Does 1 John 5:7 Describe the Trinity?

Some have cited 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") as evidence that the Scriptures teach a plurality of persons in the Godhead. To make matters more confusing, many modern translations include the reference to “three witnesses” (NLT) or “three that testify” (NIV), but leave out any reference to the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit.

Dr. David K. Bernard discusses the history of this verse and how it fits Oneness Pentecostal theology. His answer will enlighten anyone who wants to understand this frequently-debated passage.

For further study, see Dr. Bernard's books The Oneness of God and God's Infallible Word. Both titles are available at PentecostalPublishing.com.

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

1 John 5 7 states, There are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Some have cited this verse as evidence for a triune God, while many modern Bible translations render this passage differently than the King James Version. What should we make of this? Keep listening for Dr. David K. Bernard's response. Welcome to Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, a podcast dedicated to helping modern-day believers live out the teachings of the first century church. This podcast is part of the teaching ministry of Dr. David K. Bernard. Dr. Bernard has dedicated his life to studying the Bible and helping believers apply its message to their daily lives. In Apostolic Life in the 21st century, Dr. Bernard answers your questions about what the Bible teaches and how those teachings apply to everyday life. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to check out Dr. David K. Bernard's books. Dr. Bernard has written more than 30 books on biblical theology and Christian living and leadership. Visit Pentecostalpublishing.com and search David Bernard for a list of available titles. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. That's Pentecostalpublishing.com, promo code DKB10 to save 10% at checkout. Thank you for joining us. First John 5 7 states, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Now some people have pointed to this verse as proof that John is describing a plurality of persons in the Godhead. And to make matters even more confusing, if you read this verse in some modern translations, it leaves out of the words Father, Word, or any reference to Father, Word, and Holy Spirit. What's going on with this particular verse? Is it referring to a Trinitarian God? And what about all these variations between translations, especially modern translations versus the King James Version?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Let me answer the question in two parts. So first of all, I'll address the King James Version and then I'll address the other versions. So by the way, for further study, my book, The Oneness of God, discusses this passage in detail. Also, when it comes to looking at the other translations, that gets into textual criticism, which simply means a study of the underlying Greek text, what was the original text. And for that study, my book, God's Infallible Word, talks about the study of the text and particularly the history of this particular passage. So let's take the passage on its own terms in the King James Version of the Bible. Notice it says there are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Well, these to paraphrase, these would be three different ways that we can know God. But it says these three are one. So that doesn't indicate three persons or three gods. It indicates one God who is known in three ways or a threefold manifestation. By contrast, verse 8 says, 1 John 5, 8, the very next verse, and there are three that bear witness on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. And without going to great detail, the spirit, water, and blood work together for our salvation. So you can think of how are we saved? The blood of Jesus Christ, we're baptized in water, we're baptized in the Spirit. You can say there's the witness, Jesus was baptized in water to inaugurate his ministry. The Holy Spirit descended upon him. Then at the cross, water and blood came out of his side. So you can say these are three elements that bear witness to our salvation and are involved in our salvation. But I point this out because it says these three agree in one. So it doesn't say these three are one. So the distinct impression is these are three different elements that work together. But so if John, the inspired writer, uh, wanted to say the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are three persons that are united, that agree together, that work together, he could have used the very same language that he used in verse eight, but he didn't. He said, These three are one. So significantly, this is the only verse of the entire Bible, only in the New in the King James and related translations that use the word three for God. And it ends up saying these three are one, not just united, not just agree, are identical, are one. And of course, as we know, there's no place in the whole Bible in any translation that uses the word Trinity for God or three persons. So I think the idea that you would jump to say these are three different persons of the Trinity is really not supported by scripture at all. But let's go back to it. If these are three different ways of knowing the one God, father is a term of relationship. So I've got three kids. Before my first child was born, I was not a father. Suddenly, when my son was born, I became a father. I didn't become a different person. I didn't split into two persons, I entered a new relationship. So when we say our father, we're talking about God in relationship to human beings. When we say the word, that's God in self-revelation, God revealing himself, God uttering himself. And when we say the Spirit, the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, that's God in spiritual presence and action. These are three different ways of knowing one God. Let me give you an analogy. I'm one person. You can know me in a relationship. So my children know me as Father. Uh, you can know me by my word. Even if you've never met me, you can read my books, you can listen to this podcast, and you can know a lot about me. You can get some idea of what I believe and who I am and what my personality is like through my word. And then you can know me by my spirit. So if we sit down and have lunch together, or if we pray together, you can feel my spirit. You'll get a better understanding of who I really am by that personal interaction. But I'm not three persons. You can know me in relationship, like father. You can know me by my word, you can know me by my spirit, but at the end of the day, you only know one person. And if you want to encompass all of my personality, all who I am in all dimensions, if you say David Bernard, that one name encompasses it all. Now, this is how the Bible speaks about God. So God is our Father because He created us and gave us life, Malachi 2.10. God has revealed himself through his word. The word actually is God Himself in Revelation, John 1.1. The Word became flesh. God revealed Himself, uttered Himself, disclosed Himself in flesh, John 1.14. And then we know God's spirit. And 1 Corinthians chapter 2 even talks about this: that you know, the spirit of a man, uh, how do we really know a man? The spirit that's in the man, in the person, um, actually reveals himself. So the spirit of a man is not a different person from the man. And so 1 Corinthians 2 talks about the spirit of a man and the man, and it talks about the spirit of God and God. So again, the implication is not two persons, but the inner being of God revealed, or knowing the mind of God, just like you would know the mind of a person. Uh likewise, the Old Testament book of Psalms or Isaiah 55 talks about God's word going forth from him, and it doesn't return void. God's word goes forth and heals people. Not a second person, but God's revelation. So, from that perspective, we see the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are three manifestations or three ways of knowing the one God. And it's significantly, the doctrine of the Trinity says the three divine persons, their official names are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Well, this passage does not even use the term son. Why would that be? Because the Son is God's manifestation on earth. But in heaven, God's eternal manifestation was not in a physical form as the Son, but God's eternal manifestation was his word. So notice how precisely this passage fits the doctrine of the oneness of God. Now, that's explaining it as it's stated. But what's really interesting, as you point out, the modern translations do not even have the phrase the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. It's not even there. That's why in the modern Trinitarian debates, when you talk to Trinitarian scholars, they will never use this verse to support the Trinity because actually they don't think it's original. Uh and that is not recent. That even goes back, if you study the controversies over the doctrine of the Trinity when it's first preached in the third century and fourth century, the people on either side didn't quote this verse because apparently they didn't have it. So we don't know for sure, but the most ancient Greek manuscripts do not have this verse. Um, it's only in four very late manuscripts of all the thousands of Greek manuscripts. So here's what happened: Erasmus was a scholar in Europe, and he compiled in 1516, he compiled the Greek New Testament. So we didn't have just a complete Greek New Testament that was used in the West. We had the Latin Vulgate, which was the Roman Catholic translation used for a thousand years. So when Erasmus decided to go back and try to reconstruct the original Greek text, because the New Testament was originally written in Greek, and he wanted to compile that. Well, none of the Greek manuscripts of all the ones he consulted, none of them had this phrase in there. So he just excluded it. Well, the Roman Catholic Church got very angry with him because it was in their translation, the Latin Vulgate, which they regarded as the official Bible. And so, since Rasmus was part of the Catholic Church, the leaders of the Catholic Church got very angry with him and said, We're going to discipline you if you don't include it. So he finally said, if you can find one Greek manuscript that has this phrase in it, I'll add it back. Well, they came a few years later and they brought one manuscript. So when he published his third edition of the Greek New Testament, he added it back because he had promised. But he put a note saying basically, I suspect they created this manuscript for my benefit. Nevertheless, you know, I made the promise, they have required me, so I'm going to add it. And sure enough, that manuscript was from the 16th century, and it even looks like um, you know, it was added. Um, and then over time we found three other manuscripts that are about the same time. One of them even actually has it added in a different hand. Uh so uh now, so that means that's why scholars universally say this particular phrase is not original. But how did it get in the King James? Well, when the the uh King James translators in the 1600s decided to translate the Bible, they used Erasmus Greek text, but they used his third edition. So this phrase had been forced to be in there by the Catholic authorities, and so that was the text the King James translators used. Now, when you go back, as I said, it's not in any ancient Greek manuscript, really, it's only in four late manuscripts uh from about the fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth centuries. You do find it in the Latin Vulgate uh as early as about 800. And then the very earliest mention uh of this phrase is from a Spanish theologian uh in about uh probably the fourth century or uh maybe fifth century, named Priscillian. He's deemed uh by the Catholic Church as a heretic. So I actually went back and found it, and he quoted from John, but this shocked me. He said, basically, and there are three that bear witness on earth, the sp are there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one in Christ Jesus. So the very first mention of this phrase actually has a very strong oneness implication and basically tracks Colossians 2, 9, for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So my point would be simply this. If we regard this phrase as originally part of the Bible, then I've explained it in a way that's perfectly consistent with the rest of Scripture, which is what we'd expect because God has his hand of preservation on the word. That doesn't mean any particular translation or text is perfect, but I do believe that any widespread text that's used by God's people, God's hand of preservation will be on it, so there'd be no false doctrine. But if you're willing to study textual criticism and try to discern the ancient manuscripts and see what was the original text, you could either say it wasn't in there, or if it was, it was seen as a very definite oneness text from the earliest times. So actually, a careful study of 1 John 5.7 uh it not only doesn't lead to the Trinity, it actually reinforces the doctrine of the oneness of God.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of Apostolic Life in the 21st Century. If you enjoy this podcast, please take a moment to give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st century with a friend or family member. And make plans to join us again next time as we look at how the Bible applies to everyday life.