Chapter 146 — That it is lawful for judges to inflict punishments

But because some belittle the punishments inflicted by God insofar as they care only for outward appearances, being attached to sensible things, divine providence has ordered that on earth there be men who compel certain people to do right by inflicting sensible and present punishments. Now, it is clear that they do not sin in punishing the wicked. For no man sins through doing right, and it is right for the wicked to be punished, since by punishment sin is righted, as we have shown above. (Ch. 140.) Therefore, judges do not sin by punishing the wicked.

Again. Men who are placed over others on earth are executors, as it were, of divine providence, because God, by the ordinance of his providence, accomplishes lower things through higher things, as we have proved. (Ch. 77. seqq.) Now, no man sins through carrying out the order of divine providence. And divine providence has ordained that the just be rewarded, and the wicked punished, as we have shown. (Ch. 140.) Therefore, men who are placed over others do not sin by rewarding the good and punishing the wicked.

Besides. The good does not need the evil, but conversely. Therefore, that which is necessary in order to maintain the good cannot be evil in itself. Now, it is necessary for punishment to be inflicted on evil-doers, for the maintenance of peace among men. Therefore, punishment of evil-doers is not an evil in itself.

Also. The good of the community surpasses a particular good of the individual. (Nicomachean Ethics 1.2.) Therefore, the particular good must give way so that the common good may be maintained. Now, the life of a few pestilential individuals is a hindrance to the common good, which is the harmony of the human community. Therefore, such men should be cut off by death from the society of their fellows.

Besides. As the physician in his operation aims at health, consisting in the ordered harmony of the humors, so the governor of a state in his operation aims at peace, which is the ordered harmony of the citizens. (See above: ch. 128.) Now, the surgeon rightly and usefully cuts off the unhealthy member if it threatens the health of the body. Justly, therefore, and rightly the governor of the state slays pestilential subjects, lest the peace of the state be disturbed.

Hence the Apostle says: Do you not know that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump? (1 Cor 5:6). And a little further on he adds: Drive out the wicked person from among you (1 Cor 5:13). Again, speaking of earthly authority, he says that he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4). Again, it is said: Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the king as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right (1 Pet 2:13–14).

Hereby we refute the error of those who say that capital punishment is unlawful. They base their error on the words of Exodus 20:13, You shall not kill, which are quoted in Matthew 5:21. They also quote the saying of our Lord in reply to the servants who wished to gather the cockle from the midst of the wheat: Let both grow together until the harvest (Matt 13:30): for the cockle signifies the sons of the evil one, and the harvest is the close of the age, as stated in the same passage (Matt 13:38–39). Therefore, the wicked should not be cut off from the midst of the good by being condemned to death.

They also point out that as long as he is on earth man may be converted to better ways. Therefore, he should not be put away from the world, but should be kept there that he may repent.

But these arguments are of no account. For the same law that says: You shall not kill, afterwards adds: You shall not permit wizards to live (Exod 22:18). Hence we are to understand that the prohibition is against the unjust slaying of a man. This is also evident from our Lord’s words in Matt 5. For after saying: You have heard that it was said to the men of old: You shall not kill, he added: I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment (Matt 5:22). By which he gives us to understand that it is forbidden to kill through anger, but not through zeal for righteousness. How we ought to take our Lord’s words: Let both grow together until the harvest, is clear from what follows: Lest in gathering the cockle you root up the wheat along with it (Matt 13:30). Hence it is forbidden to slay the wicked when this cannot be done without danger to the good. And this is often the case when the wicked are not yet discernible from the good by notorious sins, or when it is to be feared lest the wicked draw many good men after them.

The fact that the wicked are able to amend while alive does not prevent their being justly slain, for the peril that threatens through their remaining alive is greater and more certain than the good to be expected from their amendment. Moreover, in the very hour of death they are able to repent and be converted to God. And if they be so obstinate that even in the hour of death their heart does not abandon its wickedness, it may be reckoned with sufficient probability that they will never recover from their evil ways.

Grace