THATS – Is 1 John 5:7 Evidence of the Trinity?
Brother Bob Pellien: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit mentioned in I John 5:7, dear friends, is that the proof so many are looking for that the Trinity is real?
Brother Bob: The Bible, the basis of our faith in the Church Of Christ, which answers questions about proper worship, the right relationship with God, and, most importantly, salvation—That’s in the Bible.
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That’s in the Bible
Brother Bob: I’m Bob Pellien, and welcome to the program That’s in the Bible.
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Brother Bob Pellien
Minister of the Gospel
Brother Bob: Dear friends, in one of our other programs, produced here in the Church Of Christ, called Face The Truth, an episode once again received various comments for the argument that Jesus is part of a Trinitarian God. One of those was, once again, Miguel Aguinaldo. Here’s what Miguel wrote:
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Miguel Aguindaldo
This is pure evidence of the trinity always existing because it says GOD said, meaning GOD spoke… but he said, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness: so who is he talking about when he said “US”? Well in 1 John 5:7 it says “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word (Jesus), and the holy ghost: and these three are one.”
Brother Bob: Thank you, Miguel, for your comments and for, once again, the opportunity to clarify biblical teachings. Now, in your comment, there are actually two different verses that you’re claiming as pure evidence of the Trinity. The first, quote: “Let Us make man in Our image,” well that’s referring to Genesis 1:26, which by the way we have recently discussed, in great depth, in a previous episode of this program.
So, for dear friends, those of you watching that have not yet seen that episode, well we suggest you go and check it out on incmedia.org. But for today, we’ll concentrate on Miguel’s second part of his comment wherein it’s referring to I John 5:7. So, let’s learn what the Bible actually teaches in that verse.
What we’ll do once again, let’s frame our topic of discussion around these three questions:
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- Is the trinity mentioned in I John 5:7?
- What was the concern of the translators?
- What is the correct translation from the original Greek manuscripts?
Brother Bob: So, to begin, is the Trinity, or even Jesus Himself, mentioned in I John 5:7? Does this biblical verse present or give evidence of the Trinity at all? Let’s read what’s recorded in I John 5:7, and we’re going to go ahead and include verse eight as well:
For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
[I John 5:7 New King James Version]
Brother Bob: Miguel, and others too, make the conclusion that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, which are said to be one in this translation of I John 5:7 and 8, are one Trinitarian God. But that’s not what the verse said. What it did say was that they bore witness and that they agreed. Additionally, what we can read in the footnote of that translation is very, very important. In the footnote, the translators of I John 5:7 and 8, cited this:
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- 1 John 5:7 NU, M omit the words from in heaven (v.7) through on earth (v.8). Only 4 or 5
very late mss. contain these words in Greek.
[1 John 5:7-8 New King James Version – Footnote]
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, Bible scholars who took part in this translation, the New King James Version, based it on two ancient manuscripts, which are designated by the abbreviations NU and M, which are noted at the beginning of this footnote. Those manuscripts do not include, however, the words between “in heaven” and “on earth,” as seen in the New King James Version. What’s the full extent of the words the footnote is stating to omit or remove, to understand the verses as recorded in those manuscripts? What would those words be? The words “in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one, and there are three that bear witness on earth:”
Dear friends, why is there a disclaimer made by the Bible scholars to remove these words or to omit them? As they explained, only 4 or 5 very late manuscripts contain these words in Greek. That was the footnote from the New King James Version of the Bible. What was the concern of the translators of other versions of the Bible as well? In fact, if we go to the New International Version of the Bible, it also has a footnote. It also has an explanation for I John 5:7 and 8. The Bible scholars here wrote the following:
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FOOTNOTE
Late manuscripts of the Vulgate
testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the
(not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century)
[1 John 5:7-8 New International Version – footnote]
Brother Bob: We can see the reason why those words are of concern. It clarifies that those words were not found in any Greek manuscript before the 16th century. Therefore, it was about 1500 years after the Bible was already complete that these words were added.
How do some biblical scholars, in textual criticism, describe this particular verse? I would like to take a moment to read an important quote from a book entitled “An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible” written by John W. Haley. Here, from page 62 it says this:
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1 John [chapter 5] v.7 is a spurious passage. It is found in no Greek manuscript before the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and in no early version.”
[An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, by John W. Haley, page 62]
Brother Bob: Dear friends, the verse in question was described here as a spurious passage. By the way, what does spurious mean? Well, if we look to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it’s defined as falsified, or erroneously, attributed origin forged of a deceitful nature or quality.
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Spurious adjective
3 a: falsified or erroneously attributed origin: FORGED
b: of a deceitful nature or quality
[Merriam Webster Dictionary]
Brother Bob: So, dear friends, if the words then “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth:”—if that’s not found in the original text of the Bible, how did it find its way into some of these modern Bible translations?
What should we understand? The majority of modern translations of the New Testament, they’re based on a translation by the Bible scholar named Desiderius Erasmus. What did Erasmus experience when translating the New Testament from the original Greek? Well, this is something that’s written in the book entitled “The Epistles of John.” On page 129, let’s take a look. I quote:
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When Erasmus published his first printed edition of the Greek New Testament (1516) he was attacked for omitting the ‘three heavenly witnesses; but he replied reasonably enough that he found them in no Greek manuscript.
Rather incautiously he added that, if a Greek manuscript could be produced which contained the passage, he would include it. In due course such a Greek manuscript was produced – by no means an ancient one, for it was written about 1520!…
so in his next edition (the third edition, 1522) he included it, adding a footnote in which he complained that the manuscript had been written with the express purpose of putting him on the spot.
From Erasmus’s third edition the passage was translated into German (by Luther) and into English (by Tyndale); it was taken over into the early printed editions of the Greek New Testament, and hence appears in the Authorized Version [King James Version].”
[The Epistles John by F. F. Bruce, Grand Rapids Michigan, U.S.A..: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970]
Brother Bob: So, according to this written account of history, when Erasmus published his first printed edition of the Greek New Testament, and that was in 1516, the year 1516, he omitted the words mentioning the three heavenly witnesses, and he was attacked for it.
Why did he omit them in the first place? As we read there, he replied to them reasonably enough, ‘he found them in no Greek manuscript.” What did he propose to those attacking him? He said, “if a Greek manuscript could be produced which contained the passage, he would include it.”
What then took place? “In due course, such a Greek manuscript was produced – by no means an ancient one, for it was written about 1520!…” the year 1520. So, the perpetrators of the Trinitarian doctrine, they succeeded in doing what? Inserting or adding words into the King James Bible version that were not in the original manuscripts, which is a clear violation of God’s prohibition to add to his words. Their attempt to include a mention of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, which Miguel even inserted the word Jesus in there and put his parentheses there and insertion, they’re not contained in the verse. When they add that and insert such, it is deceptive.
If only later Greek manuscripts include those additional phrases, then what’s the correct translation from the original Greek manuscripts? Let’s go back to the New International, the NIV, the New International Version of the Bible. Let’s go and let’s read I John 5:7 as it’s recorded here, including verse 8:
For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
[I John 5:7-8 New International Version]
Brother Bob: And, additionally, the Revised Standard Version has this verse written in a way, well, it’s much more aligned to the original Greek text, and it states in I John 5:7 and 8 the following:
And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.
[1 John 5:7-8 Revised Standard Version]
Brother Bob: Dear friends, this is why there are disclaimers or footnotes for these verses, in order for us to get a better understanding from those who actually translated the Bible from those original languages into different languages of today. Here, we can see, there’s no mention of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit being God, or a three in one Trinitarian being. It is simply not part of the Bible, and therefore should be rejected by all who want to serve the true God and be saved on the Day of Judgment. The true God is the Father alone, as we have often read here in our past studies together, from John 17, verses 1 and 3.
So, we started this discussion with these main questions in mind. Let’s review what we have learned from the Bible:
- What is written in the verse mentioned, I John 5:7?
There’s no mention of a trinity of beings as God. The verse simply mentions that there are three who bear witness or testify, and they are in agreement.
- What was the concern of the translators?
What was their concern? Well, there was no evidence of the Father, the Word, and the Spirit included in any early manuscripts of that verse, as stated also by Erasmus.
- What then is the correct translation from the original Greek manuscripts?
A correct translation of I John 5:7 is any translation that does not contain the 16th century addition, or insertion, of the Trinity. Because, according to biblical scholars’ own research, it’s not the original text of the Bible verse.
Well, we hope this has answered your curiosity regarding I John 5:7 and including verse 8 and how some mistakenly use it as an alleged evidence of the Trinity.
We’d like and hope you will continue learning about the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Church Of Christ, that brings to you this program. To do so, visit us online and browse the different topics.
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Visit incmedia.org
Brother Bob: Or, set up an appointment to meet with a minister of the gospel here in the Church Of Christ, and if you have any questions about the Bible or salvation, please don’t hesitate to email them to us…
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answers@incmedia.org
Brother Bob: …and we’ll try to get to them here on the program if we can.
I’m Bob Pellien. Thanks for watching. See you next time, right here, on That’s in the Bible.
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