{"id":39671,"date":"2013-07-11T22:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T03:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39671"},"modified":"2021-11-19T22:04:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T04:04:26","slug":"is-someone-who-kills-in-self-defense-still-a-murderer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-someone-who-kills-in-self-defense-still-a-murderer\/","title":{"rendered":"Is someone who kills in self-defense still a murderer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>If a Christian commits a murder in self-defense is he still a murderer? In the Old Testament, they had a place called the cities of refuge, if I&#8217;m not mistaken. How about in this present time? What does the New Testament tell us? I need your insight on this.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>The cities of refuge were places where an Israelite could flee to get a fair trial. If it was judged that a death was accidental, then the person was required to live in the city of refuge until the current High Priest died. Today, we refer to accidental deaths as manslaughter. &#8220;<em>However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil<\/em>&#8221; (Numbers 35:22-25).<\/p>\n<p>Self-defense was considered neither murder (intentional) nor manslaughter (accidental). See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/self-defense-and-the-use-of-force\/\">Self-Defense and The Use of Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: If a Christian commits a murder in self-defense is he still a murderer? In the Old Testament, they had a place called the cities of refuge, if I&#8217;m not mistaken. How about in this present time? What does the New Testament tell us? I need your insight on this. Answer: The cities of refuge&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[406,978],"class_list":["post-39671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-murder","tag-self-defense"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-god-command-us-not-to-murder-when-god-murdered-people-in-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":0},"title":"How can God command us not to murder when God murdered people in the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian and I was wondering how we deal with the question: \"How can God command us not to murder when God murdered sometimes mass amounts of people in the Old Testament?\" Thanks. Answer: You're having difficulty understanding this because of your imprecise usage of words. God,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35786,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-confession-and-repentance-remove-the-death-penalty-under-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":1},"title":"Would confession and repentance remove the death penalty under the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If you break one of the Ten Commandments, does it mean that you sinned? Of course, the consequence, I believe, is death, correct? However, if you confess what you did and repented, then God forgives you and you don't have to die, correct? Answer: Each of the Ten Commandments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62675,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hands-that-shed-innocent-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":2},"title":"Hands that Shed Innocent Blood","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The First Murder \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When do you think the first murder took place? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most people would guess Cain and Abel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Actually, it was earlier. Satan in the form of a serpent tempted Adam and Eve to sin. With that sin, they died. Gen. 2:17. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus remarked that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-adulterer-remarry-after-his-original-spouse-dies\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":3},"title":"Can the adulterer remarry after his original spouse dies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a person, scripturally married, commits adultery and ends up divorced, can the one who committed the adultery remarry if the one who was innocent dies? Answer: \"For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-all-sin-premeditated\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":4},"title":"Is all sin premeditated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is all sin premeditated? Answer: I was intrigued by your question. I am not sure what you exactly mean by premeditated and what boundaries to go by, but in the Bible, there are sins mentioned that people don't realize what they are doing. There are also other sins where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42878,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-killing-an-abortionist-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":39671,"position":5},"title":"Is killing an abortionist right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you think of Paul Jennings Hill and the Army of God movement? Paul Hill shot a baby-killing abortionist in 1994 and was executed in 2003. I believe that because Paul Hill prevented babies from being murdered that day he acted rightly. Many Christians I know, \"pro-life\" leaders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}