Three Witnesses

A Meditation

Doctrinal confusion begins with taking a single Scripture verse and building a doctrine around it. All important teachings should have a broad foundation. It was an Old Testament rule that it took two or three witnesses to affirm a fact.

On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. [Deu. 17:6]

A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained. [Deu. 19:15]

The second witness for this doctrine can be found in the Gospels.

[Christ speaking] "Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true; I bear witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me." [John 8:16-17]

A third witness for this doctrine can be found in the letters of the Apostles.

There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. [1 John 5:8]

It is by three witnesses that we profess our faith.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ...." [Mat. 28:18-20]

Finally, as Roman Catholics were are taught by the Church to always balance everything against three witnesses:
It is clear ... that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. [Dei Verbum, n. 10, Vatican II]

Bob Van Cleef, November 1993

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