In his detailed commentary on the first Epistle of John (1544), the marginal Lutheran Thomas Naogeorgus (Kirchmeyer) left the comma out of the text. In the commentary he explained that the comma was absent from the codices he had inspected, and therefore seems to be an addition. Moreover, he adds, John is not talking of the Trinity at this point, which he does at length elsewhere; he is speaking here of those things that witness to the divinity of Christ. Moreover, Naogeorgus adds that he cannot see the point of having witnesses in heaven, since by the time we get there we will have no need of such testimonies. This rather unusual argument apparently derives from Luther, and suggests that Naogeorgus may have been in possession of notes taken during Luther’s 1527 lectures on the first Epistle of John. Indeed, Naogeorgus points out that Luther, a “sincere exponent of the holy Scriptures,” left the comma out of his translation. He ends his reflections on the comma by wondering why John should have applied masculine participles to things that are grammatically neuter. But for Naogeorgus, unlike for nineteenth century critics like Nolan and Dabney, this apparent grammatical dissonance hints at the textual difficulty of the passage rather than demonstrating its authenticity.164
164 Naogeorgos, 1544, 128r-v:
“In omnibus ferè Latinis, & nonnullis quoque Græcis, quæ ipse uiderim, exemplaribus, ante textum, Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra &c. legitur: Quoniam tres sunt qui testimonum dant in coelo. pater, uerbum & spiritus sanctus, & hi tres unum sunt. Quo ego propter alterius sententiæ similitudinem ab aliquo adiectum existimo, non à Ioanne scriptum. Neque uideo quid ad hunc locum faciat. Non enim Ioannes hîc agit de personarum trinitate (quam uocant) nec de diuinitatis [128v] trinitate, quæ aliàs sufficienter & clare tradidit, sed ostendere uult, quibus testimonijs ostensus & declaratus sit Iesus quòd sit filius Dei, & hactenus probetur & ostendatur. Neque hoc intelligere possum, cui rei faciat testimonium in coelo, quum in coelum nobis uenientibus nullo sit opus testimonio. Videbimus enim facie ad faciem. Enimvero sane in terris tam indigemus testimonijs, ut sine illis fides nostra consistere nequeat. D. M. Lutherus syncerus sacrarum literarum assertor, etiam illam particulam in suo nouo testamento omisit, intelligens nimirum esse adulterinam, & nihil facere ad hunc locum. Miror etiam, quamobrem Ioannes tribus neutris masculina & postposuerit, & præposuerit, irata Grammatica, nisi fortaßis scriptura est deprauata.”
Naogeorgus finishes his commentary (150v) with a rare modesty and flexibility, though he also does not fail to take the opportunity to criticise the Roman Catholic church’s attitude to authority:
“Hæc in epistolam Ioannis primam pro mediocritate ingenij & intellectus nostri in uerbo Dei annotauimus, permittentes liberum pijs omnibus & Apostolicæ ecclesiæ de his iudicium, nec pro oraculis hæc nostra habere cupimus, ut Papistæ solent. Sit unicuique liberum dissentire, neque dissentiens minus mihi amicus erit, & ego quoque ubi è scripturis admonitus me errasse comperero, aliud sentire, & hæc corrigere non grauabor.”
There is an anonymous German translation of Naogeorgus’ commentary (Stuttgart [?], 1554), in Heidelberg cod. Pal. Germ. 522, with the relevant passage on 234r-235r.