Simon Greenleaf
Simon Greenleaf
Simon Greenleaf, American lawyer and jurist, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJudge
Date of Birth5 December 1783
CountryUnited States of America
simplicity mind demand
In requiring this candor and simplicity of mind in those who would investigate the truth of our religion, Christianity demands nothing more than is readily conceded to every branch of human science.
affairs american-judge difference importance life mode principles relations
The importance of the facts testified, and their relations to the affairs of the soul, and the life to come, can make no difference in the principles or the mode of weighing the evidence.
american-judge created faculties pursued sanctions solemn
It should be pursued as in the presence of God, and under the solemn sanctions created by a lively sense of his omniscience, and of our accountability to him for the right use of the faculties which he has bestowed.
express god himself man revealed
The proof that God has revealed himself to man by special and express communications, and that Christianity constitutes that revelation, is no part of these inquiries.
man
That man is a religious being, is universally conceded, for it has been seen to be universally true.
american-judge elsewhere evidence hesitate justified rejecting rules
But if, on the other hand, we should be justified in rejecting it, if there testified on oath, then, supposing our rules of evidence to be sound, we may be excused if we hesitate elsewhere to give it credence.
american-judge competent consider lies proved related whether
Proceeding further, to inquire whether the facts related by the Four Evangelists are proved by competent and satisfactory evidence, we are led, first, to consider on which side lies the burden of establishing the credibility of the witnesses.
american-judge inquiry oral possible proper sufficient testimony whether
In trials of fact, by oral testimony, the proper inquiry is not whether is it possible that the testimony may be false, but whether there is sufficient probability that it is true.
due religion rests
Our religion, then, rests on the credit due to these witnesses.
american-judge amount competent meant nature ordinarily proved reasonable satisfies
By competent evidence, is meant such as the nature of the thing to be proved requires; and by satisfactory evidence, is meant that amount of proof, which ordinarily satisfies an unprejudiced mind, beyond any reasonable doubt.
american-judge came early foreign originally pass period present true worship
How it came to pass that man, originally taught, as we doubt not he was, to know and to worship the true Jehovah, is found, at so early a period of his history, a worshiper of baser objects, it is foreign to our present purpose to inquire.
basis death fact foundation knowledge personal religion within
The foundation of our religion is a basis of fact - the fact of the birth, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection by the Evangelists as having actually occurred, within their own personal knowledge.
age american-judge bows culture darkest highest homage superior
In every age and country, and in every stage, from the highest intellectual culture to the darkest stupidity, he bows with homage to a superior Being.
would-be matter facts
In the ordinary affairs of life we do not require nor expect demonstrative evidence, because it is inconsistent with the nature of matters of fact, and to insist on its production would be unreasonable and absurd.