12/15/04
For over a century those who have rejected the Textus Receptus have dominated debate and scholarship. But this is beginning to change. As information becomes ever more widely available on the internet, it will prove harder and harder for those who have dominated debate not because of force of argument, but because of politics. The debate regarding the Textus Receptus is no different.
Caught up in the controversy over the Textus Receptus is I John 5:7: "in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth".
Correspondent Al Hembd has notified us of a resource which should prove invaluable in consideration of this topic:
> Here is Michael Maynard's
website.
>
>
http://home.sprynet.com/~receptus/
At the website we read this:
“Since 1901 versions of the Bible in America began to omit 1 John 5:7. From 1900 to 1994 nearly all discussions in English on this verse yield only shallow treatment in a paragraph or a footnote, if not a page or two of comments. In contrast, this book is the first attempt in any language and of any century to provide a detailed history of the debate over this verse. "Maynard concludes that many of the arguments against the disputed text are defective, and that only fourteen Greek manuscripts from the first eight centuries omit 1 Jn 5:7-8." New Testament Abstracts, vol. 43, no. 3, 1999.”
In future articles we shall seek to keep you informed concerning the debate and the arguments employed.