Burning at the stake
Burning at the stake as a capital punishment throughout history had a long-established precedent. In the times of the medieval period during the Inquisition it was inflicted by the secular authorities on those individuals and groups found by the judges of the Inquisition to be incorrigible anarchists, traitors and heretics, all those who opposed the Roman Catholic Church and its civil authority. Since the beginning of the 20th century it has been regarded with horror by all who reject such measures as barbaric and inhumanly intolerant, and by the Christian world as fundamentally opposed to the Gospel of Christ.
Mosaic law
- See also: Mosaic law
Advocates of stake burning claim that the Bible includes passages that offer substantial pretext as an act of righteousness according to the will of God not as a distorted misinterpretation and twisting of scripture, but as a clear and unmistakable decree of the Lord to be obeyed.
Old Testament
In the Old Testament (the law of Moses): Genesis 38
About three months later Judah was told, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover she is with child by harlotry." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned."
Genesis 38:24
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the LORD such as he had not commanded them. And fire came forth from the presence of the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
Leviticus 10:1-2
Leviticus 20:14; 21:9; Numbers 11:1; Numbers 16
And fire came forth from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.
Numbers 16:35
Deuteronomy chapter 7; 12:1-3; chapter 13; 32:21-24; Joshua 7:15, 24-26; 11:6-23; 2Â Samuel 23:6-7; 1Â Kings 18:40; 2Â Kings 1:10-12; Job 18:5-21; Psalm 106:16-18; 140:10; Isaiah 1:27-31; 5:24; 14:20-21; 33:12; 47:13-14; Jeremiah 49:2; Ezekiel 15:6-7; Malachi 4:1-3 (3:19-24 in the Hebrew and in the Roman Catholic Bible).
New Testament
The New Testament preaches a Gospel of grace, standing in strict contrast to Mosaic law. Those living in the New Testament era who have rejected the Gospel of grace allege these passages justify burning at the stake: Matthew 13:24-30, 13:47-50; John 15:5-6; 1Â Corinthians 3:10-17 "saved as by fire"; 2Â Thessalonians 1:7-9; 1Â Timothy 1:20; 2Â Timothy 2:11-19; Revelation 14:9-11; 20:7-10, 14-15âGalatians 1:6-9; 2Â Peter 2:1; 2Â Corinthians 11:2-4; Titus 3:10-11; Romans 13:3-4; 1Â Peter 2:13-14; Proverbs 28:9-14; Romans 1:18-22; 2:8-11; Psalm 149:6-9.
Advocates of stake burning hold themselves blameless of any sin saying, "It's their own fault; they have only themselves to blame."
Non-canonical
Sirach 10:12-20 canonical to Orthodox and Romans Catholics, condemned by Martin Luther as a book of the non-canonical Apocrypha[1][2]
See also
References
- â The Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian body comprised of several distinct "Rites". The Catholic Church (Latin Rite) is the largest religious body in the United States, with over 60 million adherents (4 times as large as the second largest church, the Orthodox).
âThe Global Catholic Population,â © 2011, Pew Research Center.
The Largest Catholic Communities
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also referred to as the Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy, is the second largest Christian church in the world, with an estimated 225â300 million adherents, most of whom live in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Russia.
The Greek (Eastern) Orthodox Church. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Of America (1983). Retrieved on 7 May 2014.
Christianity:Basics:Eastern Orthodox Church Denomination. about.com. Retrieved on 22 May 2014.
Christianity. Major Branches of Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents. adherents.com. Retrieved on 22 May 2014. - â See Percentage of Christians in Protestant Denominations (29.5%).
External links
Biblical justification for burning at the stake
The Benefits of Burning Heretics at the Stake (biblelight.net) "as an act of compassion".
Protestant Inquisition: The English Reformation (biblicalcatholic.com).
Should Heretics be Burned at the Stake? (thereforegodexists.com)
Christianity and its Persecution of Heretics (heretication.info)
Did Protestants burn people at the stake?
Burned at the Stake - Medieval Chronicles (medievalchronicles.com)
People who Steal the Soul (christianhistoryinstitute.org)
Why did John Calvin have Michael Servetus burned at the stake for heresy? (gotquestions.org)
Burning at stake - The Reformation (thereformation.info) includes Protestant countries that burned Catholics
Burning at the stake | Capital punishment | Britannica. Written By: Geoffrey Abbott (britannica.com)
Did Protestants burn Catholics at the stake? (boards.straightdope.com/)