Question No.7
Apostle John in his first Epistle, chapter 5 and verse 7 wrote:
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.";
is this not a fair testimony to acknowledge the `Doctrine of
Trinity'?
Answer No.7
1. The text quoted does appear in the Kings James Version but has
been omitted by most of the editors of the recent versions e.g.
Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New English
Bible, Phillips Modern English Bible, because the quoted text does
not appear in the older Greek manuscripts.
2. Renowned historian Edward Gibbon calls the addition a "Pious
Fraud" in his famous history book `Decline and Fall of Roman
Empire'.
3. Peakes commentary on the subject reads; "The famous
interpolation after "three witnesses" is not printed even in RSVn,
and rightly. It cites the heavenly testimony of the Father, the
logos, and the Holy Spirit, but is never used in the early
trinitarian controversies. No respectable Greek MS contains it.
Appearing first in a late 4th-cent. Latin text, it entered the
Vulgate and finally the NT of Erasmus."
Hot Tip:
Notwithstanding the above rejections, the verse that
follows the quoted text reads in KJV; "And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three
agree in one." (1John5:8). Are these three witnesses "co-equal"?
Can blood be substituted with water? Can water be regarded as the same in any
respect with the Spirit? Just as the spirit, the blood and the water are three
separate entities, so are the first three witnesses, namely; the Father, the Son
(Word, Logos) and the Holy Spirit (Ghost).
Christianity FAQ 7 : More on the Trinity Doctrine