Letters for November 17, 2005

I was shocked and horrified to read the letter on capital punishment in the Herald’s Nov. 3 issue. I hope somebody with better qualifications and more charity and less anger responds.

However, in case nobody else comments, Jesus had at least one opportunity to participate in capital punishment (John 7:53-8:11) but prevented the execution from taking place. One very faithful Jew once favored capital punishment (Acts 7:38) but later was apparently subject to capital punishment himself (2 Timothy 4:6).

Dry Mr. Claybrook

I appreciated Fred Anderson’s column in the Oct. 27 issue of the Herald and would add the following postscript to the postscript:

The grandson of the “dry” Reverend Richard Claybrook, named Frederick William Claybrook, became a noted Baptist evangelist in his own right in Virginia’s Northern Neck in the late 1800’s. His column noted that Richard Christian (formerly a Middlesex County physician) was inspired by the elder Rev. Claybrook to enter the Baptist ministry. Ironically, in 1905, the great-grandson of Rev. Richard Claybrook (named Fred Claybrook and a Baptist minister himself), married the great-granddaughter of Richard Christian (named Helen Smith)– thus forever linking the families of the subjects of the column.

As the grandson of Fred and Helen Claybrook and thus the namesake of both Richard Claybrook and Richard Christian, I appreciate your focusing on this part of our family history– including the inspirational “happy endings.” While I am presently a United Methodist, I feel a strong kinship with my Baptist roots in Urbanna, Middlesex County and the Northern Neck and hope that your readers will share the deep respect I feel for these early Baptist leaders. Challenges such as alcohol abuse that they faced are certainly not alien to our 21st century experiences and we can continue to learn from their examples.