The Evidence of One Man

I received an interesting comment on the death penalty from Beyond The Rim...

While I agree the death penalty is correct or even manditory for murder (c.f. Genesis 9:5-6), I disagree that Peterson's sentence is proper in any way, shape or form. Deuteronomy 17:6 gives the requirement, which nothing about this case met. No one, not ever, should be tried on a capital charge on circumstantial evidence. No way, no how.

Genesis 9:6 says, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man." But Deuteronomy 17:6 says, "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one man." Evidence here is perhaps better translated as "mouth," as in spoken testimony.

The science of forensics has advanced to a level of accuracy that can at times exceed even the perceptions of an eyewitness. Is DNA a witness? Is the blurry but enhanced picture of a murder taken by the camera over the ATM a witness?

So many questions, but one sure thing: Those who dismiss the religious as uneducated, unsophisticated and simple know not of what they speak.