1 John 5:7-8
1 John 5:7-8
(KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. {8} And there are three
that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood:
and these three agree in one.
(NIV) 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the
blood; and the three are in agreement.
(NASV) 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and
the blood; and the three are in agreement.
(ESV) 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and
the blood; and these three agree.
(CEV) 7 In fact, there are three who tell about it. 8 They are the
Spirit, the water, and the blood, and they all agree.
(1901 ASV) 7 And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is the truth.
8 For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the
blood: and the three agree in one.
(HCSB) 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water, and
the blood —and these three are in agreement
(RSV) [7] And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
[8] There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these
three agree.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) 7 So there are three that testify, 8 the Spirit, the
water, and the blood, and the three are of one accord.
(NWT) 7 For there are three witness bearers, 8 the spirit and the water
and the blood, and the three are in agreement.
(NKJV) Footnote - NU-Text and M-Text omit the words from in heaven (verse
7) through on earth (verse 8). Only four or five very late manuscripts contain
these words in Greek. (The NKJV is a notorious version with their doubt
casting footnotes which have the same devastating effect as if they just
mutilated the text itself. Do you see they claim only 4 or 5 late manuscripts
have the verse in them? We saw a lot more evidence than 4 or 5 which means they
are deceiving their readers which means the NKJV also qualifies as a false
version.)
Textus Receptus
1 John 5:7 oti treiV eisin oi marturounteV
en tw ouranw o pathr o logoV kai to agion pneuma kai outoi oi treiV en eisin
1 John 5:8
kai treiV eisin oi marturounteV en th gh to pneuma kai to udwr kai to
aima kai oi treiV eiV to en eisin
Hort Westcott
1 John 5:7 oti treiV eisin oi marturounteV
1 John 5:8 to pneuma kai to udwr kai to aima kai oi
treiV eiV to en eisin
Corrupted Manuscripts
These verses are corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph - Sinaiticus - Fourth Century
B - Vaticanus - Fourth Century
A - Alexandrinus - Fifth Century
These three manuscripts are the primary manuscripts where 1 John 5:7-8 have been
corrupted. There are many other later manuscripts which are ancillary to these
three because they were copied from them. Like begets like and when you copy
from a corrupted manuscripts the lineage of corruption will continue. 1 John
5:7-8 has been attacked by the pro modern version crowd as being a scribal
addition later on in years. However, 1 John 5:7-8 is found in the Old Latin
Vulgate and Greek Vulgate (90-150 A.D.), plus the Syriac Peshiito (150 A.D.) It
is also found in many first century church lectionaries. Lectionaries were used
in churches for readings and liturgy for church services especially for special
days of the year. They are akin to the responsive readings which we find in
today’s hymn books. Tatian’s Diatesseron which was a harmony of the four gospels
written about 150 A.D. When Taitian was writing the book of John, he had
referenced 1 John 5:7 which proves that 1 John 5:7 antedates Vaticanus and
Sinaiticus, by 200 years, where the verse is omitted.
Dr. John Overall, who was one of the King James translators was a scholar in the
teachings of the early Church Fathers. His contribution concerning 1 John 5:7
was vital since manuscript evidence was lacking because of the Alexandrian
school where it was mutilated. He knew that the early church fathers had
referenced those verses quite frequently. The modern version proponents only
look to Vaticanus and Sinaiticus as their authorities and reject the massive
amount of other evidences such as the church lectionaries. If 1 John 5:7-8 did
not exist in the originals, then how could they have been quoted by the church
fathers if it was non-existent? A simple question of logic.
Erasmus was a Greek scholar who was used of the Lord mightily as a precursor to
the Reformation. He printed a Greek New Testament in 1516 and the Reformation
took place in 1517. There is no such thing as a coincidence in the Kingdom of
God, only a God-incident. Now Erasmus in reference to 1 John 5:7 originally did
not want to include that portion unless a Greek manuscript could be found as
evidence of its authenticity. He claimed that Greek manuscripts and even some
Latin manuscripts did not have this verse in it. In due time Erasmus was
presented with Codex Montfortianus which is in Dublin, Ireland and Codex
Britannicus which both contained 1 John 5:7 and with this proof, he confidently
placed these verses in his third edition of the Greek in 1522 and his last one
in 1535. Erasmus died in 1536 but God had set the stage for the translation of
the final true Bible in the English language which would be used of Christians
until the Lord returned on the last day.
Some of the other evidences where 1 John 5:7-8 can be found are as follows:
Some Syriac Peshitto manuscripts, The Syriac Edition at Hamburg, Bishop Uscan’s
Armenian Bible, the Armenian Edition of John Zohrob, the first printed Georgian
Bible.
Early Latin witnesses include:
1) Tertullian who died in 220 A.D.
2) Cyprian of Carthage who died in 258 A.D.
3) Priscillan who died in 358 A.D.
4) The Speculum - Fifth century
5) A creed called Esposito Fidei - Fifth or sixth century
6) Old Latin - Fifth or sixth century
7) A Confession of Faith of Eugenius, Bishop of Carthage (484 A.D.)
8) Cassiodoris of Italy (480-570 A.D.)
Nine Manuscripts which contain 1 John 5:7-8:
#61 - Sixteenth century
#88 - Twelfth century
#221 - Tenth century
#429 - Fourteenth century
#629 - Fourteenth century
#535 - Eleventh century
#636 - Fifteenth century
#918 - Sixteenth century
#2318 - Eighteenth century
The evidence is overwhelming for the authenticity of 1 John 5:7-8. Keep in mind
that it was Origen who was the father of the false manuscripts who removed this
verse as he did verses like Acts 8:37 and Luke 24:40. The Alexandrian school was
no friend of the true manuscripts which were taken from Antioch and mutilated
according to Gnostic beliefs.
Affected Teachings
The mutilation of 1 John 5:7-8 in the second century was an attack upon the
Trinity. The rejection of the Trinity is alive and well today in the Jehovah’s
Witnesses camp and is alive and well in the modern versions which agree totally
with their New World Translation. Trinitarian theology is totally disbelieved by
the Gnostics and many cult groups including the Jews. For any Theologian,
Pastor, or Christian to endorse a version which attacks the Trinity, means they
too disbelieve the Trinity or else they would not be defending the Gnostic view.
These verses are the most hotly contested by the modern version proponents
simply because they disregard all the evidence that is available. This section
of Scripture has been named the “Johannine Comma.” 1 John 5:7-8 is as much a
part of the original autographs as Jesus Himself was. Therefore, we can claim
these verses as authentic without hesitation.
I would suggest that you print this information out and keep it as part of your
library since 1 John 5:7-8 is a major bone of contention that the pro-modern
version people tend to throw at us. If you have this information at hand, you
will disarm them and cause them to go on the defensive and since most Christians
are ignorant and refuse to do any research to combat their ignorance, you will
have succeeded in proving your case and maybe winning over another Christian to
the truth.