The Trinity (1 John 5:6-12)

This text is famous for its explanation of the Trinity in verse 7.  It literally says that the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit are one.  In context, it says that these testify in Heaven.  In contrast, water, blood, and Spirit testify on earth and they are in agreement.

A side note, the greater context of this text is "testimony".

The church I grew up in did not like the concept of the Trinity.  I am not really sure why.  It is hard to understand, but that does not make it true.

The Biblical rationale was that there was a manuscript discrepancy about this.  The NIV version I use actually makes a note of this.  It says the Vulgate and Greek manuscripts from the middle ages differ on the inclusion of verse 7.

Which is right?  What happened?  Honestly, no one can say what happened, when, why, of which version is 'correct'.  But if someone really trusts in God to protect the Bible, this should not be an issue.

In fact, I would say any sort of sectarian church doctrine that is principally based on the removal of text from the Bible should immediately be suspect.  Viewed from another way, the rationale is "we don't like the Trinity, so we will remove the portions of the Bible that discuss it".  This should raise major red flags for people.

If somebody says that they have a problem with Trinity because it is not clear in the Bible because of the manuscript discrepancy, then I can respect it.  But that is very different from saying that the Trinity is wrong, because that rationale claims knowledge of what happened 1,000 years.  Basidia, the Vulgate was a highly respected translation of the Bible and probably the most significant translation until the Authorized Version by King James.

Finally, the context of this passage talks about the agreement of things, specifically three things - blood, water, and Spirit.  In this context, there is some support that in fact it is talking about the Trinity.