For there are three that testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.

The Issue: The authenticity of this verse.

The Trinitarian Claim

Trinitarian scholars now admit this verse was not written by the hand of John. Having access to collections of hundreds of manuscripts, modern scholars are able to determine this verse was introduced into the Bible long after John wrote this letter. For this reason, However, there are still Trinitarians who are unwilling to accept the facts on this matter and claim this verse is authentic.

What the Evidence will Show

The facts will show this verse is an obvious counterfeit. The facts reveal this verse is not found in any Greek manuscript before the 15th or 16th century except as later glosses (marginal insertions).

Examination of the Evidence

Trinity prooftext?

Trinitarians like to think this passage would otherwise be a powerful proof for Trinitarian doctrine. This likely happens with Trinitarians because John uses the words "three" and "one" in one breath. But would it really serve to support the Trinity? Trinitarians tend to read the passage as if John were saying, "and these three are one [God]," or "these three are one [being]" or some similar idea. As such, they imagine a preconceived idea into the passage which is not present anywhere in the context.

The text says there are three that testify, indicating the subject matter of the verse concerns one common unified testimony between these three and there is no reason one should suppose it would imply anything else. 1 John 5:7 literally says, "and these three are one." The very next verse, concerning the Spirit and the water and the blood, literally says, "the three are unto the one" meaning they have a common and united testimony. To be consistent, the Trinitarian advocate of 1 John 5:7 should also then conclude these three, the water, the Spirit, and the blood, are also a Trinity of one being. It is quite reckless to interpret this text as suddenly declaring the Father, Word and Holy Spirit are one God when all the verse says is the three are one united witness. The oneness in question is a oneness of purpose and function, not a oneness of identity or substance of being.

In a similar sense, Jesus prayed for this same unity of oneness between himself the Father and the church. We would not therefore assume these three are "God."

I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one. (John 17:20-23).

As we can see, Jesus prayed that he and the Father and all the disciples would be one. Shall we then suppose all these are God? Of course not. And there is not reason to do so with this passage either. Both of these passages, John 17:20-23 and 1 John 5:7, are referring to function, not substance of being. This passage simply does not suggest a Triune God even if it was valid. It simply says that there are three who testify and these three are one. It also says the Spirit, water, and blood are one in the same sense. Neither of the two groups of three are to be understood one other thing but as one unified testimony.

It Just Isn't There

I John 5:7, also known as, the Comma Johanneum, is found in only eight late Greek manuscripts, four of which have the words in a marginal note. These marginal glosses were added after the original copy was made. Most of these manuscripts originate from the sixteenth century and the earliest manuscript, includes the reading in a marginal note which was added sometime after the original composition. There is no sure evidence the Comma Johanneum exists, or existed, in any Greek manuscript until the early sixteenth century. From what we know, it seems the Comma somehow found its way into Latin manuscripts sometime in the fourth or fifth century. It does not appear in any Greek script of any kind until 1215 A.D. where we find it in a Greek translation of the Acts of the Lateran Council, a work originally written in Latin.

Greek and Latin Manuscripts

It is also important to recognize the primacy of the Greek manuscripts. The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Early Christians also primarily used the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), not the Hebrew Old Testament, and this tradition lasted for several centuries. Christians later translated the Greek into the Latin for the Latin speaking church in the western part of the Roman Empire, including northern Africa.

Now because the Greek language is the original language, and it would create numerous translation errors for copyists to translate from Greek to Latin and then translate from Latin back into Greek, scribal copyists did not translate from the Latin back into the Greek but only translated from the original Greek into Latin. Latin copies were made from both Greek copies and already translated Latin copies. >/p>

However, Greek copies were only made from Greek copies and no translation was necessary at all. Since 1 John 5:7 does not appear in any early Greek manuscripts, it shows us the verse simply was not there but was somehow introduced into the western Latin manuscripts independently from the Greek manuscripts in circulation. We also know this because the error was first localized to Spain and North Africa and then later made its way into Italy and Gaul (France).

Nobody noticed?

Now here is how we can be certain the text never existed in the early church. Because of the Arian controversy in the fourth century, we know for certain the church was especially guarded concerning teachings related to the nature of God and Christ. After the end of the fourth century, these manuscripts were the canonized writings of the status quo church who fought for Trinitarian teaching and it is unthinkable proposition to suggest the eastern Greek speaking church would have let such a passage inadvertently escape from all the Greek manuscripts spread throughout the eastern half of the Roman empire. If this passage had been authentic, the first omission of this verse would have created an immediate outcry and church leaders would have been looking for the culprit. It is an absolutely ludicrous fantasy to suppose the eastern Greek speaking Trinitarian church allowed 1 John 5:7 to somehow escape from their Scripture canon completely unnoticed for over a thousand years.

Inexplicably Silent

And here is another reason we know this passage is inauthentic. We do not find single person quoting this passage in the second to fifth century debates concerning the nature of God and Christ. If indeed 1 John 5:7 was present in the original text, it is inexplicable that no one ever brought it forward concerning the deity of Christ, especially since passages like John 10:30 enjoyed very heavy mileage. We do not find one solitary voice appealing to it through the entire Sabellian and Arian controversies and even afterward. But we do have evidence the Comma surfaced in the late fourth century in Spain or the early fifth century near Carthage.

Augustine

Now Augustine loved to promote Trinitarian dogma which had been officially made the official teaching of the church by the order of Emperor Theodosius in 380 A.D. In fact, he spent nearly twenty years writing his voluminous work "On the Trinity." He never mention this verse once. It is ridiculous to think Augustine would have written such a huge work and never mentioned this favorite Trinitarian text.

Augustine, who was a Latin speaking bishop in north Africa, wrote a tract on the Epistle of John in the first quarter of the fifth century, which shows he had never heard of 1 John 5:7. And here is what he wrote concerning the fifth chapter of John's letter.

I would not have you mistake that place in the epistle of John the apostle where he says, 'There are three witnesses: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three are one.'.... if we will inquire into the things signified I by these, there not unreasonably comes into our thoughts the Trinity itself, which is the one, only, true, supreme God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, of whom it could most truly be said, "There are three witnesses, and the three are one:" so that by the term 'Spirit' we should understand God the Father to be signified; as indeed it was concerning the worshipping of Him that the Lord was speaking, when He said, "God is a Spirit:" by the term, 'blood,' the Son; because "the Word was made flesh:" and by the term 'water,' the Holy Spirit; as, when Jesus spoke of the water which He would give to them that thirst, the evangelist saith, "But this said He of the Spirit which they that believed on Him were to receive....And if in any other way this depth of mystery which we read in John's epistle can be expounded and understood agreeably with the Catholic faith, which neither confounds nor divides the Trinity, neither believes the substances diverse nor denies that the persons are three, it is on no account to be rejected" (Contra Maximinum Arianum, 22)

We can see here that Augustine wants these three, the Spirit, the water and the blood, to somehow be the Trinity. Notice how Augustine violently distorts the text. He says the Holy Spirit in the passage is not the mentioned Spirit, but the Father and rather the water is the Holy Spirit. Apalling. It is quite plain that Augustine had never heard of 1 John 5:7. He never mentions it in his commentary on 1 John but must rather try and turn the next verse into some kind of Trinitarian interpretation. But we see here already the zealousness toward the newly developed Trinitarian doctrine had prompted Augustine to mystically interpret 1 John 5:8 in a very violent manner in order to promote Trinitarianism. Augustine's interpretation also helps us see just how 1 John 5:7 was created.

Disinformation

Unfortunately, the discovery of this counterfeit text has led to a mass of disinformation perpetuated by those who don't like the facts. There is an abundance of false claims and disinformation being spread concerning 1 John 5:7. Many of these claims noticeably are without documentary support. Some claim the Comma is found in "numerous" manuscripts but do not identify these manuscripts or tell you that the manuscripts in question are very late manuscripts. What these folks forget to mention is that the Comma is found only in late Greek manuscripts, or was written in margin at a later date, or, it is found in Latin, not Greek manuscripts. It is not found in numerous Greek or Latin manuscripts. It is found in a few early Latin manuscripts dating from the fifth century and all of them just happen to have originated in the same place. Another false claim is that several church fathers either "quoted," or "referred," to the Comma. Some of these claims are totally false and you will be hard pressed to find documentary support for most of them. Others are claims that the fathers made references to the Comma, but upon investigation and examination of these alleged quotations, one finds these claims are nothing but wishful thinking. "Stretching the truth" would be putting it mildly.

Summation of the Facts

• The text would not support the Trinity even if it was valid. It only says the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are one concerning their united testimony.



• The verse is not found in any early Greek manuscripts. It is first found in Latin manuscripts in the early fifth century and these manuscripts al originated in north Africa or nearby Spain.



• It is an impossible scenario to suppose the Trinitarian Greek speaking church somehow allowed this verse to disappear from their Bibles unnoticed.



• During the Christological debates of the fourth century, not one single person mentions this verse. It is unthinkable that such a verse would have been overlooked if indeed it was authentic.



• Augustine was the first Christian leader to write profusely on the doctrine of the Trinity. In his work "On the Trinity" he never mentions the verse.



• Augustine also wrote a commentary on this letter of John's. This verse is completely unmentioned.

Call for Discernment

The facts are plain. This verse, once the favorite of Trinitarians, is now known to be a counterfeit. Even Trinitarian scholars themselves admit to the facts. Hence, Trinitarians have no evidence here to support their teachings.