freelight
Eclectic Theosophist
Not quite...........
Not quite...........
Hi Tambora,
Notice this does not prove the existence of the Comma Johanneum in Cyprian's life-time, for it is not even a 'direct' quote of the passage. Notice it is not quoting 'the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. If Cyprian knew of the Comma Johanneum, why didn't he quote it exactly? - he didn't. What is probable is that he is referring to 1 John 5:6-8 before the comma johanneum was inserted and using the 'agreement' between the Spirit, water and blood to refer to the Trinity,...the only allegory being that these three 'agree as one'. Since there is no direct quote of the comma johanneum, this is the most reasonable view to take. Dr. Daniel B. Wallace addresses this specifically in a short article below -
The Comma Johanneum and Cyprian
My previous posts still hold. Historical facts and scholarship are against this 'later' interpolation. There's nothing wrong with it being an superimposed allusion to the 'trinity',...but it reflects a later imposed phraseology added later as a Trinitarian allegory. It doesn't really serve as much of a Trinitarian 'proof-text' except as an added theological construct, since many other passages are more traditionally used to support the Trinity.
Lets finally note that 1 John 5:6-8 without the comma johanneum flows smoothly and in context as speaking of Jesus Christ, the truth of his incarnation, the Spirit bearing witness that he came by water and blood. The Spirit, water and blood bearing witness that Jesus Christ came as the Son of God (and Son of Man),...these agree as ONE. - nothing about an orthodox conception of the Trinity (added later).
Not quite...........
Yep.
Cyprian, who lived c.200-258 wrote:
The Lord says, 'I and the Father are one'; and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ‘and these three are one.’
- Cyprian, De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate 6
Hi Tambora,
Notice this does not prove the existence of the Comma Johanneum in Cyprian's life-time, for it is not even a 'direct' quote of the passage. Notice it is not quoting 'the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. If Cyprian knew of the Comma Johanneum, why didn't he quote it exactly? - he didn't. What is probable is that he is referring to 1 John 5:6-8 before the comma johanneum was inserted and using the 'agreement' between the Spirit, water and blood to refer to the Trinity,...the only allegory being that these three 'agree as one'. Since there is no direct quote of the comma johanneum, this is the most reasonable view to take. Dr. Daniel B. Wallace addresses this specifically in a short article below -
The Comma Johanneum and Cyprian
My previous posts still hold. Historical facts and scholarship are against this 'later' interpolation. There's nothing wrong with it being an superimposed allusion to the 'trinity',...but it reflects a later imposed phraseology added later as a Trinitarian allegory. It doesn't really serve as much of a Trinitarian 'proof-text' except as an added theological construct, since many other passages are more traditionally used to support the Trinity.
Lets finally note that 1 John 5:6-8 without the comma johanneum flows smoothly and in context as speaking of Jesus Christ, the truth of his incarnation, the Spirit bearing witness that he came by water and blood. The Spirit, water and blood bearing witness that Jesus Christ came as the Son of God (and Son of Man),...these agree as ONE. - nothing about an orthodox conception of the Trinity (added later).