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 Mark of the Beast
54-0513 §86
Oh, for this glorious Gospel! It's dripping in blood, yes, it's dripping in blood, (Count the cost! "If he will follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross---death---and follow Me.") This Holy Ghost Gospel is dripping with blood, The blood of disciples who died for the truth, This Holy Ghost Gospel is dripping with blood. The first one to die for this Holy Ghost plan, Was John the Baptist, but he died like a man; Then came the Lord Jesus, they crucified Him, He preached that the Spirit would save men from si...
Questions and Answers
59-0628E §85
Now, ten days later Peter said, "Repent, every one of you and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, see how the extreme trinitarian idea... See, they try to make three gods out of that. There's no three gods. I'd like to read that to you out of the original Greek here. The only way they were baptized in Jesus' name was, the Bible said in the original Greek, was to make them recognize that He was God. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is offices of one God. He was the Father; He w...
Questions and Answers
54-0515 §83
Look down on your Bible and see if that says "in the names of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Does it? No, sir. Did it say, "in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost"? It said, "in the name." Is that right? Well, the "name" was singular. Is that right? Well, which name did He want them to baptize, the name of the Father, or the name of the Son, or the name of the Holy Ghost? He said, "in the name." Well, frankly, there isn't either one of them a name. How man...
The Unchangeable Word of God
60-0724 §51
Why, it's the greatest thing I ever knowed in my life. It's part of heaven on earth. A people that'll take God's Word. If you haven't got the Holy Ghost in you, how can you take God's Word? The Holy Ghost in you will say "Amen" to every Word God wrote. That's right. If the Bible said, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever," if you got the Spirit in you, it'll say, "Amen!" If the Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe," and your church said that was for another age, the Holy Ghost in...
Questions and Answers
54-0515 §132
All right. I believe now, this is just about one more after this one. QUESTION: "Brother Bill, please tell me how to obtain the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Is it by prayer, surrendered life, accepting it as we do healing? I know what it is to have faith for healing when you prayed for me here. Do you pray and lay hands on for the baptism of the Holy Ghost? I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Please tell me if I should be rebaptized in the name of Jesus, as you spoke recently." Now, my dear...