Biblical Justice

On Twitter/X and other social media sites, some people are arguing that the Bible teaches that sexual assault/sexual abuse can only be substantiated if there are two or more witnesses. They use passages like Deuteronomy 17:6 to support this contention.

“At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6). (See also, Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; John 5:30-47; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19).

God inspired Deuteronomy 17:6 and similar passages to safeguard innocent people against false accusations, and to assure that factual evidence lay behind judicial charges. God is a God of justice and fairness.

Witnessless Crimes and the Bible

What then of witnessless crimes? Do we take passages such as Deuteronomy 17:6 as the only judicial declarations of God the Judge? Or, does the Bible, when understood in its richness, breadth, and depth, also speak authoritatively about witnessless crimes?

The Mosaic Law 

The Mosaic law explicitly anticipates unwitnessed sexual assault.

“But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her” (Deuteronomy 22:25-27).

God’s law anticipates exactly the scenario modern abusers claim invalidates accusations.

• The victim is believed without direct eye-witnesses.
• The perpetrator is judged guilty and punished to the full extent of the law.
• The victim is explicitly declared innocent.

Biblical Credible Testimony 

Biblically, the two or three witnesses texts were not about eyewitnesses only. “Witness” refers to establishing credible testimony, not only to visual observation. Scripture regularly recognizes pattern of behavior as evidence of wrong—as Jesus does in Matthew 7:15-20.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

The Bible, Unjust Laws, and Silencing Victims 

If two eyewitnesses were required for all crimes then rape, incest, domestic violence, and private exploitation would be legally impossible to prosecute. Such unjust laws would silence victims. However, God’s Word condemns legal systems that silence victims.

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless” (Isaiah 10:1-1).

Protection Over Procedures 

Jesus elevates protection of the vulnerable over proceduralism.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck” (Matthew 18:6).

Jesus places extreme moral weight on protecting the vulnerable—without adding a clause about evidentiary technicalities.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:23-24).

The Purpose of Due Process 

The purpose of due process is truth, not immunity. Biblical due process exists to prevent false accusations, protect against mob justice, and ensure careful investigation. It does not exists to guarantee abuser immunity, create impossible burdens of proof, or silence victims of hidden (witnessless) crimes. Proverbs 18:17 commands careful investigation, not dismissal. “In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines.”

False Claims and Biblical Truth 

The false, unbiblical thinking of the abuser seeks to claim that “if a crime is committed in private;  it cannot be real; it cannot be proven; it cannot be prosecuted.”

The Bible teaches the opposite: God sees; truth can be established even without direct witnesses; victims must be heard; justice must be pursued.

• Protection of the vulnerable overrides procedural weaponization.
• God’s concern for hidden injustice overrides eyewitness absolutism.
• Investigation and discernment overrides automatic dismissal.

In Summary 

Witnessless crimes are not victimless crimes. Witnessless crimes are crimes against God and against God’s image bearers.

The claim that “you can never believe an accusation of sexual abuse without two witnesses” is biblically false, legally incoherent, morally dangerous, logically absurd, and explicitly contradicts God’s Law. It is not a defense of justice; it is a false theology of impunity.

Addendum #1: The Bible and Legal Justice 

The Bible consistently demands legal justice. God consistently judges injustice.

• Psalm 82:2-4: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
• Proverbs 22:22-23: “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life.”
• Proverbs 31:8-9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
• Isaiah 1:16-17: “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
• Amos 5:1: “There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.”
• Zechariah 7:9-10: “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’”

God the Judge will not allow abusers to mock His Word. God will not allow abusers to twist the application of His Word in a shameful, sinful attempt to silence the victims of their abuse.

Addendum #2: The Bible and Protecting the Weak, the Powerless, and the Vulnerable

God consistently commands us to protect the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable. God’s Word insists that we bring justice to victims of assault and abuse. God calls us to be a voice for the voiceless. 

• Exodus 22:21-27: “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”
• Leviticus 19:9-10: “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.”
• Deuteronomy 10:18-19: The Lord your God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 24:17-22: Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
• Psalm 10:17-18: You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
• Psalm 146:7-9: The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
• Proverbs 14:31: Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
• Ecclesiastes 4:1: Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors—and they have no comforter.
• Jeremiah 22:3: This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
• Amos 5:10-15, 24: There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph…. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
• Matthew 25:34-46: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
• Luke 4:18-21: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
• James 1:27: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
• James 2:1-9: My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
• James 5:1-6: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
• 1 John 3:16-18: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.