Theological Term of the Week: Comma Johanneum

 

Comma Johanneum
A sequence of words which appear in 1 John 5:7-8 in four late Greek manuscripts; also called the Johannine Comma. (Four other manuscripts include the words as a marginal note rather than part of the text.) The Comma Johanneum was almost certainly not originally included in 1 John. However, a translation of the comma is included the King James Version of the Bible. 

• 1 John 5:7-8 from the KJV, which includes a translation of the Comma Johanneum. (The words that translate the Comma are italicized.):

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

• I John 5:7-8 from the ESV, which does not include a translation of the Comma Johanneum:

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

• From The Johannine Comma (Bible Research):

These extra words are generally absent from the Greek manuscripts. In fact, they only appear in the text of four late medieval manuscripts. They seem to have originated as a marginal note added to certain Latin manuscripts during the middle ages, which was eventually incorporated into the text of most of the later Vulgate manuscripts.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the Comma Johannine (1 John 5:7-8)?
2. Theopedia: Johannine Comma
3. Daniel Wallace: The Textual Problem in 1 John 5:7-8
4. Bible Research: The Johaninne Comma
5. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: 1 John 5:7-8 and King James Onlyism

Related terms:

• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• KJV Onlyism
• manuscripts
• pericope adulterae
• text criticism

Filed under Scripture

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Theological Term of the Week: Pericope Adulterae

 

Pericope Adulterae
The story of the woman caught in adultery which is usually printed in Bibles as John 7:53-8:11, but which most New Testament scholars believe is not part of the original text of the scripture because it is absent from all of the older manuscripts of John’s Gospel.

• From the ESV (These verses are double bracketed and there is a note that they are not included in the earliest manuscripts):

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you e the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 7:53-8:11)

• From A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger:

The evidence for the non-Johannine origin of the pericope of the adulteress is overwhelming. It is absent from such early and diverse manuscripts as Papyrus^66.75 Aleph B L N T W X Y  D Q Y 0141 0211 22 33 124 157 209 788 828 1230 1241 1242 1253 2193  al. Codices A and C are defective in this part of John, but it is highly probable that neither contained the pericope, for careful measurement discloses that there would not have been space enough on the missing leaves to include the section along with the rest of the text. In the East the passage is absent from the oldest form of the Syriac version (syr^c.s. and the best manuscripts of syr^p), as well as from the Sahidic and the sub-Achmimic versions and the older Bohairic manuscripts. Some Armenian manuscripts and the old Georgian version omit it. In the West the passage is absent from the Gothic version and from several Old Latin manuscripts (it^a.l*.q). No Greek Church Father prior to Euthymius Zigabenus (twelfth century) comments on the passage, and Euthymius declares that the accurate copies of the Gospels do not contain it.

When one adds to this impressive and diversified list of external evidence the consideration that the style and vocabulary of the pericope differ noticeably from the rest of the Fourth Gospel (see any critical commentary), and that it interrupts the sequence of 7.52 and 8.12 ff., the case against its being of Johannine authorship appears to be conclusive.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Does John 7:53-8:11 belong in the Bible?
2. Daniel Wallace: My Favorite Passage That’s Not in the Bible
3. John Piper: Neither Do I Condemn You
4. Bible Research: Concerning the Story of the Adulteress

Related terms:

• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• manuscripts
• text criticism

Filed under Scripture

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the previous theological terms.

Theological Term of the Week: Good Works

 

good works
The honorable conduct and virtous deeds that are the expected outworking of salvation as believers are united with Christ by faith and enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey God’s commands and participate in his work. They are not the grounds of our salvation, but the necessary fruit of saving faith.

From scripture:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14 ESV)

• From The Belgic Confession, Article 24:

Our Sanctification and Good Works

We believe that this true faith, worked in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the operation of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a new man. It makes him live a new life and frees him from the slavery of sin. Therefore it is not true that this justifying faith makes man indifferent to living a good and holy life. On the contrary, without it no one would ever do anything out of love for God, but only out of self-love or fear of being condemned. It is therefore impossible for this holy faith to be inactive in man, for we do not speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls faith working through love (Gal 5:6). This faith induces man to apply himself to those works which God has commanded in His Word. These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, since they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless, they do not count toward our justification. For through faith in Christ we are justified, even before we do any good works. Otherwise they could not be good any more than the fruit of a tree can be good unless the tree itself is good.

Therefore we do good works, but not for merit. For what could we merit? We are indebted to God, rather than He to us, for the good works we do, since it is He who is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). Let us keep in mind what is written: So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty (Luke 17:10).” Meanwhile we do not deny that God rewards good works, but it is by His grace that He crowns His gifts.

Furthermore, although we do good works, we do not base our salvation on them. We cannot do a single work that is not defiled by our flesh and does not deserve punishment. Even if we could show one good work, the remembrance of one sin is enough to make God reject it. We would then always be in doubt, tossed to and fro without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be constantly tormented, if they did not rely on the merit of the death and passion of our Saviour.

From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof:

Sanctification and good works are most intimately related. Just as the old life expresses itself in works of evil, so the new life, that originates in regeneration and is promoted and strengthened in sanctification, naturally manifests itself in good works. These may be called the fruits of sanctification, and as such come into consideration here.

… When we speak of good works in connection with sanctification, we do not refer to works that are perfect, that answer perfectly to the requirements of the divine moral law, and that are of such inherent worth as to entitle one to the reward of eternal life under the conditions of the covenant of works. We do mean, however, works that are essentially different in moral quality from the actions of the unregenerate, and that are the expressions of a new and holy nature, as the principle from which they spring. These are works which God not only approves, but in a certain sense also rewards. The following are the characteristics of works that are spiritually good: (1) They are the fruits of a regenerate heart, since without this no one can have the disposition (to obey God) and the motive (to glorify God) that is required, Matt. 12:33; 7:17,18. (2) They are not only in external conformity with the law of God, but are also done in conscious obedience to the revealed will of God, that is, because they are required by God. They spring from the principle of love to God and from the desire to do His will, Deut. 6:2; I Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:12; 29:13; Matt. 15:9. (3) Whatever their proximate aim may be, their final aim is not the welfare of man, but the glory of God, which is the highest conceivable aim of man’s life, I Cor. 10:31; Rom. 12:1; Col. 3:17,23.

Learn more:

1. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Works
2. Got Questions: What does it mean that good works are the result of salvation?
3. 1689 London Baptist Confession: Chapter 16: Of Good Works
4. David R. Helm: Why Good Works Are Crucial for the Christian Life
5. Walter Marshall: True Saving Faith Always Produces Good Works
6. William Webster: The Relationship of Faith to Works

Related terms:

• assurance
• faith alone
• justification
• legalism
• lordship salvation
• non-lordship salvation
• perseverance of the saints
• progressive sanctification
• salvation

Filed under Salvation

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the previous theological terms.