of Change:
Trends in UK statistics since 1900, (House of Commons Library, 21 December
1999), 14. The report is available from the UK government website:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-111.pdf (retrieved 13 August 2011).
^[fn3] Hard Sayings of the Bible (Illinois; InterVarsity
Press: 1996; p. 115, col. 1).
^[fn4]
Iain Bell, Compendium of Reoffending Statistics and
Analysis, (Ministry of Justice, 4 November 2010). The report is available
from the UK government website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/statistics-and-data/mojstats/compendium-of-reoffending-statistics-and-analysis-exec-summary.pdf (retrieved 13 August 2011).
_______________
Article copyright August 2011 by
ukbiblestudents.co.uk
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