This is Week Seventeen of Giford's Bible Study Programme.

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.

1 John 5:7-8

Length: 2/5

Controversy: 4/5

Top Verses Rank: 250

This verse (known as the 'Comma Johanneum') is the only one in the entire Bible that specifically explains the doctrine of the Trinity. There is just one problem - there is no trace of this verse in any manuscript, or in any early commentary, until Ciprian in the 3rd Century (and it is disputed whether he thought it part of the text of the epistle). Instead, it read 'For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water and the blood: and these three agree in one.' This is Bart Ehrman's no 1 verse not found in the NT.

Christian Responses

The doctrine of the Trinity is central to modern Christian belief in all major sects. There are several places in the Bible where the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are mentioned - notably Matthew 28:19¹, but also frequent references by Jesus to the Father and to the Holy Ghost. None of these states that 'these three are one', but there are numerous Biblical instances of God being described as 'one' or unique. It is therefore possible to argue that the doctrine of the Trinity can be supported Biblically without reference to the Comma Johanneum.

However, all this requires some intricate interpretation, and counter-arguments based on the text are therefore also possible. Many early Christian sects saw Jesus very differently - Ebionites, for instance, believed that Jesus was a mortal man whom the Holy Ghost entered at his baptism, based on John 1:32². Other adoptionists³ thought he became divine only at his Resurrection. Mark and Paul respectively may have held these views, and Jesus is quoted (e.g. in John 14:1⁴, Matthew 19:17⁵) as saying that God is separate from Jesus. It is even possible that these were the majority views among early Christians, although this is not certain.

Looking at it another way, we could easily argue that Jesus and Lucifer are the same person, based on them both being described as the morning star (Jesus in Rev 22:16⁶, Lucifer in Isiaih 14:12⁷). No-one would agree with that, and yet without the Comma Johanneum it seems to be on an equal scriptural basis with the doctrine of the Trinity.

It is very likely that the 1 John verse was inserted specifically to counter such arguments. The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD declared Trinitarianism to be the official church doctrine and all other opinions heresy, and it has remained the orthodoxy ever since.