I continue now with the story of how the doctrine of the Trinity as stated in 1 John 5:7 (the only passage in the entire Bible that states that there are three divine figures and “these three are one”) was actually not originally part of 1 John – or the Bible at all.  It was a later addition.  But how did it come into the King James Bible then?  Read on!

This is how I explained it in my book Misquoting Jesus.  (If you haven’t read the previous post, it provides some background) (it also does even if you did read it).

 

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Even though the Complutensian Polyglot was the first printed edition of the Greek New Testament, it was not the first published version.  As I pointed out, even though the work was printed by 1514, it did not actually see the light of published day until 1522.  Between those two dates a famous and enterprising Dutch scholar, the humanist intellectual Desiderius Erasmus, both produced and published an edition of the Greek New Testament, receiving the honor, then, of editing the so-called “editio princeps” (= first published edition).  Erasmus had studied the New Testament, along with other great works of antiquity, on and off for many years, and had considered at some point putting together an edition for printing.  But it was only when he visited Basle in August 1514 that he was persuaded by a publisher named Johann Froben to move forward.

Both Erasmus and Froben knew that the Complutensian Polyglot was in the works, and so they made haste to publish a Greek text as quickly as possible.  But other…

This is the kind of post that shows why a bit of historical knowledge can make a HUGE difference in understanding the development of Christianity.  Was the Trinity in the Bible?  Keep reading and see.  If you aren’t a member of the blog, Join!  And then you can see!