Rick,
I would disagree that 3 witnesses are required. The Scriptures state we must have at least two to establish a Scriptural Truth. It says two or 3. The more the merrier, so you can have 3 or more Scriptures. But two is the absolute minimum.
And as Dave mentions, the matches must be spiritual to spiritual, and they must not contradict any other Scriptures.
Which is why all Scriptural truth can only come from the Spirit of God directing ones studies.
There are and have been many intelligent scholars with detailed knowledge of the Scriptures, but understanding only comes from God.
Below I have copied Truths 6 and 7 from Ray's 12 Truths paper, which is an absolute gem of correct Scriptural analysis.
Notice in Truth number 7, that there are only two Scriptures that establish the truth contained in Rev 20:13-15 and 1Cor 3:13-15. There is no third Scripture to establish that very important truth because 3 or more Scriptures are not needed, only two---The Two Witnesses.
TRUTH NUMBER 6
[A] "…that in the mouth of TWO OR THREE WITNESSES every word may be established" (Matt. 18:16).
"…In the mouth of TWO OR THREE WITNESSES shall every word be established" (II Cor. 13:1).
[C] "And I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES…" (Rev. 11:3).
This particular law of Scripture is constantly violated. We are to have at least a second witness to establish a Scriptural truth or doctrine.
Unfortunately, the Church does not follow this truth of God in establishing doctrine. Truth be known, orthodoxy has not even one witness to support any of their doctrines! Example: The Scriptures tell us that man is "mortal," not "immortal." They teach that man’s soul is immortal. Where do they have a Scripture to support this claim? No Scripture—no witness. Where is their second witness to this claim? No second witness. They will not be encumbered with Scriptures to support their damnable heresies and lies.
God told Adam if he ate of the forbidden fruit he would die: "And the Lord God commanded…you shall surely die." (Gen. 2:17). Theologians teach that, "once we are born, we shall NEVER surely die." Say, doesn’t that sound like the very same thing the lying serpent told Eve? Check it out:
"And the serpent said unto the woman, ‘Ye shall NOT surely die"
Can we all agree that the phrase: "shall NOT SURELY die" is a contradiction of the phrase "SHALL SURELY die"?
Does the Church teach what God said or what the serpent said? Why would you prefer to believe what the serpent said rather than what God said? Am I going to fast for anyone?
So do souls actually die, or are they immortal? A "soul" in Hebrew is a "nephesh." Does the Church have "two witnesses" that souls do not die? They don’t have even one. Well then, do we have two witnesses that tell us plainly souls do die?
Yes we do:
"…the soul [Heb: ‘nephesh’] that sins, it [the soul, the ‘nephesh’] shall die. (Say, isn’t that exactly what God taught us back in Gen. 2:17? Of course). (Ezek. 18:4). Doesn’t this then contradict both the lie of Satan and the Church?
"The soul that sins, IT SHALL DIE" (Ezek. 18:20).
Jesus tells us in parable of two great witnesses:
"Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which brings forth out of his treasure, NEW AND OLD" (Matt. 13:52).
What "new and old" treasures do "scribes" preserve for us regarding the "kingdom of heaven?" Why the NEW Covenant Scriptures and the OLD Covenant Scriptures, of course. And both the Old (Deut. 17:6 & 19:15), and the New (II Cor. 13:1 & Matt. 18:16) command that we must have two witnesses to establish every Word of God.
I will keep this truth short, as it overlaps with the next spiritual truth # 7 which requires that we compare and match spiritual with spiritual.
The next time your pastor mentions "immortal souls," "Christians going to heaven," "Jesus being in hell for three days," "not all men will be saved," "Christian tithing," "consciousness in death," "resurrection of the body," "parables make the teaching clear," "man’s will being free and independent of God," and dozens of other such nonsense, ask him to give you two Scriptures to support each of his unscriptural heresies.
TRUTH NUMBER 7
[A] "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; COMPARING [or ‘matching’] SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH SPIRITUAL" (I Cor. 2:13).
"And to this AGREE the words of the prophets; as it is written…" (Acts 15:15).
[C] "These [Bereans]… searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were SO [Gk: ‘in this way,’ ‘like’] (Acts 17:11).
[D] "AS You have sent Me into the world, EVEN SO have I sent them into the world" (John 17:18, and many, many other such comparisons).
The purpose for comparing spiritual with spiritual is to find a spiritual match. There is a spiritual match for every symbol in the book of Revelation. This is a powerful truth that will open the whole Bible to us.
In the previous truth we learned the need for two witnesses. In this truth we will learn the need for those two witnesses to be a "spiritual match." Let’s now "spiritually match" two witnesses and see the marvelous eye-opening result.
After being introduced to the Great White Throne in Rev. 20:11, we read of the judgment of every man’s work in fire:
And I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Notice the specifics of these verses:
"Every man’s work is to be judged by fire."
EVERY MAN
Every man’s WORK
Every man’s work is to be JUDGED
Every man’s work is to be judged IN FIRE
But we learned that no witness can stand alone. We must have at least TWO WITNESSES to establish the truth of any doctrine. For the simple fact that orthodoxy absolutely refuses to give you a "spiritual match" to these Scriptures, it has enabled them to attach all kinds of unscriptural, extra-scriptural, anti-scriptural heresies to the above Scripture. Why won’t they give you a "second witness," and a "spiritual match" to the above Scripture? Because the only second witness which is a spiritual match to the above Scripture, destroys their whole pagan teaching regarding it, that’s why.
Now then, is there a second witness to: Every man’s work is to be judged by fire? Yes, there is a SECOND witness to this Scripture. But we are looking for more than just a second witness. We have just learned that we are also to "compare [or match] spiritual with spiritual." We are looking for a second witness which is a SPIRITUAL MATCH to these statements that Every man’s work is to be judged in fire."
Would you believe that there is ONE and ONLY ONE such spiritual match to this Scripture in the entirety of the Bible? After I give it to you, you will clearly see why orthodoxy will not even concede that this Scripture IS a second witness and a spiritual match. Here it is:
"Every man’s work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try [test, examine, judge] every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide that he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire" (I Cor. 3:13-15).
There it is: a perfect spiritual match and a second witness to Rev. 20:13-15):
EVERY MAN
Every man’s WORK
Every man’s work TRIED, TESTED OR JUDGED
Every man’s work tried, tested or judged IN FIRE
Why do Christians and theologians hate what I have just shown you? Because when we put these two spiritually matched Scriptures together, we also are given the added knowledge that there is SALVATION in and through this fire which judges us, and the Church doesn’t want all mankind to be saved. Yes, the most evil people who have ever lived, will also be saved one day, but contrary to what all of my detractors constantly lie about my writings, is that they will not be saved before they are purged in "God’s CONSUMING FIRE" of every last vestige of evil and carnality.
But many Christians have written me insisting that these two Scriptures are not spiritual matches, and in fact insist that they are never even a second witness to one another. Be it known to all, that God’s CONSUMING SPIRITUAL FIRE will purge every vestige of these carnal and evil deceptions of THE GREAT WHORE CHURCH OF BABYLON.
They (like we) will first be "ground to POWDER" (Luke 20:18), and then (like we) subjected to "refiners FIRE and fuller’s SOAP" (Malachi 3:2) of Almighty God. The process for them will be the same process as with us, albeit at a later date, and in many cases with greater intensity, and remember that "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the LIVING GOD" (Heb. 10:31). But it is not a never-ending fear in eternal torture.
Question: As the world of Christendom predominantly believes that the Bible is to be taken literally, how pray tell is it even within the realm of possibility for them to compare ANYTHING "spiritual with spiritual" from the Scriptures?