Question About Genesis 9:6

[Pliny]

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man."


Some would say this means that anyone who commits murder MUST be put to death. Some would go so far as to say if the law fails to do it, then anyone who stepped up and killed the killer would be doing the will of God.

How can we say that this no longer applies in the sense that a murderer could be spared the death penalty?


In a broader sense, is there a book written for the layperson that is not a million pages long, that would help with some of the Old Testament difficulties?

What do we say to those outside of Christianity regarding certain things in the OT that seem harsh, or seem to contradict the NT?

And how can I as a practicing Catholic reconcile the OT and the NT, since in my current state of ignorance, it seems like God was mean in the OT, and became nice in the NT.

[Theoketos]

I will attempt to answer your questions in reverse order.

In order to reconcile the O.T. study it more. Read the whole thing. Read books about the whole thing. It is difficult and might take many many hours of study.

Also this is a great blog series that struggles with all the questions you are asking.

http://www.slate.com/id/2141050

I went through the whole thing in one day. It is side splitting funny and deadly serious some times.

The Old Testament reflects a development in Revelation, though it does not contain any errors or anything that God did not want in the Scriptures. So sometimes the OT can only really be understood in light of the Word becoming Flesh.

Retributive Justice requires that if a person takes the innocent life of another he owes society his/her life. Our own laws still require this. However, if bloodless means are sufficient to render justice then we should use them. Even the OT (thing Saul and David or Baalam's arse) teaches this. However the executor of this justice ought to be a legit public authority, acting in self defense of lasting, grave, and certain crime such as murder. Christians are of course never to act out of revenge.