Glossary for Article on I John 5:7

Sabellianism:

Between about 220 and 270 AD, a man named Sabellius taught that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were identical. People who believed the Father and Son were the same were called Patripassians (Father-sufferers), because they believed the Father and Son were both on the cross. They would use the 1 John 5:7-8 passage to claim that the Trinity was actually the same Person! We can easily see how the Eastern Orthodox would not want any passage of their Bible to say that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost were "one." They would want to emphasize the distinctions between the Trinity and not have 1 John 5:7 in their Bibles. [See The King James Version Defended, by Edward F. Hills (Des Moines, Iowa: The Christian Research Press, 1956, 1973) p.208.]

Old Latin:

The Old Latin manuscripts say it this way: "Quoniam tres sunt, gui testimonium dant in coelo: Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra: Spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt" (verses 7-8). This wording (which matches the King James) is similar to that of Cyprian's words in Latin about 250 AD "Dicit Dominus: 'Ego et Pater unum sumus,' et iterum de Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto scriptum est: 'Et tres unim sunt.' (The Lord says, "I and the Father are One," and again, of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost it is written: "And the three are One." (See the King James Bible preservation lessons by Dr. Thomas D. Holland, Th. D., Lesson 8, Textual Considerations.) Dr. Holland is an excellent scholar that thoroughly discusses the whole issue of the King James Bible and its preservation from the apostles and prophets to the present day. His new book, Crowned With Glory: The Bible from Ancient Text to Authorized Version goes into these issues in detail.

John Wesley:

John Wesley has this to say about the Vaudois or Waldenses: "It is a vulgar mistake, that the Waldenses were so called from Peter Waldo of Lyons. They were much more ancient than him; and their true name was Vallenses or Vaudois from their inhabiting the valleys of Lucerne and Agrogne. This name, Vallenses, after Waldo appeared about the year 1160, was changed by the Papists into Waldenses, on purpose to represent them as of modern original." (Notes on the Revelation of John, Revelation, Chapter 13, Verse 6, p. 936.)

Jonathan Edwards

Here is an important fact cited by Jonathan Edwards:

"Some of the popish writers themselves own, that this people never submitted to the church of Rome. One of the popish writers, speaking of the Waldenses, says, The heresy of the Waldenses is the oldest heresy in the world. It is supposed that they first betook themselves to this place among the mountains, to hide themselves from the severity of the heathen persecutions which existed before Constantine the Great. And thus the woman fled into the wilderness from the face of the serpent" (The Works of Jonathan Edwards Vol. 4, Work of Redemption., Period 3 - From Christ's Resurrection to the End Of the World, Part 4, p. 229.)

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