Kingdom Ready

Introduction

Tucked away at the end of the Gospel of Matthew is the great commission. It reads, “Therefore, go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit” (Mat 28.19). Oftentimes modalists and unitarians question the validity of this verse because of its trinitarian flavor. Typically, the questioner makes the point that we do not have manuscripts of Matthew 28.19 before a.d 325 when the church ratified the Trinitarian creed at Nicea and that they were all corrupted at that time. Furthermore, they refer to Eusebius, the famous church historian, because he quotes an alternative version of Matthew 28.19 (i.e. “Go and make disciples of all the nations in my name”) in his writings. Although it certainly wouldn’t ruin my day if Matthew 28.19 turned out to be spurious, I am wary of textual arguments motivated by theology. As a result, I want to lay out for you the reasons why every handwritten and printed Greek text contains the full version of Matthew 28.19.

Joseph’s paper as promised! Thanks Joe for the hard work on this and agreeing to post your work here as a KR Guest Author!

Judges 6 and the Hebrew Masoretic Vocalization of ADNY – Trinitarian Arguments Challenged

By: Joe Jerde

Key:

MS – Manuscript

MSS – Masuscripts

MT – Masoretic Text

TJon – Targum Jonathan

LXX א – Septuagint Codex Sinaiticus

LXX A – Septuagint Codex Alexandrinus

LXX B – Septuagint Codex Vaticanus

VetLat – Vetus Latina, Old Latin

Vg – Latin Vulgate

Pesh – Syriac Peshitta

Sometimes Trinitarian apologists interpret Zechariah 12:10 as a reference to God being crucified. Here is the text as it appears in the New American Standard Bible (NASB):

Zechariah 12.10 (NASB)
I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

This is the second half of an article about the Comma Johanneum. To read part one click here.

Greek History

Now that I have recounted some of the Latin history of the Comma, I turn now to set forth the Greek evidence. In the following chart are some relevant Greek editions beginning with the most recent first.

Greek Orthodox New Testament (1904)

ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Πατήρ, ὁ Λόγος καὶ τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι·καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ, τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν

How the Most Trinitarian Verse in the Bible
Proves that the Bible Does Not Support the Trinity

The most Trinitarian verse in the Bible is found in 1 John 5.7 where the text reads “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”¹ Recently in conversation with an acquaintance, I was challenged to accept the doctrine of the Trinity on the basis of this text. However, this scripture is fraught with difficulties and its history is long and dubious, involving both Greek and Latin manuscripts. Before turning to examine the Latin and Greek histories, I will begin by comparing two of the best known and most influential translations in English and German to more recent ones so as to demonstrate the exact difference between them. The words in bold below are known as the Comma Johanneum (henceforth Comma).