Report Relating to Incompetency of Witnesses on Account of Religious Belief1838 - 58 páginas |
Palavras e frases frequentes
absurdity allow argument atheist believe blind blind chance boasting capable of comprehending CCCC chance committee common law Commonwealth of Massachusetts comprehend the thing conclusion conscience constitution convicted countability court declares Deity deluges designing cause destroys divine existence doctrine doctrine of chance earth eter eternal existence eternal first cause existed from eternity experience fact favor of divine heathen human incompetent witness increasing in knowledge infidelity infinite influence inquire intelligent designer justice kind of evidence law of Massachusetts mankind mathematical demonstration matter and motion Moses nations natural philosophy nity obligation past ages perjury person plurality of gods possess present day principle proof of divine proved question reason reject religion religious belief religious opinions requires restrain Rhode Island self-existent sense sentiment society solemn Supreme swear falsely thing designed tion true truth uncon universe virtue wise worship
Passagens conhecidas
Página 11 - Massachusetts, acknowledging, -with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of his providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence, or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other ; and of forming a. new constitution of civil government for ourselves and posterity ; and devoutly imploring his direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain and establish,...
Página 13 - No person who acknowledges the being of a God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.
Página 13 - That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience ; that no man can, of right, be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister, against his consent ; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience ; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.
Página 49 - Cromwell, Cromwell, Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies.
Página 11 - It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of thé universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping GOD in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience ; or for his religious...
Página 5 - All witnesses, before they are examined, are required to take an oath, by which they appeal to the Supreme Being for the truth of the evidence which they are about to give. This necessarily implies a belief, that, by the laws of God, truth is enjoined, and falsehood punished. It is not sufficient, that a witness believes himself bound to speak...
Página 9 - Religion is a subject on which every man has a right to think according to the dictates of his understanding. It is a solemn concern between his conscience and his God, with which no human tribunal has a right to meddle.
Página 29 - ... discord germinate, as they certainly will do if no foreign object checks their growth, and unites all parties in a common cause.' But he saw that other nations also had something to apprehend from the same demoralizing philosophy ; speaking of Voltaire, whom he greatly admired, in a letter to Crebillon, he says, ' He is not the first writer who has been carried away, by a lively imagination, beyond the bounds of reason and of accuracy ; but what I cannot pardon in him, and what is not pardonable,...
Página 4 - Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh : and I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth...
Página 5 - ... believes in a God, the obligation of an oath, and a future state of rewards and punishments, he cannot be objected to as a witness, on the score of religion.