For the first time, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in the United States has recognised Christian opposition to the state execution of criminals in its expanded resolution concerning the death penalty.

"A growing number of evangelicals call for government resources to be shifted away from the death penalty," NAE president Leith Anderson said in a statement issued on Oct. 19, according to the Catholic News Agency. "Our statement allows for their advocacy and for the advocacy of those of goodwill who support capital punishment in limited circumstances as a valid exercise of the state and as a deterrent to crime," Anderson said.

The organisation's Board of Directors approved the new resolution last Oct. 15 during its semi-annual meeting. Its new stand marks a major shift from its earlier position in support of the death penalty.

"Leaders from various parts of the evangelical family have made a biblical and theological case either against the death penalty or against its continued use in a society where biblical standards of justice are difficult to reach," the organisation's statement said.

The group noted that there is a risk for wrongful convictions due to the "fallibility of human systems of justice."

It also acknowledged objection to the death penalty, saying the evangelicals want to promote "God's grace, Christian hope and life in Christ."

The group said a "growing number of evangelicals" are in favour of life imprisonment without parole for heinous crime offenders as opposed to subjecting them to state execution.

Other evangelicals, meanwhile, see the death penalty "as a legitimate exercise of the state's responsibility to administer justice, and as a deterrent to crime."

Despite the group's differing views on capital punishment, evangelicals are united in calling for reform to the criminal justice system in America.

The NAE is represented by over 45,000 local churches in almost 40 different denominations.