Verse 8
Really there are three witnesses to the truth. These witnesses are the Holy Spirit teaching through the apostles and prophets, the water of Jesus’ baptism, and the blood of His crucifixion. John personified the latter two in this verse. The testimony of eyewitnesses and prophets as well as that of the historical events affirmed the divine and human character of Jesus Christ.
A few late manuscripts of 1 John insert other witnesses between the words "bear witness" and "the Spirit." The addition reads, ". . . in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth . . ."
"Not a single manuscript contains the Trinitarian addition before the fourteenth century, and the verse is never quoted in the controversies over the Trinity in the first 450 years of the church era." [Note: Ryrie, "The First . . .," p. 1477.]
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