But it has been said that the use of the sword is either directly or
typically forbidden to the Christian, by such passages as "Thou shalt
not kill," (Deut. v. 17,) "I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also," (Matt. v. 39,) &c. If these passages are to be taken as literal
commands, as fanatics and religious enthusiasts would have us believe,
not only is war unlawful, but also all our penal statutes, the
magistracy, and all the institutions of the state for the defence of
individual rights, the protection of the innocent, and the punishment of
the guilty. But if taken in conjunction with the whole Bible, we must
infer that they are hyperbolical expressions, used to impress strongly
on our minds the general principle of love and forgiveness, and that, so
far as possible, we over come evil with good. Can any sober-minded man
suppose, for a moment, that we are commanded to encourage the attacks of
the wicked, by literally turning the left cheek when assaulted on the
right, and thus induce the assailant to commit more wrong? Shall we
invite the thief and the robber to persevere in his depredations, by
literally giving him a cloak when he takes our coat; and the insolent
and the oppressor to proceed in his path of crime, by going two miles
with him if he bid us to go one?

Again, if the command, "Thou shalt not kill," is to be taken literally,
it not only prohibits us from engaging in just war, and forbids the
taking of human life by the state, as a punishment for crime; it also
forbids, says Dr. Leiber, our taking the life of any animal, and even
extends to the vegetable kingdom,--for undoubtedly plants have life, and
are liable to violent death--to be _killed_. But Dr. Wayland concedes to
individuals the right to take vegetable and animal life, and to society
the right to punish murder by death. This passage undoubtedly means,
thou shalt not unjustly kill,--thou shalt do no murder; and so it is