There are certain facts in life that cannot be disputed. George Washington was the first president of the United States of America, that is a fact of history. The Civil War brought America to a battle with itself over the issue of slavery. On September 11, 2001, the twin towers in New York tumbled to the ground after a terrorist attack.
In Bethlehem, nearly two thousand years ago, a tiny baby was born who is the Savior of the World.
The facts of Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection, are a matters of history. There are more documents that prove the facts of Jesus life, death, and resurrection from the dead, than any other event of human history. Why then are various atheists groups trying to re-write history and claim that the gospel accounts of Jesus Christ are a myth?
Dr. Simon Greenleaf, was a Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University. He was one of the greatest legal minds the world has ever known. He wrote the famous guide for substantiating legal evidence in a court of law entitled, ”A Treatise on the Law of Evidence.” This guide for legal evidence is considered to the present day by many, to be the greatest legal volume ever written.
Dr. Greenleaf believed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was a hoax. Determining that he would expose the four gospels in the new testament that describe Jesus life, death, and resurrection as a “myth”, he set out to disprove their claims by the rules of evidence used in the courts of law. Upon thoroughly examining the evidence for the resurrection — Dr. Greenleaf came to conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most substantiated events in all of human history.
In his book, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, Dr. Greenleaf stated:
“it was IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the truths they had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISEN FROM THE DEAD, . . .”
(Simon Greenleaf, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, p.29).
Dr. Greenleaf concluded that according to the jurisdiction of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best supported event in all of history. As a result of his work in determining the validity of the four gospels, Dr. Greenleaf committed his life to Jesus Christ as a Christian.
Simon Greenleaf’s principal work of legal scholarship is called a Treatise on the Law of Evidence (3 vols., 1842–1853), it remained a standard textbook in American law throughout the Nineteenth century.
Dr. Greenleaf has this to say about the validity of documents of ancient history in regards to their admissibility as valid evidence in a court of law:
“An ancient document, offered in evidence in our courts, is said to come from the proper repository, when it is found in the place where, and under the care of persons with whom, such writings might naturally and reasonably be expected to be found; for it is this custody which gives authenticity to documents found within it.’ If they come from such a place, and bear no evident marks of forgery, the law presumes that they are genuine, and they are permitted to be read in evidence, unless the opposing party is able successfully to impeach them.`’ The burden of showing them to be false and unworthy of credit, is devolved on the party who makes that objection. The presumption of law is the judgment of charity. It presumes that every man is innocent until he is proved guilty; that everything has been done fairly and legally, until it is proved to have been otherwise; and that every document, found in its proper repository, and not bearing marks of forgery, is genuine. Now this is precisely the case with the Sacred Writings. They have been used in the church from time immemorial, and thus are found in the place where alone they ought to be looked for. They come to us, and challenge our reception of them as genuine writings…“
The basis for validating the accounts given in the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the new testament, is due to their being used for over 2,000 years by the church to substantiate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At no time in history has anyone ever been able to impeach these documents and prove that they are not historical and factually accurate. On this basis, the accounts of Jesus life are without any doubt true and valid matters of history. They were written by the accounts of eye witnesses who saw and heard the events take place.
To have any atheists group rewrite history today by claiming that Christmas, Easter, or any other Christian celebration or holiday should not be publicly celebrated, is preposterous. People all over the world have celebrated matters of their history, whether they be secular or sacred, since the dawn of man. If anyone does not believe in or care to participate in one of these celebrations, they are free to avoid them.
It should not be allowed that a minority group who denies the facts of history, be allowed to re write that history today and prevent good people from observing events that are for them, sacred, and Holy.
It is a matter of history in the United States, that Americans have celebrated Christmas by decorations, lights and public displays of the manger scene, as recorded in the historical documents of the new testament.
Rob Robinson
