The Law of Witnesses

The Law of Witnesses

   There is profound significance to the “law of witnesses”, which means that you can and must receive multiple witnesses of something in order to recognize its truthfulness. I believe that it applies to Christ Himself and that He taught as much.

 

    I want to begin this with the call to action in Mosiah 18:

 

"...as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in..." (8-9)

 

    We are meant to stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ. His purpose was to witness of truth:

 

"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." (John 18:27)

 

    And He witnesses of Himself:

 

“I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.” (John 8:18)

 

    Here we already see multiple witnesses, Christ and the Father. But what does He mean by this next statement?

 

"If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true." (John 5:31)

 

    Is He lying? I think not. We need multiple witnesses, continuing in John 5:

 

"There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth." (32-33)

 

    John is another witness of truth, but let's keep going...

 

"He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me." (34-37)

 

    So now we have Christ, who bears witness of himself, His works, John, and the Father who all bear witness of Christ. But it is not enough that Christ bears witness of Himself, we need the others as a confirmation of truth. John is mentioned even before this:

 

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." (John 1:6-8)

 

    Here is another example showing that multiple witnesses are required:

 

"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again." (3 Nephi 17:2-3)

 

    Christ counsels them to ask the Father for confirmation of His teachings. His word is established by multiple witnesses:

 

"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Matthew 18:16)

 

"Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words." (2 Nephi 11:3)

 

    In 3 Nephi 11 Christ mentions this many times:

 

"the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one." (27)

 

"I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me." (32)

 

"And I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost." (35)

 

"And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one" (36)

 

    The law of witnesses is taught all throughout the Book of Mormon, here is a list of many verses that I've found in my study:

 

"and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son." (2 Nephi 31:18)

 

"feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do… receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:3-5)

 

"Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope." (Jacob 4:6)

 

"Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old." (Jacob 4:13)

 

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." (Mosiah 24:14)

 

"And now, when Amulek had spoken these words the people began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified of the things whereof they were accused, and also of the things which were to come, according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them." (Alma 10:12)

 

"Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. And yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people, testifying unto them there is no God? And yet will ye deny against all these witnesses?" (Alma 30:44-45)

 

"And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring fruit unto repentance... And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end;" (Alma 34:30, 33)

 

"And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true." (Helaman 8:24)

 

"And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father." (3 Nephi 16:6)

 

"And also that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which ye shall have among you; and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have other witness besides him whom they saw and heard, that Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very God." (Mormon 3:21)

 

"And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; and the testimony of three, and this work, in the which shall be shown forth the power of God and also his word, of which the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record—and all this shall stand as a testimony against the world at the last day." (Ether 5:4)

 

    This isn't a complete list, there are over 200 references to the term "witness" in the Bible, BoM, and D&C. I won't include them all here, but you can do a term search to read the rest.

 

Godbless!