Answer: 1 John 5: 7, 8: “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.”

The above two verses are the only passages in the Bible which imply the doctrine of the Trinity. But the problem is that the following words have been interpolated: “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth.” Without the interpolated words it reads: “For there are three that bear record, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” The spurious words were added around the seventh century, as they are not found in any manuscripts earlier than the seventh century.

Furthermore, these verses would not make any sense by including the interpolated words. If the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are bearing record in heaven, what are they bearing record to? That Jesus is the Son of God? What do they need to bear record of that kind for? Are the angels in need of it? The idea of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit going through heaven testifying to the angels that Jesus is the Son of God is ridiculous!

But these verses make complete sense without the interpolated words, and its teaching is in perfect harmony with the context, as can be seen by an examination of verse 6. St. John shows that Christ “came by water and blood” to be the Redeemer of mankind; that is, He came by baptism into water, the symbol of His consecration unto death, and by blood, the fulfilling of His consecration vow, even unto death, the shedding of His blood. He came “not by water only [not by consecration only], but by water and blood” – both the typical and the literal baptism unto death.

“And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” The Spirit of God bore witness after Jesus’ water baptism that He was God’s well-beloved Son in whom He was well pleased (Matthew 3: 17). And again, after His baptism into death, the Spirit bore witness to His still being the well-beloved Son, for God raised Him from the dead and highly exalting Him to His own right hand. Thus verses 7 and 8 asserts that there are three that bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God – the Spirit, the water, and the blood. The testimony of the Spirit at Jesus’ consecration and symbolic baptism in water, and again at His resurrection, marks our Lord as the Son of God indeed.

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