Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress first tweeted then followed with a statement saying that Pope Francis is "dead wrong" about capital punishment.
Jeffress, pastor at the First Baptist Church of Dallas and religious adviser to President Donald Trump, was responding to the Pope's assertion last week that capital punishment is now "inadmissible."
Jeffress on Monday followed with a more comprehensive statement.
"Some might say, 'But isn’t capital punishment an obvious violation of the sacredness of life?' Not at all," Jeffress wrote Monday.
"The apostle Paul explains in Romans 13:1-5 that God has given government the authority — the 'power of the sword' — to take the lives of individuals who commit serious crimes.
"When individuals take a human life, the Bible calls it 'murder.' When the government takes the life of a murderer, the Bible calls it 'justice.'
"I’m sure Pope Francis is a good man who is sincere in his belief. But the Pope is sincerely wrong on this," Jeffress wrote.
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