The clearest verse in the Bible on the doctrine of the trinity is 1 John 5:7. Below is the verse from the KJV.
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Below are 4 of the more popular new versions of 1 John 5:7 for comparison.
English Standard Version (ESV)
7 For there are three that testify:
Amplified Bible (AMP)
7 So there are three witnesses [a]in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One;
- 1 John 5:7 The italicized section is found only in late manuscripts.
The Message (MSG)
6-8 Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God’s presence at Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. A triple testimony: the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.
New International Version (NIV)
7 For there are three that testify:
As you can see, all of the newer versions shown removed the verse. I left a footnote in underneath the verse from the Amplified version to give the reasoning behind the omission. The claim is that there is only very late shaky manuscript evidence for supporting the KJV reading. This claim however, is simply not true. There is a large amount of evidence supporting the KJV reading starting very early in the Church Age. Below is a list for your edification.
Old Syriac Versions (170 AD), Tatian (180 AD), Old Latin Versions (before the Roman era-200 AD), Tertullian (200 AD), Cyprian (255 AD), Athanasius (350 AD), Council of Carthage (415 AD), Jerome (450 AD), Cassiodorus (480 AD), Fulgentius (510 AD), Codex Wianburgensis (750 AD), miniscule manuscript 88 (1150 AD), four Waldensian Bibles (600 – 1400 AD), miniscule manuscript 629 (14th century), and miniscule manuscript 61 which some would date as 1519 saying it was a production of Erasmus and should be discounted. However, it has affinities to the Old Syriac dated around 150 AD.
The point of the list is to show the overwhelming support for the KJV (and for that matter, the NKJV also) of 1 John 5:7.
One final point for the great textual critics of our time: please check the gender of the witnesses in the first part of the verse in the new versions as it does not match “Spirit”, “water”, and “blood” in verse 8 showing something (our missing words) has been taken out of the new versions.
I would like to ask a simple question to finish. Do you think removing the clearest teaching in the entire Bible on the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of God, may be a source of some confusion in the modern Church?