Corruptions of the Biblical textwith theological/church–anti-­­heretical motivation /Αλλοιώσεις του Βιβλικού κειμένουμε θεολογικά/εκκλησιαστικά–αντιαιρετικά κίνητρα

Codex Sinaiticus (1 John 5:7, 8) /
Σιναϊτικός Κώδικας (1 Ιωάννη 5:7, 8)

«Some intentional changes in the biblical texts were introduced to clarify and support various theological issues and concerns facing the church. Ehrman cites a number of these deliberate theological changes in the second to the fourth centuries that reveal the orthodox tendencies to deal with the various "heresies" present in the churches. The best-known "corruption" of the biblical text for christological purposes is, of course, the Comma Johanneum (or the "Johannine Comma"), whereby the trinitarian addition to 1 John 5:7-8 was introduced. The Johannine Comma includes the words: "For there are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three who bear witness on earth, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are one." These additional words are not found in any known Greek manuscript, but Erasmus likely translated them from the Latin Sixtine (Sixto)-Clementine edition of the Vulgate and, under pressure from his contemporaries, inserted them into the second edition of his Greek New Testament. This addition was, of course, intended to support the church's understanding of the Trinity, but it has no Greek textual support. In the third century, Cyprian may have known of this addition, and it may have originated in North Africa, but that is uncertain."»

* Gerbern S. Oegema & James H. Charlesworth,
The Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins: Essays from the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies),
T & T Clark International, 2008,
p./σ. 272.