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.
The Godhead explained
61-0425B §70
Well, if Jesus said ... Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which said, "Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," and neither Father, Son, or Holy Ghost is a name, then if it's a puzzle, we'd better go back to the first of the book. Now, let's turn back to the first chapter of Matthew, and we'll start there. It gives the genealogy till it comes down to the eighteenth verse. Now watch; now watch just a minute. This is Father on my right side; this in the middle...
Godhead explained
61-0119A §53
Now, I'll take it like this, like these I got---Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now this here will be the Holy Ghost. And that's wrote Son, this is wrote Father. Now watch how they read that. "When Jesus was baptized ... went straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens was opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God like a dove descending ... and a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I'm pleased to dwell." I said, "See, three beautiful illustrations---the Son on the ground, the Holy Ghost...
Godhead explained
61-0119A §44
Oh, poor, blinded trinitarian people! Why the word trinity don't even appear in the Bible, not from Genesis to Revelation. There's no such a thing. It's not three gods; it's three offices of one God. God the Father in a pillar of fire, God the Son made manifest in flesh to take away sin, and God the Holy Ghost in us now here. Sure. Sure. "I'll be with you, even in you," see. It's not three gods; it's one God. Now look. You're going to have to admit that the Holy Ghost is his father. Is that right? Is the Holy Ghost...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-106
Now this ought to make you rejoice. There is a most peculiar doctrine in the air that is causing much misunderstanding and hard feelings. For when the Pentecostals say you MUST speak in tongues or you haven't been baptized with the Holy Ghost, they are either denying that great men like Knox, Moody, Taylor, Goforth and others did not receive the Holy Ghost, or saying that they all secretly spoke in tongues and were not aware of what was going on. Now that is not true. No sir. That is gross error. Tongues are not th...
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...