Some Say 1st John 5:7 as It Reads "Father, Word and Holy Ghost", Was Not in the Original Text and Is an Alteration to the Bible. What Do You Say?
1) Direct Answer
I receive 1 John 5:7 as Scripture as it stands. It is not an alteration to me; it is the Word of God, and it perfectly agrees with the whole Bible’s witness of one God revealed as Father, Word (made flesh as the Son), and Holy Ghost.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- God guards His Word: “Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). “The word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
- The wording fits John’s own vocabulary and theme:
- “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh” (John 1:1,14).
- John’s subject in 1 John 5 is the threefold witness: “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ… it is the Spirit that beareth witness” (1 John 5:6). Verse 7 gives the heavenly witness; verse 8 gives the earthly witness. That’s John’s pattern of testimony.
- And the truth it declares is taught everywhere else: “Hear, O Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- If “Father, Word, and Holy Ghost” were an intrusion, why does it fit John’s own language (“Word”), his theme of witnesses, and the immediate parallel of verse 8?
- If someone removes verse 7, does the Bible stop teaching one God manifested in Christ? No. The same truth stands in many clear passages.
- The harmony of verse 7 (“these three are one”) with verse 8 (“these three agree in one”) shows a deliberate, Spirit-given structure: one God’s heavenly witness, and His witness in the earth.
Short Reinforcing Statement
I stand with the Scripture as written. 1 John 5:7 is a true, Spirit-breathed witness of the one God—Father, Word, and Holy Ghost—these three are one.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Palmerworm, locust, cankerworm, caterpillar
59-0823 §93
Now, who is "Father, Son, Holy Ghost"? "Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost." Father is no name, Son is no name, Holy Ghost no name. What name were you talking about? Well, that's like John and Mary, let's go back to find out what it was. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. When His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with a Child of the" (what?) " the Holy Ghost." I thought you said God was His Father. Ho...
Questions and Answers (God being misunderstood)
61-0723E §22
QUESTION: "Why do you baptize in the name of Jesus Christ in place of the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?" Well, there is no such a thing as the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That's the reason. There was nobody in the Bible ever baptized in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Every person in the Bible, or three hundred years this side the Bible, was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Not one apostle, not one Christian, not one time was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ever used for baptism un...
What is the Holy Ghost?
59-1216 §31
Now, also, let us turn to John 14 just for a minute. I just love the Word; it's the truth. Now, the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost... What is the Holy Ghost? It is the Spirit of Christ in you. Now, before we read, I'd just like to say a few commenting words here. What is the Holy Ghost? It's a seal. What is the Holy Ghost? It's a covenant. What is the Holy Ghost? It's a sign. What is the Holy Ghost then? It's the Spirit of Jesus Christ in you. "A little while," said Jesus, "and the world sees Me no more, yet ye shal...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 1
57-0925 §57
Now let's just read on a little further: Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, was not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the ... [Congregation says, "Holy Ghost."] The what? The Holy Ghost? Well, how can the Father be his father, and the Holy Ghost be His fath...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 1
57-0925 §53
Well, is Father a name? How many knows that Father's not a name. Father's a title. Son's not a name. How many know that Son's not a name? How many fathers is in here? raise your hand. How many sons is in here? raise your hands. Well, which one of you are named "son"? Which one of you named "father"? All right, Holy Ghost is not a name. Holy Ghost is what it is. How many humans is in here? raise your hand, see. There you are. The Holy Ghost is what it... Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, neither one of them are names; th...