“The Navy SEALs that raided bin Laden’s compound did not violate the sixth commandment (Thou shalt not kill) because, as the Heidelberg Catechism says, ‘Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword.’ Surely, this was an instance where the U.S. military, by killing bin Laden, was acting in an effort to prevent more American citizens from being murdered.”

While the media is abuzz about President Obama’s decision not to release photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and whether it was legal to kill the unarmed al-Qaida leader, Christians are weighing some spiritual questions that the debate is raising.

Did those who killed bin Laden have authority to do so? Did bin Laden deserve to die? And is every sin the same in God’s eyes?

Kevin DeYoung, pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich., tackles the questions as details on how the killing of bin Laden actually went down continue to emerge and continue to spark debate about the legality of it all.

The evangelical pastor contends that only God has the authority to take human life.
“But,” he adds in his blog, “God has ordained that he should exercise that right through the power of the state.”

Citing the New Testament passage Romans 13:4, the evangelical pastor identified governing authorities as God’s servants to do good.

“The Navy SEALs that raided bin Laden’s compound did not violate the sixth commandment (Thou shalt not kill) because, as the Heidelberg Catechism says, ‘Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword.’ Surely, this was an instance where the U.S. military, by killing bin Laden, was acting in an effort to prevent more American citizens from being murdered.”

Attorney General Eric Holder came out strong Wednesday, defending the Navy SEALs’ action to kill bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad, 30 miles northeast of Pakistan‘s capital Islamabad.

“Let me make something very clear: The operation in which Osama bin Laden was killed was lawful,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to The Associated Press. The raid “was justified as an action of national self-defense” against “a lawful military target.”

The statement was made after the White House revealed that the terrorist was not armed during the 40-minute U.S. operation on Sunday.

Holder noted that there was no indication that bin Laden wanted to surrender and even if he did put his hands up, there would have been a good basis for the soldiers to shoot him in order to protect themselves and others in the building, such as women and children.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also said the U.S. operation was justified and did not violate international law.

“The bottom line here is that the founder of al-Qaida has been responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people, and I think it has been justified to carry out this operation against him,” he said.

From a biblical standpoint, DeYoung acknowledges that Jesus condemned private retaliation, vigilante justice and hatred. But he also stresses that the Gospels did not overturn the Jewish understanding that some warfare was justified.

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