1 John 5:7 – The New Testament from 26 Translations says in a footnote about this verse, “The words between ‘bear record’ (verse 7) and ‘the spirit’ (verse 8) are now recognized as not adequately supported by original manuscripts” (page 1183).
The New American Standard Bible says in 1 John 5:7-8, “And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”
The King James says, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
The presence of The Father, Word and Holy Ghost are what is called an interpolation, or adding words to the text that are not in the document being transcribed. Perhaps someone thought this was a good place to defend the Trinity and added the words.
Whatever the case may be it is not wise to use this text to defend the Trinity because you will be compelled to then defend the authenticity of the added words. You don’t need to use this text to defend the Trinity.
You can use another passage that shows all three Persons of the Trinity and of all places it is in the Old Testament. Look at Isaiah 48:12-16. In this passage Jehovah is speaking but at the end of verse 16 Jehovah says, “And now the Lord God has sent me, and His Spirit.” Jehovah and His Spirit send Jehovah. As we know from the NT, Jesus is the one sent by the father. Therefore, Jesus is Jehovah.
By David Henke
