| The Exodus 20 reference to "thou shalt not kill", part of what is referred to as the 10 commandments, is from a Hebrew word for "pre-meditated" or "with intent". It also means to "slay" or what we would consider murder. It was not the same word used throughout the Old Testament when the Jews were commanded to battle other nations. God gives strict orders to his nation in the OT to perform capitol punishment (specifically in the Levitical laws), and does not restrict all killing. It is generally considered murder to kill without authorization by your country, even if someone is convicted of a crime. The government is empowered with the authority to determine war and judgment. We are instructed in Romans 13 to respect our authorities in a situation like that, and humble ourselves to their commands. We are charged with not violating our conscience--there may come a conflict between the government and your conscience (such as in the book of Daniel, where Daniel was ordered not to pray), and in that case we may find ourselves in opposition to the government. Daniel was humble but firm. He was willing to accept the consequences. If you are asked to take a life by your government and cannot do so in good faith you may be justified by not doing so. In the end, the conclusion is that murder is condemned, but not killing in general, neither of people or animals, although the latter were considered less of an infraction to murder because they were not of spiritual value. |
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