1) It is inhumane. This should be a fairly easy objection for any Christian to answer, so long as he relies on the Bible, not popular culture, for his wisdom. It does not take long to find a multitude of verses that advocate the death penalty. Examples:

"Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man." (Gen 9:5-6)

"You shall also say to the sons of Israel: 'Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.'" (Lev. 20:2)

"He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death." (Exod. 21:12)

"If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death." (Exod. 21:28-29)

'If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst. If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (Lev 20:12-16)

I could go on and on quoting verses. In the Old Testament (OT) Law, the death penalty was by far the most common punishment for crime. So, the question is this: Is this God's Word? If you think it is not, then give it up and admit that you reject it. Then choose for yourself another authority -- the Koran (which also prescribes the death penalty for many things), the writings of Buddha, or simply make up your own religion and take your chances on Judgment Day. In any case, you should completely divorce yourself from all scripture, instead of picking and choosing parts you like and redefining Christianity according to your preferences. But if you believe that the OT is the Word of God, then it is simply unacceptable and unconscionable to say that the death penalty is barbaric and cruel and inhumane. If the Bible is God's Word, then the Old Testament is God's Word. If the Old Testament is God's Word, then the death penalty is God's idea and it is way above and beyond any sinner's criticism. Who do we think we are to call God's laws and punishments "inhumane"? Are we more humane than God? Are we more loving? More kind? More compassionate? The truth is that all this modern "love and compassion" is utterly warped and misplaced. The death penalty was not designed by God to be humane to the criminal. It was designed to punish the lawbreaker. It is an instrument of God's wrath on earth. AND, it is a mercy to the one who was violated by the lawbreaker. Our culture is way too concerned about the rights of criminals and not enough concerned about the rights and concerns of victims.

2) It is too expensive. It IS expensive in a foolish culture and foolish justice system that allows multiple appeals and multiple stays of executions. This is not an inherent flaw in the death penalty. It is a flaw in the way our justice system applies punishment. It is a flaw in wimpish judges and swindling lawyers. It is a good argument for reforming the very system that allows endless delays. It is NOT a good argument for abolishing the death penalty. Strange logic indeed to conclude that because a fool can't use a hammer correctly, we should abolish hammers, instead of firing the fool.

3) It is not a deterrent to crime. First of all, yes it is. When you put a deserving criminal to death, it ALWAYS deters him from doing it again. ALWAYS. How many times must we hear about rapists and murderers getting out of jail and going out and raping and murdering again? If we had put them to death, according to scripture, this would never have happened, and devasted families would not have experienced such grief. Secondly, this objection quarrels with the very words of scripture, which frequently tells us that the death penalty does in fact make everyone else fear.

"The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. "Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again." (Deu 17:12-13)

"If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you." (Deu 19:16-20)

"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you." (Deut. 13:6-11)

Some will object that such laws cannot be applied today. I grant that there are many OT laws that cannot be applied in parallel fashion in modern governments because of the difference between the OT people of God and NT nations that are not the people of God. However, the point we are discussing here is the deterrent power of the death penalty. And these verses unquestionably show that the death penalty (when fairly and swiftly applied) is indeed a deterrent to others. Therefore, if some criminology study is conducted in America that shows no measurable correlation between the death penalty and crime rates, then we must come to one of two possible conclusions: 1) The study is flawed (because scripture is always correct and lying men usually are not); 2) The wimpish and procrastinating way that we carry out the death penalty removes the fear factor and deterrent factor. As it says in Ecclesiastes 8:11: "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." In any case, the death penalty is not flawed. Our judges are. Furthermore, as I already stated, the criminal is most certainly deterred from every committing any crime again.