Deuteronomy 19: Part of the Pattern

How do we learn whether or not a person is guilty of a charge? Some people think that if they have two or more “reliable witnesses,” they need to do no more. They use such “proof texts” as verse 15 of this chapter. However, Moses does not say that the witnesses must be “reliable,” but that their testimony must “establish a fact.” And in no way are we to stop with this one text as the entire pattern anyway. At Jesus’ trial even He was given the option of testifying. The goal is to be fair and come to the correct conclusion, isn’t it?