1 John 5:7

From Textus Receptus

• ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Α΄ 5:7 ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες εν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατήρ, ὁ λόγος, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι·

(Textus Receptus, Novum Testamentum, Theodore Beza, 5th major edition. Geneva. 1598)

• 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

(King James Version, Pure Cambridge Edition 1900)

• 1 John 5:7 Because, there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one.

(King James Version 2016 Edition, 2016) - buy the revised and updated printed 2023 Edition New Testament here

Interlinear

Commentary

The omission of the Comma Johanneum

See also Comma Johanneum

(Much of the information for this page comes from the highly recommended (KJV Today Website)

The Comma Johanneum (also called Johannine Comma or the Heavenly Witnesses) is the technical name for a comma (a short clause) appearing in some translations’ rendering of 1 John 5:7-8. The text of the comma appears below in bold:

5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one” (KJV).

Besides TR / KJV update versions such as the King James Version 2016 Edition, Revised Webster Update 1995, or the New King James Version of 1982 etc, no other modern English Bible includes this passage. Those who support the King James Version or Textus Receptus only position frequently cite this omission as conclusive proof that modern Bibles are removing the Trinity from the Bible and should be rejected on the grounds of Revelation 22:18-19. This Comma is omitted from most modern translations of the Bible because most Greek manuscripts do not have them.

The Comma Johanneum is one of the finest scriptures to use to support the doctrine of the Trinity. It is one of those few passages included in the Textus Receptus which has a weak attestation from Greek manuscripts. It must be remembered that we do not have all the manuscripts that ever have been in existence, and there have been concerted efforts to destroy manuscripts and bibles from many groups including Catholics and Muslims. Constantine's successor was a zealous Arian.

Because the Textus Receptus was basically unrivaled until the late 1900's, the Comma is found in the most widely used translations of the New Testament before 1881, when the Westcott and Hort Greek text along with the English Revised Version was published without the Comma; but, from the early 18th century onwards, several individual translators omitted it. Versions from this period which contain it include the Geneva Bible, the King James Version (KJV), Young's and both the Rheims New Testament and the Ronald Knox translations which are Roman Catholic.

Newer critical editions of the Greek text omit the Comma as not part of the original, and modern Bible translations based on them such as the New International Version (NIV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the English Standard Version (ESV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) either omit the Comma entirely, or place it in a footnote. In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Latin Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate), published in 1979 following the Second Vatican Council, primarily based upon the same Critical Text and approved for liturgical use, omits the Comma. Nor does the Catholic approved New American Bible include it.

The Comma Johanneum has been a major subject of debate from the 1500s to today. The debate on 1 John 5:7 has also been a primary focus of discussions on the integrity of the New Testament documents and scribal fealty to the Bible text. The varying doctrinal and Christological interpetations of the verse have been a major part of these debates. The Comma and the question of its authenticity have particular bearing on the development of the theological doctrine of the Trinity, which is central to most mainstream Christian denominations.

It stood basically unchallenged in English Bibles for four hundred years. It is the English ecclesiastical line for the past 500 years with first English Bible of John Wycliffe in 1380, William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1525, Coverdale’s Bible of 1535, in Matthew’s Bible of 1537, the Taverner’s Bible of 1539, the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva New Testament of 1557, the Bishop’s Bible of 1568, and the King James Version of 1611. Trinitarianism is an orthodox position, and those who attack trinitarianism have rejected this verse. The fact that the very best of English translators, as well as many preachers, theologians, church leaders, editors, and the highest levels of scholarship have accepted the verse as well as many learned men who today still accept the Trinitarian statement in 1 John 5:7 needs to be acknowledged. Five centuries of English Christians acceptation of a verse that does not cause one to err or be deceived but rather enhances the doctrine of the trinity, should not quickly be rejected; let alone the many other language groups that have the verse, the huge amount of Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts containing it, and its mention by early church witnesses. In the seventeenth century the framers of the Westminster Confession of Faith accepted the inclusion of 1 John 5.7–8 and used it to defend the doctrine of the Trinity.

Greek Manuscript Evidence

1 John 5:7 is found in: Greek manuscript 61, codex Ravianus and Britannicus, it's also in the margins of 88 and 629, manuscript E (735 AD; has Acts 8:37).

Comma Johanneum appears in the 14th century manuscript Codex Ottobonianus (Minuscule 629) from Horne's facsimile edition which is housed at the Vatican Library

Only 11 "late" Greek manuscripts contain the Comma, with 6 of them having it in the margin by an even later hand:

Minuscule 629 (14th century)

Minuscule 61 Codex Montfortianus (14th century)

Minuscule 918 (16th century)

Minuscule 2473 (17th century)

Minuscule 2318 (18th century)

Minuscule 221 margin (10th century, Comma added later)

Minuscule 635 margin (11th century, Comma added later)

Minuscule 88 margin (12th century, Comma added in 16th century)

Minuscule 429 margin (14th century, Comma added later)

Minuscule 636 margin (15th century, Comma added later)

Minuscule 177 margin (11th century, Comma added later)

Latin Manuscripts

The appearance of the comma in the Latin manuscript evidence is represented in the following table:

The Comma Johanneum in Latin in Codex Sangallensis 63 with the Comma at the bottom of the page

Over 90% Vulgate mss have the comma. The earliest Vulgate manuscript is about 545 AD, Fuldensis (first published in the 1800s).

It is also found in the old Latin manuscripts Codex Freisingensis (Latin "r", "Beuron 64"; AD *500*), leon 1 (various readings of 1 John 5:7-8; AD 913-923), leon 2 (margin, 930 AD; has Acts 8:37) harl 2 (AD 752), Codex Toletanus (988 AD; has Acts 8:37, 9:5, 9:6), Codex Demidovianus (1150 AD; has Acts 8:37), Codex Colbertinus (AD 1150), Codex Perpinianus (AD 1250; has Acts 8:37), and Speculum (Latin "m" AD *450*, within a century of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus)

It is found in 68mg(mg=margin), 636mg and 918. It is also found in omega 110, 429mg, 221, and 2318. It's in the Montfort MS and Codex Wizanburgens (8th century). It is found in the margin of Codex Ottobonianus (629, 14th century).

It is also found in the Ulmensis manuscript (AD 850), and Codex pal Legionensis (AD *650*). It is found in the German manuscript The Augsburger Bibelhandschrift (2 Cod 3)(AD 1350).

The Comma appears in most Latin manuscripts, which are broadly classified into two groups: The Latin Vulgate & The Old Latin. The Latin Vulgate, translate by Jerome, is the more common Latin translation as it was commissioned by the Catholic church in the late 4th century. The Old Latin is a term used to describe the various Latin translations that existed before the Latin Vulgate. Old Latin translations were made since about the latter half of the 2nd century ^{(F. H. A. Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the New Testament Textual Criticism, 4th Ed., Vol. 2, (New York: George Bell & Sons, 1894), p. 43).}

Tertullian

Tertullian (155 - 245) makes a truncated reference to the Comma possibly around 200 AD:

"Ita connexus Patris in Filio et Filii in Paracleto, tres efficit coharentes, alterum ex altere, qui tres unum sunt, non unus, quomodo dictum est, Ego et Pater unum sumus." (Against Praxeas XXV).

"Thus the connection of the Father in the Son, and of the Son in the Paraclete, produces three coherent persons, one from the other, which three are one, not one [person], as it is said, "I and my Father are One.""

Cyprian of Carthage

The Latin church father Cyprian (210 - 258) makes reference to the Comma in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5, Treatise 1, paragraph 6. Here is the full quotation:

The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couch. She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church. The Lord warns, saying, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who gathereth not with me scattereth." He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, "I and the Father are one;" and again it is written of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "And these three are one." And does any one believe that this unity which thus comes from the divine strength and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold God's law, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.

“Dicit Dominus, ‘Ego et Pater unum sumus,’ et iterum de Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto scriptum est: ‘Et tres unum sunt.’”

“The Lord says, ‘I and the Father are one,” and again, it is written of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, ‘And these three are one.’”

‘De Unitate Ecclesiae, (On the Unity of the Church)

Notice that Cyprian firstly said “The Lord says, ‘I and the Father are one,” and again.... obviously making the claim that the bible verse quoted again had as much weight as the first quotation. Secondly, confirms that it is scripture by saying it is written . The obvious conclusion is the Cyprian is quoting from scripture and believes the Comma to have the same authority as John's earlier quotation in his gospel.

Scrivener stated:

“surely safer and more candid to admit that Cyprian read verse 7 in his copies, than to resort to the explanation of Facundus that the holy bishop was merely putting upon verse 8 a spiritual meaning.”

Arthur Cleveland Coxe referenced Scrivener ..

“it is surely safer and more candid to admit that Cyprian read it in his copies, than to resort to,” etc., the usual explainings away.”

Ad Jubaianum (Epistle 73)

The second, lesser reference from Cyprian that has been involved in the verse debate is from Ad Jubaianum 23.12. Cyprian while discussing baptism writes:

If he obtained the remission of sins, he was sanctified, and if he was sanctified, he was made the temple of God. But of what God? I ask. The Creator?, Impossible; he did not believe in him. Christ? But he could not be made Christ's temple, for he denied the deity of Christ. The Holy Spirit? Since the Three are One, what pleasure could the Holy Spirit take in the enemy of the Father and the Son?

The Latin is:

"si peccatorum remissam consecutus est, et sanctificatus est, et templum Dei factus est: quaero, cujus Dei? Si creatoris, non potuit, qui in eum non credidit: si Christi, non hujus potest sieri templum, qui negat Deum Christum : si Spiritus Sancti, cum tres unum sunt, quomodo Spiritus Sanctus placatus esse ei potest, qui aut Patris aut Filii inimicus est?" Stanley Lawrence Greenslade, Early Latin Theology: Selections from Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, and Jerome 1956, p. 164.

Knittel emphasizes that Cyprian would be familiar with the Bible in Greek as well as Latin. "Cyprian understood Greek. He read Homer, Plato, Hermes Trismegiatus and Hippocrates... he translated into Latin the Greek epistle written to him by Firmilianus...".

UBS-4 has its entry for text inclusion as (Cyprian).

Theodorus

In the 4th century, Theodorus writes in “A treatise on one God in the Trinity, from the Epistle of John the Evangelist’ the following,

‘…that John in his Epistle, presents God as a Trinity…’

Basil

The Comma and Matthew 28:19 mentioned concerning Basil in 350 AD in Adversus Eunomium Book V : Paris 1839 p.446-447

446. Ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς ἐναντιούμενοι· τί δὲ

ἐναντιοῦσαι τῇ κάλῃ ταύτῃ πίστει, καὶ σωζούσῃ ὁμολογίᾳ,

Θεὸς, Λόγος, Πνεῦμα·

Πατὴρ, Υἱὸς, καὶ Πνεῦμα;

[...]

447. Τριὰς ἐν Τριάδι ὡσαύτως, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ Ἀποστόλῳ

σαφῶς μαρτυρήσει - ὅτι μὴ τὴν δυάδα ἀναιροῦσι,

μᾶλλον δὲ Τριάδα τὴν Μονάδα κηρύσσοντες, ἀλλ',

ἑνότητα θεότητος εἰδότες, ἐν ἑνὶ προσόπῳ τὰ τρία

κηρύσσουσι.

(A new plea for the authenticity of the text of the three heavenly witnesses by Charles Forster 1867. [3] [4])

Priscillian

In 380 AD in Spain Priscillian (or one of his associates) referred to the Comma:

“Tria sunt quae testimonium dicunt in terra: aqua caro et sanguis et haec tria in unum sunt. Et tria sunt quae testimonium dicent in caelo: Pater Verbum et Spiritus et haec tria unum sunt in Christo Iesu.”

“There are three that bear witness on earth: the water, in the flesh, and the blood: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one in Christ Jesus.” ^{[Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Academia Litterarum Vindobonensis, vol. xviii, p. 6.]}

The earthly witnesses mentioned here have the “flesh” in place of the usual reading of “spirit” (Spirit) in the Textus Receptus.

Eucherius of Lyons

Eucherius of Lyons (434 A.D.) in a tract that is titled ‘Formulae Spiritualis Intelligentiae’, verses 7 & 8 are quoted.

Contra Varimadum Arianum

Contra Varimadum Arianum (some claim was written by Idacius Clarus in Spain in the late 300’s, but others by Vigilius Tapsensis in North Africa in the late 400’s) has the following statement:

“John the Evangelist, in his Epistle to the Parthians (i.e. 1 John), says there are three who afford testimony on earth: the water, the blood, and the flesh, and these three are in us; and there are three who afford testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one.”

The three earthly witnesses have “flesh” in this comment rather than the usual spirit (Spirit) of the Textus Receptus.

Vigilius Tapensi

Vigilius Tapensis (484 A.D.) in his writings on the Trinity, quotes 1 John 5:7 in its entirety. This is found in his ‘Works of Athanasius’ and also in his tract against Varimadus the Arian under the name of Idacius Clarus.

Council of Carthage

Church Council of Carthage (485 A.D.) Eugenius was the spokesman for the bishops of Africa, Mauritania, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearick Isles, these bishops numbered in the 300’s that stood in defense of the Trinity and used 1 John 5:7-8. Arians didn't believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. The bishops used 1 John 5:7-8 against the Arians proving Jesus is God and God is a Trinity. ‘Victor of Vitensis, Historia persecutionis Africanae’

His words are recorded, :

‘…and in order that we may teach until now, more clearly than light, that the Holy Spirit is now one divinity with the Father and the Son. It is proved by the evangelist John, for he says, ‘there are three which bear testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one’.

Victor Vitensis

The North African Victor Vitensis attended the Council of Carthage in 484, after the Arian Vandal king Huneric had instructed the Trinitarian bishops of North Africa to meet there with Arian bishops to discuss the subject of the Trinity.

100 Trinitarian African bishops attended, led by Eugene of Carthage who intended to present a statement of faith at the council, and this manifesto was incorporated into Victor Vitensis’ account. It speaks of the Comma:

“Et ut luce clarius unius divinitatis esse cum Patre et Filio Spiritum Sanctum doceamus, Joannis Evangelistae testimonio comprobatur. Ait namque: Tres sunt qui testimonium perhibent in coelo: Pater, Verbum et Spiritus Sanctus et hi tres unum sunt.”

“And as a shining light teaching the unity of the divinity of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, the testimony of John the Evangelist demonstratively testifies: ‘There are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.’”

It is rather amazing to watch modern bible critics such as James White, Bart Ehrman, Dan Wallace and others, claim that the Comma simply originated from Erasmus. Victor Vitensis reveals that a prominent bishop was willing to use the Comma at a theological conference defending the Trinity. James White said in 2006: “...anyone who defends the insertion of the Comma is, to me, outside the realm of meaningful scholarship... This brand of TR Onlyism/KJV Onlyism is defenseless apologetically...” I suppose White also rejects these 100 Trinitarian African bishops as KJV kooks also.

Codex Fuldensis

The 6th century Codex Fuldensis is considered the second most important witness to the Vulgate text; and is also the oldest complete manuscript witness to the order of the Diatessaron. It is one of the earliest dated manuscripts of the New Testament. It was corrected until 2 May, 546 AD. Although 1 John 5:7 is omitted in the main body of text, where the the Comma Johanneum usually appears, the Vulgate Prologue to the Canonical Epistles includes a direct reference to the heavenly witnesses, with the Prologue written as a first-person note from Jerome to Eustocium. In this Prologue unfaithful translators are criticized for removal of the verse saying:

“Just as these are properly understood and so translated faithfully by interpreters into Latin without leaving ambiguity for the readers nor [allowing] the variety of genres to conflict, especially in that text where we read the unity of the trinity is placed in the first letter of John, where much error has occurred at the hands of unfaithful translators contrary to the truth of faith, who have kept just the three words water, blood and spirit in this edition omitting mention of Father, Word and Spirit in which especially the catholic faith is strengthened and the unity of substance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is attested.”

In Latin:

"Quae si ut ab eis digestae sunt ita quoque ab interpraetibus fideliter in latinum eloquium verterentur nec ambiguitatem legentibus facerent nec sermonum se varietas inpugnaret illo praecipue loco ubi de unitate trinitatis in prima iohannis epistula (the place where it concerns the Trinity in the first epistle of John) positum legimus in qua est ab infidelibus translatoribus multum erratum esse fidei veritate conperimus trium tantummodo vocabula hoc est aquae sanguinis et spiritus in ipsa sua editione potentes et patri verbique ac spiritus (Father, the Word, and Spirit) testimonium omittentes."

This Prologue, its historical accuracy and textual significance, has been a major focal point in the Comma debate since its start at the times of Erasmus. And its authenticity and authorship became an issue in the late 17th century, when a new theory came forth that the Prologue was spurious. Only the internal evidence of the authorship is contested and that, long after the heavenly witnesses verse debate began. Even if this was fraudulent, of which claims are unproven, the Comma was certainly known to an Italian scribe who wrote the Prologue as early as in 546 AD.

This theory designed to discredit the witness of Fuldensis claimed that the Prologue was not created until hundreds of years after Jerome, by an unknown writer pretending to be Jerome. Naturally Westcott, who was in agreement with Hort when he called the Textus Recptus vile, is among those who have contended that the actual purpose of the theorized forgery was specifically to bring the verse into the Latin Vulgate text line; it "seems to have been written with this express purpose". While modern Critical Text proponents like James White and Daniel Wallace label TR people as conspiracy theorists, here we have their two main pillars, making all sorts of unfounded and wild claims. Metzger is more deceptive, and makes absolutely no reference of the Prologue, even while referencing the absence of the verse in the Johannine epistle of Fuldensis in order to assert that Jerome's original edition did not have the verse. "The passage ... is not found ...in the Vulgate as issued by Jerome (codex Fuldensis [copied a.d. 541-46] and codex Amiatinus [copied before a.d. 716])"

Major figures in the early dialogue from about 1650–1725 were John Selden, Christopher Sandius, John Fell, Richard Simon, Isaac Newton, Jean Leclerc, Jean Martianay and Augustin Calmet. The discovery in the Bible scholarship community in the latter 19th century that the Prologue was in the well-respected Codex Fuldensis (while the Codex lacked the Comma in the text, an unusual discordance) contradicted many earlier forgery chronology scenarios. When a person attacks a document as a late forgery, they must provide proof for their claims, because mere accusation doesn't make it a forgery, no matter how much Critical Text proponents would like it to be.

Codex Frisingensis

Codex Frisingensis, or manuscript r, 64, or Frisingensia Fragmenta (6th-7th century), contains the full text of the Comma.

Codex Legionensis

Codex Legionensis, or manuscript l or 67 (7th century) contains the Comma with slight variation in wording (Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th revised edition (2006)). These two are of the Old Latin versions.

Clementine Vulgate

Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in cælo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt.

Church Fathers

The Council of Carthage in 481 AD included hundreds of Bishops who specifically give the verse, with special emphasis, in the doctrinal battles contra the Arians under Huneric. In their situation they where they faced with persecution and would have been extra careful to stick with accepted scripture. In his Letters to Edward Gibbon (1785) George Travis points says:

"That it may appear more clear than the light, that the divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is one, see it proved by the Evangelist St. John, who writes thus: " There are three who bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." [5]

There are a number of other references (Fulgentius .. book on Trinity to Felix Notarius contra Arians .. and the Greek writing on the disputation between Athanasius and Arius attributed to Maximus the Confessor are two. Plus the 400s-Carthage period actually has more than one source.)

550 AD Old Latin ms r has it

1000s AD miniscule 635 has it

Idacius Clarus

350 AD Idacius Clarus referred to it [Patrilogiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina by Migne, vol. 62, col. 359.]

Athanasius

350 AD Athanasius referred to it in his De Incarnatione Section from KJV Today

By "Athanasius", it is meant Athanasius (c. 296 – 373 AD) or Pseudo-Athanasius (c. 350 - c. 600 AD). Athanasius quoted the Comma in Disputatio Contra Arium:

"Τί δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀφέσεως τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν παρεκτικὸν, καὶ ζωοποιὸν, καὶ ἁγιαστικὸν λουτρὸν, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, οὐκ ἐν τῇ τρισμακαρίᾳ ὀνομασίᾳ δίδοται τοῖς πιστοῖς; Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις πᾶσιν 'Ἰωάννης φάσκει· Καὶ οἱ τρεῖς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν."

"But also, is not that sin-remitting, life-giving and sanctifying washing [baptism], without which, no one shall see the kingdom of heaven, given to the faithful in the Thrice-Blessed Name? In addition to all these, 'John affirms, and these three are one.'" (Translation by KJV Today) ONLINE LINK to Disputatio Contra Arium

The quote, "Καὶ οἱ τρεῖς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν", is likely from the Comma rather than verse 8 because it lacks "εις (in)". This somewhat hesitant tagging of the Comma at the end of the statement is consistent with the Comma being a minority reading in the early Greek church. The Comma, though worth quoting, was not the crux of Athanasius' argument.

Athanasius quoted another portion of the Comma in Quaestiones Aliae:

"Ὥσπερ ἡ ψυχή µου µία ἐστὶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρισυπόστατος, ψυχὴ, λόγος, καὶ πνοή· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς εἷς ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἔστι καὶ τρισ υπόστατος, 'Πατὴρ, Λόγος, καὶ Πνεῦµα ἅγιον.... Ὡς γὰρ ψυχὴ, λόγος καὶ πνοὴ τρία πρόσωπα, καὶ μία φύσις ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐ τρεῖς ψυχαί· οὕτω 'Πατὴρ, Λόγος καὶ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, τρία πρόσωπα, καὶ εἷς τῇ φύσει Θεὸς, καὶ οὐ τρεῖς θεοί."

"Even as my soul is one, but a triune soul, reason, and breath; so also God is one, but is also triune, 'Father, Word, and Holy Ghost.... For as soul, reason and breath are three features, and in substance one soul, and not three souls; so 'Father, Word and Holy Ghost, [are] three persons, and one God in substance, and not three gods." (Translation by KJV Today) ONLINE LINK to Quaestiones Aliae

Those who claim that Athanasius did not quote the Comma elsewhere need to consider that Athanasius also did not quote Matthew 28:19 in some of his most pro-Trinitarian writings such as The Deposition of Arius, Apologia Contra Arianos and the Four Discourses Against the Arians. Matthew 28:19 provides the second most clearest declaration of the Trinity after the Comma, yet Athanasius used other scriptures to support his views on the Trinity. Athanasius was not necessarily interested in establishing the Trinity per se, but rather the consubstantial unity of the Father and the Son. Other texts were more appropriate for this goal. The later Latin Fathers are the ones who were influenced by Neo-Platonic thought and sought to formulate the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in a neatly arranged Trinity.

Phoebadius

Phoebadius in 359 AD quotes the Comma:

"Sic alius a Filio Spiritus; sicut alius a patre Filius. Sic tertia in Spiritu ut in Filio secunda persona, unus tamen omnia quia tres unum sunt" (Contra Arianos XXVII: 4)

"The other Spirit comes from the Son just as the other Son comes from the Father. So the Spirit is the third as the Son is the second person. But the sum is one, for the three are one."

Aurelius Augustine

398 AD Aurelius Augustine used it to defend Trinitarianism in De Trinitate against the heresy of Sabellianism

African writers

450-530 AD Several orthodox African writers quoted the verse when defending the doctrine of the Trinity against the gainsaying of the Vandals. These writers are:

A) Vigilius Tapensis in "Three Witnesses in Heaven"

B) Victor Vitensis in his Historia persecutionis [Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Academia Litterarum Vindobonensis, vol. vii, p. 60.]

C) Fulgentius in "The Three Heavenly Witnesses" [Patrilogiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina by Migne, vol. 65, col. 500.]

Cassiodorus

500 AD Cassiodorus cited it [Patrilogiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina by Migne, vol. 70, col. 1373.]

In his composition Complexiones in Epistolis Apostolorum, as follows:

“Cui rei testificantur in terra tria mysteria: aqua sanguis et spiritus, quae in passione Domini leguntur impleta: in coelo autem Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus sanctus, et hi tres unus est Deus.”

“And the three mysteries testify – on earth: water, blood and spirit. The fulfillment of which we read about in the passion of the Lord. And in heaven: Father and Son and Holy Spirit. And these three are one God.”

Speculum

550 AD The "Speculum" has it [The Speculum is a treatise that contains some good Old Latin scriptures.]

Wianburgensis

750 AD Wianburgensis referred to it

Jerome's Vulgate

Jerome (382 A.D.) in his book, ‘Prologue to the Canonical Epistles’, quotes the following when discussing the Johannine Comma that,

‘…irresponsible translators left out this testimony in the Greek codices.’

He further adds the following,

‘…these Epistles I have restored to their proper order; which, if arranged agreeably to the original text, and faithfully interpreted in Latin diction, would neither cause perplexity to the readers, nor would the various readings contradict themselves, especially in that place where we read the unity of the Trinity laid down in the Epistle of John. In this I found translators (or copyists) widely deviating from the truth; who set down in their own edition the names only of the three witnesses, that is, the Water, blood, and Spirit; but omit the testimony of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; by which , above all places, the Divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is proved to be one’.

Church Council of Charlemagne

During the Church Council of Charlemagne in the late 8th century, the Emperor Charlemagne assembled all the learned men to revise the manuscripts of the Bible by cleaning up the mistakes that had creep in. The end result, which was delivered by Alciunus, shows 1 John 5:7-8 as it appears in our King James Bible.

Waldensians

157-1400 AD Waldensian (that is, Vaudois) Bibles have the verse.

Commentary on Revelation

Ambrose Ansbert refers to the scripture verse in his Revelation commentary:

Although the expression of faithful witness found therein, refers directly to Jesus Christ alone, --- yet it equally characterises the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; according to these words of St. John. There are three which bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.

Robert Jack, Remarks on the Authenticity of 1 John v. 7 c. 1834 ...sicut scriptum est :

Tres sunt qui testimonium dicunt de caelo, Pater et Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus, et hi tres unum sunt, in primo huius opens libro aperte docuimus. Ambrose Ansbert, Ambrosij Ansberti ... Apocalypsim libri decem

"Ambrose Ansbert, in the middle of the eighth century, wrote a comment upon the Apocalypse, in which this verse is applied, in explaining the 5th verse of the first chapter of the Revelation". David Harrower, A Defence of the Trinitarian System, 1822 pp.43–44

Minuscule 221

A marginal note in Minuscule 221 has a marginal note:

οτι τρεις εισιν οι μαρτυρουντες εν ουρανω: πατηρ, λογος, και πνευμα αγιον, και οι τρεις εις το εν εισιν

(‘There are three who testify in heaven: The Father, Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one’).

Codex Theodulphianus

The 10th-century Latin manuscript Codex Theodulphianus contains the Comma Johanneum in its usual location (unlike the Codex Cavensis and Codex Toletanus).

Lombard, Second Distinction

Lombard, Second Distinction (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum, 1150 A.D.) says:

"That the Father and the Son, says he, not by confusion of persons, but by Unity of Nature, St. John hath taught us in his Canonical Epistle, saying, 'There are three which bare record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.'" (http://rarebooks.dts.edu/viewbook.aspx?bookid=1341) [p. 14]

Fourth Lateran Council in 1215

The medieval Latin church was apparently cognizant of the controversy surrounding the authenticity of the Comma, as is demonstrated by the following excerpt from Canon 2 of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215:

"For the faithful of Christ, he says, are not one in the sense that they are some one thing that is common to all, but in the sense that they constitute one Church by reason of the unity of the Catholic faith and one kingdom by reason of the union of indissoluble charity, as we read in the canonical Epistle of St. John: "There are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one" (1 John 5: 7). And immediately it is added: "And there are three who give testimony on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are one" (1 John 5: 8), as it is found in some codices." (The Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215)

Codex Ottobonianus

Codex Ottobonianus (Minuscule 629) of the 14th century has 1 John 5:7 in both Latin and Greek

Codex Ottobonianus gr. 298 (Minuscule 629, aka Codex 162), a 14th century Latin/Greek diglot of the Acts and Epistles with the Latin Vulgate in the first column and an adapted Greek text in the second, with Greek corrections in the intervening margin. It is the oldest extant copy of the Comma in the Greek Scriptures; which comma had, a century or so earlier, been included in the Greek translation of the Acts of the Lateran Council (see below).

Latin:

7 Quia tres sunt qui testimonium dant [in celo, pat., verbum, & spiritus sanctus, et hy tres unum sunt. 8 Et tres sunt qui testimonium dant in ter], spiritus, aqua et sanguis.

For three are that testimony give [in heaven: Father, Word, and Spirit Holy; and these three one are. And three are that testimony give in earth]: spirit, water, and blood.

Greek:

7 ότι τρεις εισίν οι μαρτυρούντες [ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πατὴρ, λόγος, καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον. καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι. 8 καὶ τρεῖς εἰσὶν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς] το πνεύμα, το ύδωρ, και το αίμα (omits, or rather transposes by substitution, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι)

For three are the witness-bearing [from the heaven: father, word, and spirit holy, and the three into the one are. And three are the witness-bearing upon the earth] the spirit, the water, and the blood

Comma Johanneum

Pre Wycliffe

Adam Clarke claimed to posses an Earlier English version of the bible than Wycliff that said:

For three ben that geven witnessing in heven the Fadir, the Word or Sone and the Hooly Goost, and these three ben oon. And three ben that geven witnessing in erthe, the Spirit, Water, and Blood, and these three ben oon.

He said:

...both these readings are united in an ancient English manuscript of my own, which contains the Bible from the beginning of Proverbs to the end of the New Testament, written on thick strong vellum, and evidently prior to most of those copies attributed to Wiclif. See Also Adam Clarke on the Johanneum Comma

Wycliffe

Wycliffe here reads “son” instead of “word.”

Codex Montfortianus (Minuscule 61)

Comma Johanneum in Codex Montfortianus. It reads: ὁτϊ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτϋροῦντ·¨ ἐν τῶ ουνω, πηρ, λογος, καί πνα αγῖον, καί οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς εν εισϊ. καί τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτϋροῦντ·¨ ἐν τῃ γῃ, πνα, ὑδωρ, καί αιμα.

Codex Montfortianus reads:

ὁτϊ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτϋροῦντ·¨ ἐν τῶ ουνω, πηρ, λογος, καί πνα αγῖον, καί οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς εν εισϊ. καί τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτϋροῦντ·¨ ἐν τῃ γῃ, πνα, ὑδωρ, καί αιμα.

Codex Montfortianus and Beza's 1598 compared:

Adam Clarke said of Codex Montfortianus:

The Codex Montfortii, or Codex Dubliniensis, cited by Erasmus, under the title of Codex Britannicus, in Trinity College, Dublin. This may be said to be the only genuine MS. which contains this text; as no advocate of the sacred doctrine contained in the disputed passage would wish to lay any stress whatever on such evidence as the two preceding ones afford. Michaelis roundly asserts, vol. iv., page 417, of his Introductory Lectures, that this MS. was written after the year 1500. This, I scruple not to affirm, is a perfectly unguarded assertion, and what no man can prove. ln 1790 I examined this MS. myself, and though I thought it to be comparatively modern, yet I had no doubt that it existed before the invention of printing, and was never written with an intention to deceive. I am rather inclined to think it the work of an unknown bold critic, who formed a text from one or more MSS. in conjunction with the Vulgate, and was by no means sparing of his own conjectural emendations; for it contains many various readings which exist in no other MS. yet discovered. But how far the writer has in any place faithfully copied the text of any ancient MS. is more than can be determined. To give the reader a fair view of this subject, I here subjoin what I hope I may call a perfect fac-simile of the seventh and eighth verses, as they exist in this MS., copied by the accurate hand of the Rev. Dr. Barrett, the present learned librarian of Trinity College.

Codex Montfortianus reads "Holy Spirit" instead of "Spirit" as the Textus Receptus reads. (The articles are also missing before the three earthly witnesses - spirit, water, blood.)

Complutensian Polyglot

A footnote in the Complutensian Polyglot concerning 1 John 5:7

Stunica, one of the Complutensian editors, published in 1520 Annotationes Iacobi Lopidis Stunicae contra Erasmum Roterodamum in defensionem tralationis Noui Testamenti, which included half of a page on the heavenly witnesses.

“ ‘Sanctus Thomas in expositione secunde Decretalis de suma Trinitate et fide catholica tractans istum passum contra Abbatem Joachim ut tres sunt qui testimonium dant in celo. Pater: Verbum: et Spiritus Sanctus: dicit ad litteram verba sequentia. Et ad insinuandam unitatem trium personarum subditur, Et hii tres unum sunt. Quodquidem dicitur propter essentie unitatem. Sed hoc Joachim perverse trahere volens ad unitatem charitatis et consensus inducebat consequentem auctoritatem. Nam subditur ibidem: Et tres sunt qui testimonium dant in terra, s. Spiritus: Aqua: et Sanguis. Et in quibusdam libris additur: Et hii tres unum sunt. Sed hoc in veris exemplaribus non habetur: sed dicitur esse appositum ab hereticis Arrianis ad pervertendum intellectum sanum auctoritatis premisse de unitate essentie trium personarum. Hec beatus Thomas ubi supra.’*

Latin:

7 Quonium tres sunt oooo ooo qui testimonium dant [in celo: pater: verbum: et spiritus sanctus: & hi ooo oo tres unum sunt. 8 Et tres sunt qui oooo testimoniuʒ dant in terra:] Spiritus agua & sanguis.

Greek:

7 ότι τρεις εισίν οι μαρτυρούντες [ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ λόγος καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι. 8 καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οι μαρτυρούντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς] το πνεύμα και το ύδωρ και το αίμα ('omits' καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσι)

Erasmus

The Comma Johanneum is missing in Erasmus' first edition of 1516, the Novum Instrumentum omne (Pic from [1]) 1 John 5:6 begins on the first line with “οὗτός.” 1 John 5:7 begins on the fifth line and reads, “ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες” (“for there are three that testify”). If the comma were included, the text would continue: “εν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατήρ, ὁ λόγος, καὶ τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα· καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσιν καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἕν τῇ γῇ.” But the words don't appear.

The Comma Johanneum is missing in Erasmus' first edition of 1516, the Novum Instrumentum omne. He subsequently produced four more editions. The first two lacked the Comma, which was first included in the 1522 edition of his Greek New Testament. It subsequently appeared in every later edition of the Greek New Testament that came to be retroactively called Textus Receptus.

Although Erasmus did not include the Comma Johanneum in his first and second editions, he did include it in all versions of his Latin New Testament. So while Erasmus affirmed the authenticity of the verse in the Latin, the scholastic standards of the day compelled him to withhold it from the first two editions in the Greek. So, the verse was not disputed among the scholarly editions in Latin. This explains Erasmus behavior concerning the omission of the Greek Comma Johanneum until more Greek evidence emerged for the reading.

The usual claim by modern version supporters is that Erasmus omitted the Comma in his first Editions of the Greek New Testament, so the "Textus Receptus" (TR) stream already had this omission and therefore TR advocates are admitting that the verse was inserted due to the Churches pressure upon Erasmus to follow the Latin Vulgate. Many erroneously assume that because Erasmus' 1516 edition was the first New Testament published by the printing press, that it was also the first printed, but this is untrue. The Complutensian Polyglot had been printed 2 years earlier, but was not published until the Old Testament was completed in 1522. The Complutensian edition contains the Comma. So the claim that the first edition of the TR did not have the Comma is untrue.

Many arguments about Erasmus and the Comma Johanneum are out of date. Bruce Metzger (the father of modern textual criticism) was largely responsible for the stories of Erasmus being forced to include the Comma in the Textus Receptus stream. Yet in the 3rd and for 4th editions of Metzger's book "The Text of the New Testament" he retracted those statements. Metzger based his retraction on the work of H.J. de Jonge, the Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Rijksuniversiteit (Leiden, Netherlands) and a recognised world authority on Eramus.

The conclusions in de Jonge’s writtings are as follows:

(1) The current view that Erasmus promised to insert the Comma Johanneum if it could be shown to him in a single Greek manuscript, has no foundation in Erasmus' works Consequently it is highly improbable that he included the disputed passage because he considered himself bound by any such promise.

(2) It cannot be shown from Erasmus' works that he suspected the Codex Britannicus (Minuscule 61) of being written with a view to force him to include the Comma Johanneum.

Metzger justifies his retraction on the basis of advances in research in the last quarter of a century. Along side this new research is further strengthening of the validity of the Majority Text manuscripts and Textus Receptus mainly because of less disruption in the “transmission history” of the Byzantine Texts.

The Comma Johanneum is missing in Erasmus' second edition of 1519, the Novum Testamentum omne (Pic from [2])

With the third edition of Erasmus' Greek text (1522) the Comma Johanneum was includedMany claim that this is because a single 16th-century Greek manuscript (Codex Montfortianus) had subsequently been found to contain it, though Erasmus had expressed doubt as to the authenticity of the passage in his Annotations. But this has been challenged by scholars such as William Sandell. [6] [7]

Erasmus said:

I never discuss this passage without testifying to the truth of what people gather from that passage: that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share the very same essence, lest anyone should suspect any trace of heresy. And if the slightest offence should arise from this, it comes from those who spin slander out of thin air, and drag into the open a question that ought to be discussed between scholars. — Erasmus, Defence against certain Spanish monks (1528)

Ratio Seu Methodus and Paraphrase

Erasmus included the Comma, with commentary, in his paraphrase edition, first published in 1520:

"For the Spirit too is truth just as the Father and the Son are. The truth of all three is one, just as the nature of all three is one, just as the nature of all three is one. For there are three in heaven who furnish testimony to Christ: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. The Father, who not once but twice sent forth his voice from the sky and publicly testified that this was his uniquely beloved Son in whom he found no offence; the Word, who, by performing so many miracles and by dying and rising again, showed that he was the true Christ, both God and human alike, the reconciler of God and humankind; the holy Spirit, who descended on his head at baptism and after the resurrection glided down upon the disciples. The agreement of these three is absolute. The Father is the author, the Son the messenger, the Spirit the inspirer. There are likewise three things on earth which attest Christ: the human spirit which he laid down on the cross, the water, and the blood which flowed from his side in death. And these three witnesses are in agreement. They testify that he was a man. The first three declare him to be God." (p. 174) Collected Works of Erasmus – Paraphrase on the First Epistle of John Translator John J Bateman

And in "Ratio seu Methodus compendio perveniendi ad veram theologiam", first published in 1518, Erasmus included the Comma in the interpretation of John 12 and 13. Erasmian scholar John Jack Bateman, discussing the Paraphrase and the Ratio verae theologiae, says of these uses of the Comma that "Erasmus attributes some authority to it despite any doubts he had about its transmission in the Greek text."^{John Jack Bateman (1931–2011), editor. Opera omnia : recognita ed adnotatione critica instructa notisque illustrata, 1997, p. 252.}

Stunica

Diego López de Zúñiga (Stunica) wrote a half page response to Erasmus concerning the Comma in 1520.

In 1520, Complutensian Polyglot editor Diego López de Zúñiga (Stunica) wrote a half page response to Erasmus concerning the Comma.

Annotationes Iacobi Lopidis Stunicae contra Erasmum Roterodamum in defensionem tralationis Noui Testamenti - Volume 1 of Diapositivas (Biblioteca Histórica UCM) 1520 by Diego López de Zúñiga y Sotomayor - Publisher per Arnaldum Guilielmum de Brocario. 116 pages

Luther Bible

The Comma was omitted from the German bible during Luther's lifetime, and inserted into the German text for the first time in 1574 by a Frankfurt publisher.

Geneva Bible

The Geneva Bible footnotes say of 1 John 5:7:

Hee prooueth the excellencie of Christ, in whom onely all things are giuen vs[,] by sixe witnesses, three heauenly, and three earthly, which wholly and fully agree together. The heauenly witnesses are: the Father who sent the Sonne, the worde it selfe which became flesh, and the holy Ghost. The earthly witnesses are, water, (that is our sanctification) blood, (that is our iustification) the Spirit, (that is, acknowled[ging] of God the Father in Christ by faith through the testimonie of the holy Ghost.)

The Belgic Confession

The Belgic Confession of 1561 states,

“The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, which teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity, are written in many places of the Old Testament, which need not be enumerated but only chosen with discretion…

“There are three who bear witness in heaven– the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit– and these three are one.”

In all these passages we are fully taught that there are three persons in the one and only divine essence. And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now, through the Word, waiting to know and enjoy it fully in heaven.” (The Belgic Confession, (CRTA), article 9.)

The Heidelberg Catechism

The Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 says,

“Since there is but one only divine essence, why speakest thou of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?

Answer: Because God has so revealed himself in his word, ^[b] that these three distinct persons are the one only true and eternal God.”

Footnote b says,

“…1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one…” (The Heidelberg Catechism, (CRTA), section 8.)

Jean Crespin

Jean Crespin in his 1564 Tês Kainês Diathêkês contains the comma.

Crespin's edition in 1564 contains the Comma.

John Calvin

John Calvin on the Comma said:

"However, the passage flows better when this clause is added, and as I see that it is found in the best and most approved copies, I am inclined to receive it as the true reading."

"There are three that bear record in heaven"

...And the meaning would be, that God, in order to confirm most abundantly our faith in Christ, testifies in three ways that we ought to acquiesce in him. For as our faith acknowledges three persons in the one divine essence, so it is called in so really ways to Christ that it may rest on him.

When he says, These three are one, he refers not to essence, but on the contrary to consent; as though he had said that the Father and his eternal Word and Spirit harmoniously testify the same thing respecting Christ. Hence some copies have εἰς ἓν, "for one." But though you read ἓν εἰσιν, as in other copies, yet there is no doubt but that the Father, the Word and the Spirit are said to be one, in the same sense in which afterwards the blood and the water and the Spirit are said to agree in one.^{John Calvin, Commentaries on the catholic epistles, tr. and ed. by John Owen, 1855, p. 258.}

7. There are three that bear record in heaven. The whole of this verse has been by some omitted. Jerome thinks that this has happened through design rather than through mistake, and that indeed only on the part of the Latins. But as even the Greek copies do not agree, I dare not assert any thing on the subject. Since, however, the passage flows better when this clause is added, and as I see that it is found in the best and most approved copies, I am inclined to receive it as the true reading.1 And the meaning would be, that God, in order to confirm most abundantly our faith in Christ, testifies in three ways that we ought to acquiesce in him. For as our faith acknowledges three persons in the one divine essence, so it is called in so many ways to Christ that it may rest on him. (Calvin, J., & Owen, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles (pp. 257–258). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

Christopher Plantinus

Comma Johanneum appears in the 1574 Tes kaines diathekes hapanta of Christopher Plantinus

In Christopher Plantinus' Tes kaines diathekes hapanta. Novum Jesu Christi testamentum, December 22, 1574, in Antwerp he has 1 John 5:7 on page 620. [8] This New Testament was created by the Louvaine University

Clementine Vulgate

The Clementine Vulgate of 1589 has the Comma:

Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in caelo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra: spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt.

Indeed there are three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three who give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one.

Elias Hutter

Elias Hutter's 1599 6-column polyglot prints the Comma in 12 languages, supplying a translation in parentheses in all languages but Latin and Greek. The Latin text follows the Vulgate, and the Greek text that of Stephanus, but with the addition of "and" in front of "the word". His English text follows the 1583 revision of the Geneva Bible, which uniquely has "in the earth." Neither of these additions were retained in any later editions of the Comma.

Greek commentaries

Emanual Calecas in the 14th and Joseph Bryennius (c. 1350–1430) in the 15th century reference the Comma in their Greek writings.

The Orthodox accepted the Comma as Johannine scripture notwithstanding its absence in the Greek manuscripts line. The Orthodox Confession of Faith, published in Greek in 1643 by the multilingual scholar Peter Mogila specifically references the Comma. "Accordingly the Evangelist teacheth (1 John v. 7.) There are three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one ..." ^{The orthodox confession of the catholic and apostolic Eastern-Church, p.16, 1762. Greek and Latin in Schaff The Creeds of Christendom p. 275, 1877}

The Westminster Confession of Faith

The Westminster Confession of Faith 1646 in Chapter II, Of God, and the Holy Trinity gives 1 John 5:7 as their first reference:

III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding: the Son is eternally begotten of the Father: the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.

1 John v. 7; Matt. iii. 16, 17; Matt. xxviii. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; John i. 14, 18; John xv. 26; Gal. iv. 6.

The London Baptist Confession of 1689 also specifically mentions 1 John 5:7 as being the first verse used to teach and support the doctrine of the Trinity. They certainly believed it was inspired Scripture. [9]

Also:

"In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him. (1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Exodus 3:14; John 14:11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 1:14,18; John 15:26; Galatians 4:6) [10]

Edward Stillingfleet

Edward Stillingfleet 1635-1699, said in his reply to Roman Catholic John Sergeant (1622-1707) in 1688 concerning scripture and the Comma:

I. We do utterly deny that it is in any Churches' Power to correct Original Texts, because they contradict the Sense of the present Church; or any Translations any farther, than they differ form the Originals. And I do not know any assertion that shakes more our Faith, as to the Scripture, than this of J.S. (John Sergeant) doth.

II. The early Appeals made to Scripture in Matters of Faith, by the Writers of the Christian Church, make us Certain that there could be no such Alterations or Corrections of the Texts, according to the sense of the Correctors. As the Instance, we find the Places produced against the Arians used before against the Samosatenians and Artemonites.

If it be said, They might correct the Fathers to I answer, that there is no imaginable Ground for any such suspicion; because the Fathers lived in distant Places and Countries, and therefore when their Testimonies agree about some places of Scripture alleged by them, there can be no Reason to suspect any Corruption or Alteration of the Text. As for Instance, no one Text of the whole New Testament, hath been more suspected than that of I S. John 5.7. There are three that bear Record in Heaven, &c. And it cannot be denied that there hath been great variety, both in the Greek and Latin Manuscripts about it; yea, there was so in S. Jeroms' time, as it appears as by his Preface to the Canonical Epistles; who charges the leaving it out to the unfaithfulness of the Translators. S. Jerom is cried out upon as a Party in this Controversie, and therefore it is said on the other side, that he put it in as favouring his own Opinion. But his Integrity is vindicated herein, because S. Cyprian so long before the Arian Controversie produced this Place. (S. Cyrpian. Ad Jubaianum. Epistle 73) So that our Certainty as to Scripture doth not depend upon the mere Letter, but upon comparing the best and most ancient Copies, with the Writings of the Fathers, who still made use of the Scriptures in all Discourses and Debates about Matters of Faith.

Edward Stillingflee 1635-1699 in A discourse concerning the nature and grounds of the certainty of faith in answer to J. S. [Sergeant, John, -- 1622-1707], his Catholick letters / by Edw. Stillingfleet London: Printed for Henry Mortlock, 1688 (p.89, 90)

John Gill

John Gill - commenting on 1 John 5:7:

"As to the old Latin interpreter, it is certain it is to be seen in many Latin manuscripts of an early date, and stands in the Vulgate Latin edition of the London Polyglot Bible: and the Latin translation, which bears the name of Jerom[e], has it, and who, in an epistle of his to Eustochium, prefixed to his translation of these canonical epistles, complains of the omission of it by unfaithful interpreters."

"And as to its being wanting in some Greek manuscripts, as the Alexandrian, and others, it need only be said, that it is to be found in many others; it is in an old British copy, and in the Complutensian edition, the compilers of which made use of various copies; and out of sixteen ancient copies of Robert Stephen's, nine of them had it."

"And yet, after all, certain it is, that it is cited by many of them; by Fulgentius, in the beginning of the "sixth" century, against the Arians, without any scruple or hesitation; and Jerome, as before observed, has it in his translation made in the latter end of the "fourth" century; and it is cited by Athanasius about the year 350; and before him by Cyprian, in the middle, of the "third" century, about the year 250; and is referred to by Tertullian about, the year 200; and which was within a "hundred" years, or little more, of the writing of the epistle; which may be enough to satisfy anyone of the genuineness of this passage; and besides, there never was any dispute about it till Erasmus left it out in the first edition of his translation of the New Testament; and yet he himself, upon the credit of the old British copy before mentioned, put it into another edition of his translation."

Matthew Henry

"We are stopped in our course by the contest there is about the genuineness of v. 7. It is alleged that many old Greek manuscripts have it not. It should seem that the critics are not agreed what manuscripts have it and what not; nor do they sufficiently inform us of the integrity and value of the manuscripts they peruse...There are some rational surmises that seem to support the present text and reading."

"The seventh verse is very agreeable to the style and the theology of our apostle...Facundus acknowledges that Cyprian says that of his three it is written, Et hi tres unum sunt—and these three are one. NOW THESE ARE THE WORDS, NOT OF V. 8, BUT OF V. 7. They are not used concerning the three on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; but the three in heaven, the Father, and the Word, and the Holy Ghost...If all the Greek manuscripts and ancient versions say concerning the Spirit, the water, and the blood, that in unum sunt—they agree in one, then it was not of them that Cyprian spoke, whatever variety there might be in the copies in his time, when he said it is written, unum sunt—they are one. And therefore Cyprian's words seem still to be a firm testimony to V. 7."

"It was far more easy for a transcriber, by turning away his eye, or by the obscurity of the copy, it being obliterated or defaced on the top or bottom of a page, or worn away in such materials as the ancients had to write upon, to lose and omit the passage, than for an interpolator to devise and insert it. He must be very bold and impudent who could hope to escape detection and shame; and profane too, who durst venture to make an addition to a supposed sacred book."

"I think, in the book of God,... the text is worthy of all acceptation."

Francis Turretin

Francis Turretin noted that Erasmus had located the passage in a "most ancient British codex" and that "most praiseworthy editions, the Complutensian, the Antwerp, Arias Montanus, R. Stephanus, and Walton, which have all utilized the best codices, have the phrase.

Title F. Turretini ... Compendium Theologiæ didactico-elencticæ, ex theologorum nostrorum institutionibus theologicis auctum et illustratum. ... Memoriæ juvandæ causa conscriptum a L. Riissenio. ... Cum catalogo hæreticorum tam veterum quam recentiorum una cum præcipuorum eorum dogmatum epitome ... Published 1695 Page 36

In his disputation on the three heavenly witnesses (first published 1661), François Turrettini (1623-1687) reviewed the manuscript evidence for the passage:

“Erasmus, declares that [the comma] is found in the very ancient British Codex, which he considered so authoritative that he restored this verse, omitted from his previous editions, in the later editions, which he revised with utmost car