"Go ye, and make disciples of all nations in my name''
Matthew 28:19 as Quoted by Eusebius Pamphili (~260 - 340 A.D.)
[Quotation found in his “Oration in praise of the Emperor Constantine,” Chapter XVI, (335 A.D.), in “The Church History of Eusebius”, Book III, Chapter V (324 A.D.). in his Demonstratio Evangelica Book III, Chapter 6 (318 A.D.), in his Theophania, etc. (contexts in Appendix 1).
From earlier manuscripts, Eusebius Pamphilus quoted Matthew 28:19 in his writings without any trinitarian formula (to see other studies done by renown scholars).
Genuine ancient manuscripts did read in Mt. 28:19 as follows (see the original consistency in the use of the first person as underlined):
“Mt. 28:18: And Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mt. 28:19: Go ye, and make disciples of all nations in my name:
Mt. 28:20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end
of the world. Amen.”
And not as we have it altered now in all the latter Bible versions:
Mt. 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them * in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
That altered commandment, as
we have it printed now, was never fulfilled by any of the Apostles, because it
was not the original order given to them by Jesus Christ. We can easily see it,
if we read by ourselves the book of Acts (and/or all books of the New
Testament). This truth can only be seen
by those who have “eyes to see and ears to ear”, not by those which have been
already blinded (cauterized) by the traditions of men. The Word of God needs to be our own and our
only norm of belief and practice, not doctrines or dogmas made by men, neither
men’s religions or writings. If we
compare the original and trustworthy Scriptures of the Bible as originally
revealed by God, with church history and writings of men, we can see the abyss
of difference, and then we can decide if we are going to believe in God’s Word
or in men’s opinions (history in Appendix 2, quotations
in Appendix 3).
Notoriously, Brian Hoeck reports that more recently, at least two New Testament ancient texts have been found that make no mention of any trinitarian formula in Mt. 28:19:
"Go forth into all the world
and teach all the nations in my name in every place." (Matthew 28:19 as cited in: E. Budge, Miscellaneous
Coptic Texts, 1915, pp. 58 ff., 628 and 636).
And:
"Go and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever." (Matthew 28:19, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, translated by George Howard from Shem Tob's, Evan Bohan).
Ethelbert W. Bullinger states: "…there is one great difficulty with regard to the [trinitarian] words [in Mt. 28:19, as we have them in our versions now]: …that, the Apostles themselves never obeyed this command; and in the rest of the New Testament there is no hint as to it ever having been obeyed by anyone. Baptism * was always in the name of the one person of the Lord Jesus. "It is difficult to suppose that there would have been this universal disregard of so clear a command, if it had ever been given; or [if] it ever really formed part of the primitive text. As to the Greek MSS, there are none beyond the fourth Century [Note: And of the fourth century, there are two: the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus---BOTH CORRUPT. All other known Greek MSS are from 5th Century and upward], and it seems clear that the Syrian part of the Church knew nothing of these words. It looks… as though the words got into the text (perhaps from the margin) in the Church of North Africa [possibly Alexandria, Alexander’s and Athanasius’ headquarters, see Appendix 3]; and that the Syrian Churches did not have them in the MSS at their disposal" (Word Studies on the HOLY SPIRIT, pp. 47-49).
Fredrick C. Conybeare notes that,
“it may be remarked that in the oldest Syriac MS the folio which
contained the end of Matthew has disappeared” (Zeitschrift f. d. Neutest.
Wiss. Jahrg. II, 1901, p. 275), and that “in the only codices which would
be even likely to preserve an older reading [a non-triune reading of Matt 28:19], namely the
Sinaitic Syriac and the oldest Latin Manuscript, the pages are gone which
contained the end of Matthew”… “Eusebius cites this text
of Matthew 28:19 again and again in works written between 300-336 AD, namely in
his long Commentaries on the Psalms, Commentaries on Isaiah, his Demonstratio
Evangelica, his Theophany, ...in his famous History of the Church,
and in his Panegyric of the Emperor Constantine. I have, after a
moderate search in these works of Eusebius, found eighteen citations of Matthew
28:19, and always in the following form: “Go ye and make disciples of all nations in my name, teaching
them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you”… I have collected all these passages in the Zeitschrift fur die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, edited by Dr. Erwin Preuschen in
Darmstaft in 1901, except one, which is in a catena published by Mai in a
German magazine”.
Conybeare continues: “Eusebius is not content merely to cite the verse in this form, but he more than once comments on it in such a way as to show how much he set store by the words “in my name”. It is evident that this ["in My name"] was the text found by Eusebius in the very ancient codices collected fifty to a hundred and fifty years before his birth by his great predecessors. Of any other form of text [than the "in My name" reading], he had never heard and knew nothing until he had visited Constantinople and attended the Council of Nice. Then in two controversial works written in his extreme old age, and entitled: 'Against Marcellus of Ancyra,' and the other 'About The Theology Of The Church,' he used the common reading after Nice. The exclusive survival [of the trinitarian text of Matthew 28:19] in all MSS, both Greek and Latin, need not cause surprise. But in any case, the conversion of Eusebius to the longer text after the Council of Nice indicates that it was at that time being introduced as a shibboleth of orthodoxy into all codices. The question of the inclusion of the Holy Spirit on equal terms in the Trinity had been threshed out [at the Council], and a text so invaluable to the dominant party [the trinitarians] could not but make its way into every codex, irrespective of its textual affinities. It is clear, therefore, that [of all] the MSS which Eusebius inherited from his predecessor, Pamphilus, at Caesarea in Palestine, some at least preserved the original writing, in which there was no mention either of [both] baptism or of the words 'Father, Son, and Holy Ghost' [in Matthew 28:19]” (Hibbert Journal, 1902, see last link in this page).
The Encyclopedia of Religion And Ethics states that Mt 28:19 "is the central piece of evidence for the traditional view [trinitarian formula]. If it were undisputed, this would, of course, be decisive, but its trustworthiness is impugned on the grounds of textual criticism, literary criticism, and historical criticism… The facts are, in summary, that Eusebius quotes Matthew 28:19 twenty one times, either omitting everything between 'nations' and 'teaching,' or in the form 'make disciples of all nations in my name,' the latter form being the more frequent… the traditional [trinitarian] text was brought about by the [trinitarian baptismal] influence working on the Eusebian [Gospel of Matthew, which originally stated "in My name"] text”.
Martineau in his “Seat of Authority” Bk. IV, ch. IV, p. 515 writes: “The very account which tells us that at last, after his resurrection, he commissioned his apostles to go and baptize among all nations, betrayed itself by speaking in the trinitarian language of the next century, and compels us to see in it the ecclesiastical editor, and not the evangelist, much less the founder himself.” Hoeck asks, “How did these spurious words get into the text and from whence did they come?” Fred Conybeare notes, "In the pages of Clement of Alexandria, a text some what similar to [the nowadays forged] Matthew 28:19 is once cited--but as from a gnostic heretic, named Theodotus, and not as from the canonical text as follows--'And to the Apostles he gives the command: Going around preach ye and baptise those who believe in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit' " (Conybeare quoting from Excerpta cap.76, ed Sylb. p.287). But even this may be a forgery not produced by Theodotus, but by Clement himself, as Dr. P. M. Barnard, who collected the N. T. citations of Clement in a volume of the Cambridge Texts and Studies suggests. For other spurious quotations see Appendix 3.
Regarding baptism*, there is no record in the New Testament that any baptism using a trinitarian command was ever carried out by the Apostles. They always used the name of Jesus Christ, but never any trinitarian formula. The Apostles were obedient to the real order in Matthew 28:19 as originally given by their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, before his ascension to heaven. The following verses show the truth of what the Apostles did:
“Then Peter said unto them. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
“For as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:16).
“And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord *. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days” (Acts 10:48).
“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5).
The word trinity or its formula was not present in the original manuscripts of the Bible. Contrary to that Trinitarian formula, a cross validation even of the words of Jesus Christ at that very moment, sets for us to see, if we want to, the truth of what he really have had said:
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his [Jesus'] name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).
The same Luke gave us the most detailed account of Jesus’ last words before his ascent to heaven in the book of Acts:
“…unto the apostles whom he [Jesus] had chosen [including Jude, the traitor apostle, present still at this moment, later killing himself]… he [Jesus] shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days… being [Jesus] assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with holy spirit not many days hence… ye shall receive power, after that the holy spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up…” (Acts 1:2b-5, 8-9a).
Jesus never declared, “you will be witnesses of the holy trinity”, but rather “ye shall be witnesses unto me”.
By simple scripture build up we can see complementary information given by Mark:
“And he [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized [with holy spirit (Acts 1:5)] shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover [all these are “manifestations of the spirit” within us (1 Cor. Ch. 12 to Ch. 14)]. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen” (Mk 16:15-20).
Jesus never said “in the name of the trinity you will cast demons”, rather “In my name shall they cast out devils [Gk. daimonia]”
The conclusions of all writings of the Apostle John are also significant:
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn 20:30-31).
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1Jn 5:13).
John words are: “these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”. John never said that his writings were written “that we might believe that Jesus is God the Son”, as religion, twisting interpretations of the very same writings of John and of the rest of the scriptures, desire us to believe, trying to prevent that more people, with all their religious twisting of the truth, could be born again, and have life through Jesus’ name, and to know that we have eternal life. John wrote many comparisons regarding who Christ is, he is: the word (1:1), the water (7:37), the bread (6:35), the light (8:12), the good shepherd (10:11), the door (10:7), the true vine (15:1), etc. Hoverer, religion misunderstood him, and adulterated the gift of holy spirit, transforming it in a third “person” of the trinity, and also transformed Jesus “the man – man’s redeemer”, “the advocate and the mediator of men” into an unreachable God, and substituted the spiritual baptism with the outdated water baptism, which was likened to a pagan religious “initiation”, adding to it the abomination of the heathen mysteries of the trinity, and making its followers to believe that the dead still alive, allowing demons to impersonate “the dead”, as in catholic churches, through religious images, etc… this are only few, among other many tricks, fully supported by God’s adversary, and introduced through philosophies of men, men lacking of holy spirit, men twice dead (deceivers that indeed are going to experience the second death, as Jude verses 12 and 19 clearly manifest).
We have seen that there exists in the Bible the powerful and clear evidence, given by God, against words inserted by men (that’s why wee need to be aware and acquainted with All the Bible and not only with just “one verse”), men whose purpose is to carry out their own theology, as we can read in the last words of Paul, John, Peter and Jude (Appendix 6). Even if under a “sincere principle of unity”, as Constantine desired, we know that “sincerity is no guarantee for truth”. It is our responsibility to read the Bible carefully to see the written truth and not being guided by doctrines designed by men to fulfill their private political agendas (historic example in Appendix 2). This work is aimed for those who seek and ask (Lk. 11:9-13).
After the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), quotations of works attributed to Eusebius Pamphilus, done by Athanasius and others, include the trinitarian formula. That was "a retouch", showing the political and religious impact of the Nicene decision.
This was a painful decision that moved towards the mishandling and tampering of God’s Word, which ended in thousands of born again Christians being discriminated and/or martyred (in Appendix 3, decisions made by Theodosius I and by the Theophilus popes).
The Greek Christian Justin Martyr, who wrote in the middle of the second century, never quoted "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," nor did Aphraates (Aphrahat The Persian Sage) in the early fourth century, neither the great theologian Origen, nor Hermas the shepherd. This manifests that Eusebius in his Greek and Latin texts, Justin in his Greek texts, and Aphrahat in his Syriac texts, must have had earlier manuscripts without the added words (Appendix 1).
It was not difficult for Fourth Century scribes after the Nicene order to destroy genuine manuscripts and to retain the forged ones, changing the words "in my name" to "in the name of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost", since the Godhead was gradually taking on a triune nature in their political-religious environment (Appendix 5 shows that as late as in 1520 A. D., catholic hands forged a MS to tamper also 1 John 5:7-8 for Erasmus’s "Textus Receptus", 3rd edition, damning the KJV even more by including it. If this forgery of 1 John 5:7-8 is a well known fact, why we don’t help everybody to see that a similar forgery was done earlier to tamper with Matthew 28:19, and with any other secular writing (at least, that was the evident attempt of the Athanasians, as we can see in the forged Ignatian epistles, in the forgery upon the anonymous Didache and upon many other documents (Appendix 3). Only by the grace of God it was left for us to see the truth in Mt. 28:19 from the original writings of Origen, Eusebius, Justin, Aphrahat, Hermas, and others still to discover)).
That the forgery of Biblical texts and of other earlier Christian writers was “the norm” with the full authorization of the Popes and of all catholic theologians of that time (and of to-day) can be seen in written words of the forgers themselves, words that have reached us, even in the midst of a strict and heinous “catholic censorship”, see for example Rufinus (who at the conclusion of his version of Origen’s Commentary on Romans boasts that he had taken much “trouble to fill in what was lacking in Origen”), by Jerome (who in his Preface to The Four Gospels of his Vulgate NT wrote, “Is there a man, learned or unlearned, who will …call me a forger and a profane person for having the audacity to add anything to the ancient books… which enable me to bear the odium-in the first place, [is that] the command is given by you [Pope Damasus, A.D. 383]”), by Basil “the Great” of Caesarea (that writes in his Treatise De Spiritu Sancto, Chapter XXVIII “…passages… viewed with suspicion… really have been altered… fact of their having been tampered with… Those however which I [Basil] have quoted at length…”), and by many others, considered “saints” by the catholic church (Appendix 3).
* Additional Note Regarding Water Baptism: Water baptism is no longer necessary, since we now have the true baptism, which is the spiritual baptism in holy spirit, also called, “the receiving of power from on high” (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8), and “the gift of God” (Acts 2:38), and also, “the promise of our Father” (Acts 1:4). Christ told his disciples: “Acts 1:5: For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” John the Baptist recognized that this spiritual baptism would be provided by Christ (Mt. 3:11) as did Priscilla and Aquila. Today (as Apollos or as Philip did then), many people still acknowledge the baptism of John (Acts 18:25) as the only baptism. However, now we need to expound unto them “the way of God more perfectly (Acts 18:26),” in the same way as Paul did, proclaiming the new birth, which is being born again of holy spirit, and not of water submersion or ablutions. Even the Apostle Peter acknowledged this simple truth: “Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 11:16). This greatly upset Cyprian (and others of his kind to-day), because water was no longer needed, neither it has ever been needed any trinitarian formula. Cyprian’s doctrines were just the philosophies of men’s imaginations (Appendix 3). Baptism today is to be born again, receiving holy spirit in the name of Christ Jesus, just as the Apostle Paul taught and performed, no longer using water, but through the spiritual new birth, the receiving of salvation, which is “Christ in us, the hope of the glory” (Col. 1:27).
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Other word not present in older texts, and already corrected in almost all recent versions, can be found in:
1 Tim. 3:16 “And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory.”
The word
“God” still appears in the KJV and in
almost all of its derivatives.
The
proper translation should read:
1 Tim. 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Great is the Mystery of godliness, which [Mystery] was manifested in the flesh!
The Revised Version of 1885 gives “He who” in the text, and is rightly stated in the margin, “The word God, in place of He who, rests on no sufficient ancient evidence”.
Some ancient authorities read “which”. This is our belief. We believe that the original word was ho (0), “which”, in the neuter form, to agree with the word musterion, which is also neuter. Then, a scribe who, not understanding why it was in neuter, added an “S,” thus turning ho into hos (0ς), which made it masculine, “who”, or “He who”, though with that change is thus made more obscure. Finally, some later scribe put a little mark in the “0,” thus making it into Th (θ), and making the two letters ThS (θς), an abbreviation of the word Theos (θεος), God (The “Englishman’s Greek New Testament” of Thomas Newberry (1877), and its revised form done by George Ricker Berry (1897) even expand the abbreviation to make it be as θεος without the support of the evidence of all manuscripts, even when they quote in a footnote: “0ς , “who”, appears in Griesbach 1805, Lachmann 1842-50, Tischendorf 8th ed. 1865-72, Tregelles 1857-72, Alford 1862-71, and Wordsworth 1870”). A microscope reveals the fact that the little mark in the “0” in the Alexandrine MS (Codex A in the British Museum) is in different ink, and was evidently added by a later hand. This, we believe to be the corruption of the reading, and that originally it was simply “0,” which. The old Syriac and all the Older Latin Versions agree with this translation (The Companion Bible, 1922, London, p. 1803). “The Codex Claromontanus, Uncial 061, the Vulgate and Older Latin Manuscripts contain ho (0) rather than hos (0ς)”. D and virtually the entire Latin tradition read the neuter relative pronoun 0, “which”. That the 0ς, θς, θεος reading did not arise until after the 2nd century is evident from the Western reading 0. B. M. Metzger notes, “no uncial (in the first hand) earlier than the eighth or ninth century supports θεος; no patristic writer prior to the last third of the fourth century testifies to the reading θεος” (Textual Commentary, 574).
To see more Biblical details on this verse: http://www.oocities.org/fdocc2/mystery.htm
1 Tim. 3:16 is generally taken of Christ personal, but if read of the Body of Christ, which is his Church, then, in the six sentences of 1 Tim. 3:16 we have the whole truth concerning the Body of Christ that is now revealed on earth. The place occupied by the Revelation of the Mystery in 1 Tim. 3:16 (the “Mystery of Godliness”) will be best understood by the important position it occupies in contrast with the “Mystery of Iniquity” (1 Tim 4:1-12), as discussed in the link referred (Ethelbert W. Bullinger, The Mystery, Things to Come, part IV, Dec. 1895, 2(6):102-105).
[The Greek word “0 ”is translated correctly as the word “which” in the Latin Vulgate, in the James Murdock Translation of the Syriac Peshitta and in the Douay-Rheims; is translated as “that” in the French 1910 Louis Segond, and as “it” is (and the word “is” in present tense) in the 1933 Lamsa Translation from the Peshitta; the changed “0ς” has been translated to “He who” in the Westcott-Hort Greek Critical Text, in the 1901 American Standard Version, in the New American Standard Bible, in J. B. Rotherham, in the 1949 Bible in Basic English, in The Living Oracles; “0ς” as “He” in the NET Bible, in the International Standard Version, in the Revised Standard Version, in the Revised King James Version, in the New International Version, in the Common Edition, in the Twentieth Century, in The Message, in Good News, in God’s Word, in the Portuguese Joao Ferreira de Almeida, in the Spanish Reina Valera Actualizada and LBLA; “0ς” as “who” in the Emphatic Diaglott, in the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha, as “that” (Christ) in the 1912 Weymouth translation, as “Christ” in the Contemporary English Version, in the New Living Translation, etc. None of these translations includes here the word “God”.]
On reading faithfully your Bible you can easily see that the “central mystery of the Christian faith”, is in reality the Mystery, and not “the trinity”. The Mystery revealed by God to us, the members of the body of Christ, is that when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord, and when we believe that God raised him from the dead, then we are saved, then is Christ in us the hope of glory, then we have holy spirit within, and both Jews and Gentiles are fellow-heirs and members of the same Body of Christ, which is his Church.
The expression “God the Son” is never to be found in the Bible, nor the catholic creed expression “true God of true God”, neither “God incarnated”. However, the expression “Son of God” regarding Jesus Christ is found at least 68 times. God and Jesus Christ are one in purpose, and they want us to be one with them also:
John 17:20-23:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”
Here the word “one” in Greek is “hen”, which is neuter, not a person, not masculine, and it is the same word “hen” translated also “one” in John 10:30, when Jesus said “I and my Father are one”, and by its context, being “one” is to be one in purpose and in will, Christ with God and we with them.
Jesus Christ stated that: “my Father is greater than I” (Jn. 14:28, 10:29). The Bible also states that “the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor. 11:3), and that “when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). Why don’t believe in the Bible only?
Remember that the key of our salvation is given in Rom. 10:9: “That if you shall confess with
your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the
dead, you shall be saved” (Revised King James Version). It does not say, “That if you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus is God”.
In the book of Acts we can see time
after time the same confession, that: “Jesus Christ is Lord”, as in the first
preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost: “Therefore,
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ,” and in his first preaching to the
gentiles: “The word which God sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:).”
Other examples can be found in Acts 4:33, 7:59, 8:16, 9:17,27,29, 11:17,20,
15:11,16, 16:31, 19:10,17, 20:21,24,35, 21:13, 28:31, and also in Acts 2:38,
3:6, 4:18, 5:40, 16:18, 1 Cor. 1:2, Philip. 2:9-11, etc. As stated before, you will never find the
word trinity or any of the trinitarian formulas in the book of
Acts or in any other book of the revealed Bible.
The testimony of God himself, when referring to Jesus is: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17, Mk. 1:11, Lk. 1:22 and 9:35), are we going to believe God Himself on this? The testimony of Jesus Christ, regarding who he is: “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (Jn. 10:36), are we going to believe Jesus Christ’s testimony of who he is, as it was given by himself? On his testimony Jesus was confirming what his father had already expressed regarding who Jesus is. The testimony of John the Apostle, on giving the purpose of all his writings is: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn. 20:30-31, 1 Jn. 5:13). John the Apostle is giving at the end of his book this beautiful summary, to don’t let anybody in any doubt or misunderstanding about the truth contained within everything that he wrote. God himself, and Jesus Christ, and John, and Peter, who by revelation had said: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16), and the rest of the pure Biblical Scriptures, I ask, are all of them “blaspheming” because none of them says what the catholic religion says (Appendix 3), or what the Koran says (Appendix 4)? Jude Iscariot was one of the original Apostles and he betrayed Jesus Christ, Thomas Didymus was another, and he did not believed in the Word of God, until seeing. What about ourselves?
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Another scripture deliberately changed, and corrected to its original form by almost all recent versions and translations, as it contains the only second “trinitarian formula” that was added by pro-Nicene hands, is:
1 John 5:7-8:
7 “For
there are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in
one.”
These
verses still appear in the KJV and in almost all of its derivatives.
KJV verses 7 and 8 contain words that do not appear in any of the early manuscripts. The words added begin in verse 7 with "in heaven" and goes unto "in earth" in verse 8. These words are found in only four Greek manuscripts before the sixteenth century, and these contain the passage in what appears to be a translation from a late recension (alteration) of the Latin Vulgate (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary to the Greek New Testament, N.Y.: United Bible Societies, 1971, pp. 716-717). They were first seen in the margin of some Latin copies, and from there they have crept into the text (The Companion Bible, 1922, London, p. 1876).
The
earlier texts read as follows:
1 John 5:7-8:
“For there are three that bear record, _ the spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
_
represents that none of the added words were originally present there.
[Added words never included in: 1881 Westcott and Hort, 1889 Darby Bible, German Luther Bible (Appendix 5, version available in the e-Sword Free Software), 1901 American Standard Version, 1912 Weymouth, 1949 Bible in Basic English, New American Standard Bible, The Common Edition, The Emphatic Diaglott, Majority Text, Living Oracles, Montgomery, New International Version, Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha, Rotherham Emphasized Bible, Revised Standard Version, Revised King James New Testament, Twentieth Century, NET Bible, World English Bible, “Reina-Valera Actualizada,” this verse even is accurate in The Vulgate, etc.]
“Including more words was an attempt of a scribe or scribes to corrupt the original text with the theology propounded by Tertullian (early third century, the first person to use the word trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, devoting a treatise to it), Cyprian (third century), Athanasius (fourth century, the main influencer in the Nicene trinity), Hieronymus (Jerome, translator of The Vulgate, fifth century), Augustine (fifth century),” etc. (their writings, Appendix 3).
These practices “for the forgiveness of sins”, or as the later form took over, when baptizing even babies, “as a signature of pertaining to “the right” church”, using water “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost”, replaced the original commandment given: to provide salvation and holy spirit to everyone who believes “in the name of Jesus Christ”.
The
insertion within 1 John 5:7-8 was omitted completely by the English committee
in the Revised Version of 1881-1885, and by the American committee in the
American Standard Version of 1901. Yet
both, the American and the British Bible Societies, knowing that the ancient
texts and manuscripts do not substantiate the insertion, have continued to
insert the error in the newer versions of the King James Version (KJV) as
genuine Scripture. To print these verses
for many years after it was known not to be true, is an immoral act with
Scripture, and as such, it is sin. The mystery of the trinity is within the creeds of men, not in the Word of God. Why not just simply believe the truth of
God’s Word? “Religious men” wants us to
worship their own human thoughts consecrated as dogmas and not the true
God! However, the seekers after the
truth will sooner or later discover all the mistranslations, as well as all the
forgeries on which the doctrine of the trinity has been based. Thinking people will not continue following
leaders in whose honesty they have no confidence, those leaders who defile the
Word of God and defile themselves. To
say that Jesus Christ is God the Son is idolatry. To say: “Jesus Christ is the Son of God”, is truth.
The
student is not told that the dogma of the trinity unified the roman church by
persecution, it is concealed from him that Theodosius “the Great” (see Appendix 3 to read his
statement and of his sanguinary character), in the latter part of the fourth
century made, by force, the trinity to be the official doctrine of the Roman
Empire; and at that time, there were not enough trinitarians in the capital
city of Constantinople on the first Sunday thereafter, to place, not even to
one single trinitarian worshipper in each church building in the city. God’s revelation to men opens with God
creating, and closes when “the Son, also himself being subject unto Him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28) [in Appendix 5 details on
the history of the catholic insertion of trinitary words in 1 Jn. 5:7-8, words
deceivingly retained today by “religious men”].
The Bible says, regarding those early (and of
today) theologians, which with their personal aspirations took over the control
of the “church” since its early days:
“For I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the
flock. Also of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three
years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts
20:29-31).
“This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain” (2 Tim. 1:15-16).
Etc… (more references can be found in Appendix 6).
By the end of the first century, the
only apostolic procession was by these grievous wolves. In our search for
truth, we must trust in the Scriptures themselves and not in the “church
tradition” laid by grievous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Bill Powell, 1998,
on his Online review of “The Names and Order of the Books of the Old
Testament”, originally written by E. W. Bullinger in Things to Come in
1894, 1(6):110).
If Jesus Christ himself, or if his Apostles
did not established an “official religious institution”, nor “official creed”,
nor “dogmas”, nor “doctrines”, who are we to establish our own creeds, dogmas
and doctrines? Or even worse, who are
we to oppress and to obligate others to submit to us and to our own vain
imaginations, through such creeds and dogmas?
Notoriously, they are proven to be wrong when compared with the pure
fountain of the living Word.
Enough is to “Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
This is the testimony of the Word of God
regarding the invalidity of any kind of doctrines or dogmas, either from the
law period or of any other of men’s imaginations in this age of grace, in this
administration of the mystery revealed by God to us in his Word:
“Having abolished [Jesus Christ] in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances (dogmas); for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:15).
“Blotting out [Jesus Christ] the handwriting of ordinances (dogmas) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Col. 2:14).
“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances (dogmatidzo)? …” (Col. 2:20).
We are
living today the Mystery revealed by God, the age of the grace of God!
Regarding doctrines not to be found in the original revelation of the Bible:
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mk. 7:6-9).
“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with
meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (Heb.
13:9).
“Touch not; taste
not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the
using; after the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Col. 2:21-22).
“Now the Spirit
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils” (1Tim. 4:1).
God reminds us not to alter the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, all individuals or groups that have done so (willingly) are accursed (damn, reproved) according to God:
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev. 22:18-21).
“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:2).
“What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut. 12:32).
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5-6).
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APPENDIXES:
A Collection of Evidence, A. Ploughman and Randall Duane Hughes.
Tasters of the Word (YouTube), videos recientes: "Astronomía y Nacimiento de Jesucristo: Once de Septiembre Año Tres A.C.", "Estudio sobre Sanidades" (en 20 episodios), "Jesus Christ, Son or God?" and "We've the Power to Heal":
Tasters of the Word (the blog, with: "Astronomy and the Birth of Jesus Christ"):