Steven Avery
Administrator
RGA - p. 25
We also find Origen applying 1 Jn 5:8 to the Trinity, significantly in the context of an allegorical reading of Ps 122:2 (LXX):
p. 26
Once the Trinitarian interpretation of the phrase tres unum sunt in 1 Jn 5:8 had established itself, the three witnesses of the Spirit, the water and the blood were ripe for allegorical interpretation as types of the three persons of the Trinity. The beginnings of this process of allegoresis may be seen in Cyprian’s plea for the unity in the Church:
p. 431
In Cyprian we see a
further development: the allegorical interpretation of the Spirit, water and blood
of 1 Jn 5:8 as types of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the persons of the
Christian Trinity, a doctrine still in the process of formulation and negotiation.
This allegorical stage is represented by several other figures, including Augustine,
Eucherius of Lyon and Facundus.
It is then posited that the invention of the comma involved the
combination of three elements: first, the regular text of 1 Jn 5:8; second, a
rendering of 1 Jn 5:8 in which the water, spirit and blood are replaced by their
allegorical equivalents; and third, the phrase “one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
We also find Origen applying 1 Jn 5:8 to the Trinity, significantly in the context of an allegorical reading of Ps 122:2 (LXX):
p. 26
Once the Trinitarian interpretation of the phrase tres unum sunt in 1 Jn 5:8 had established itself, the three witnesses of the Spirit, the water and the blood were ripe for allegorical interpretation as types of the three persons of the Trinity. The beginnings of this process of allegoresis may be seen in Cyprian’s plea for the unity in the Church:
p. 431
In Cyprian we see a
further development: the allegorical interpretation of the Spirit, water and blood
of 1 Jn 5:8 as types of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the persons of the
Christian Trinity, a doctrine still in the process of formulation and negotiation.
This allegorical stage is represented by several other figures, including Augustine,
Eucherius of Lyon and Facundus.
It is then posited that the invention of the comma involved the
combination of three elements: first, the regular text of 1 Jn 5:8; second, a
rendering of 1 Jn 5:8 in which the water, spirit and blood are replaced by their
allegorical equivalents; and third, the phrase “one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
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