I John 5:7-8
I John 5:7-8 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
These two verses from the King James Version of the Bible have been used to “prove” the existence of the Trinity, the triune nature of God. Considering the entire Bible in no place uses the word “trinity” or “Holy Trinity” nor does it ever refer to the Holy Spirit as a person makes this verse an anomaly compared to the rest of the scriptures. How is it then these two verses are so out of sync with the rest of the Bible?
Unger’s Bible Dictionary points out, “I John 5:7 is commonly regarded as spurious”. We learn the following from the Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary on the Whole Bible (JFB): The wording of I John 5:7 was first written “as a marginal comment to complete the sense of the text, and then, as early as at least the eighth century, was introduced into the text of the Latin Vulgate” JFB p. 1510. I John 5:7 was not in the original Greek scriptures but was added as a marginal “inspired” reference and then inserted into the Latin Vulgate in the eight century- 800 years after Christ lived. The original Latin Vulgate translation (Greek into Latin) “omit the words” of verse 7. (JFB p. 1509.) Clearly and unfortunately, someone perverted a section of Holy Scripture for their own purposes.
It is fortunate later translations of the Bible like the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the New International Version (NIV) corrected this error. I John 5:7 in the NIV, “For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood: and the three are in agreement.” The RSV is very similar to the NIV on this verse. As we can see, the more correct translations vastly change the meaning of this verse, and the Trinity is not mentioned nor even implied in the corrected and the original non perverted original versions.
What then is I John 5:7 saying to us? I John 5 in context is a wonderful chapter about what the Father thinks of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is about love and His commandments and how they are not burdensome. In ancient times there needed to be two or three witnesses to prove a point. Vs. 7 gives us three witnesses to the divinity of Jesus. The “Spirit” is God’s essence confirming the identity of Jesus as His Son. The “Water” was His baptism. The “Blood” is His death and resurrection and return to His Godhood. John clearly points this out in verse 9 where he says, “We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God.”
Nowhere in I John 5 is the Holy Spirit spoken of as a third person. In fact, only God the Father and Jesus are mentioned, and it is God the Father who is showing us we only have eternal life through His son (see verses 11-12). Far from I John 5:7-8 proving the existence of a Trinity it proves God and Jesus are the Godhead and only through their testimony are we saved. The Holy Spirit is completely left out of the Godhead. Only God and Jesus can and will save us. If we believe this, we have eternal life, if we do not believe we do not have eternal life (vs. 12.).
For further study see COSCOG7 Staff Trinity
COSCOG7 Mike Wallace I John 5:7-8
