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Testimony of the Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greenleaf concludes with: There are other internal marks of truth in the narratives of the evangelists, which, however, need here be only alluded to, as they have been treaded with great fullness and force by able writers, whose works are familiar to all. Among these may be mentioned the nakedness of the narratives; the absence of all parade by the writers about their own integrity, of all anxiety to be believed, or to impress others with a good opinion of themselves or their cause, of all marks of wonder, or of desire to excite astonishment at the greatness of the events they record, and of all appearance of design to exalt their Master. On the contrary, there is apparently the most perfect indifference on their part, whether they are believed or not; or rather, the evident consciousness that they are recording events well known to all, in their own country and times, and undoubtedly to be believed, like any other matter of public history, by readers in all other countries and ages. It is worthy, too, of especial observation, that thought the evangelists record unparalleled sufferings and cruel death of their beloved Lord, and this too, by hands and with the consenting voices of those on whom he had conferred the greatest benefits, and their own persecutions and dangers, yet they have bestowed no epithets of harshness or even of just censure on the authors of all this wickedness, but have everywhere left the plain and unencumbered narrative to speak for itself, and the reader to pronounce his own sentence of condemnation; like true witnesses, who have nothing to gain or to lose by the event of the cause, they state the facts, and leave them to their fate. Their simplicity and artlessness, also, should not pass unnoticed, in readily stating even those things most disparaging to their dullness of apprehension of this teachings, their strives for preeminence, their inclination to call fire from heaven upon their enemies, their desertion of their Lord in his hour of extreme peril; these and many other incidents tending directly to their own dishonor, are nevertheless set down with all the directness and sincerity of truth, as by men writing under the deepest sense of responsibility to God. Some of the more prominent instances of this class of proofs will be noticed hereafter, in their proper places, in the narratives themselves.
Lastly, the great character they have portrayed is perfect. It is the character of a sinless Being; of one supremely wise and supremely good. It exhibits no error, no sinister intention, no imprudence, no ignorance, no evil passion, no impatience; in a word, no fault; but all is perfect uprightness, innocence, wisdom, goodness and truth. The mind of man has never conceived the idea of such a character, even for his gods; nor has history or poetry shadowed it forth. The doctrines and precepts of Jesus are in strict accordance with the attributes of God, agreeably to the most exalted idea which we can form of them, either from reason or from revelation. They are strikingly adapted to the capacity of mankind, and yet are delivered with a simplicity and majesty wholly divine. He spake as never man spake. He spake with authority; yet addressed himself to the reason and the understanding of men; and he spake with wisdom, which men could neither gainsay nor resist. In his private life, he exhibits a character not merely of strict justice, but of flowing benignity. He is temperate, without austerity; his meekness and humility are signal; his patience is invincible; truth and sincerity illustrate his whole conduct; every one of his virtues is regulated by consummate prudence; and he both wins the love of his friends, and extorts the wonder and admiration of his enemies. He is represented in very variety of situation in life, from the height of worldly grandeur, amid the acclamations of an admiring multitude, to the deepest abyss of human degradation and woe, apparently deserted of God and man. Yet everywhere he is the same; displaying a character of unearthly perfection, symmetrical in all its proportions, and encircled with splendor more than human. Either the men of Galilee were men of superlative wisdom, and extensive knowledge and experience, and of deeper skill in the arts of deception, than any and all others, before or after them, or they have truly stated the astonishing things which they saw and heard." [ link to law2.umkc.edu] And YOU call HIM evil. . Quoting: Anonymous Coward 79654789 Firstly - and I may be wrong - I don't think anyone is calling the Jesus avatar "evil". It is specifically the god in the Old Testament who appears to be evil. Secondly, there are certainly truths in the Bible, such as Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." So basically the Golden Rule. However we don't need the Bible to tell us this because we know it instinctively. If we're interested in what Jesus has to say, he basically says to repent and stop doing evil, and love your fellow man. Once again, nothing wrong with that. What I do have a problem with is all the added dogma and baggage. But this is not even what we're discussing. We're discussing what happens after death, and the apparent trap, and how to overcome it. I've heard the argument that Jesus came to save us FROM the god of the Old Testament. I could even get behind that. But seeing as how the world just continues the way it does, day in and day out, with its unimaginable sufferings and injustices, it's a little hard to believe that anyone is coming to save us from it. If a loving God does exist, He/She will understand and have mercy. Your own Bible says "Mercy triumphs over judgment". There's really not much more you can say. If you come in a spirit of love, fine -- but I've found that most Christians are only too happy to judge others, and take delight in telling people they'll be burning in hell soon, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam. It makes me sick. If there IS a God, you can rest assured that He/She is nothing like the horrible entity described in the Old Testament particularly. Peace and Love to you.
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