An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture is a dissertation by the English Mathematician and Scholar Isaac Newton. First published in 1754, twenty-seven years after Newton's death, it reviewed all the textual evidence available from ancient sources on two disputed Bible passages, at 1 John 5:7-8 and 1 Timothy 3:16. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, and natural philosopher, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

1 John 5:7

See also: Comma Johanneum

In the King James Version Bible, 1 John 5:7 reads: The Comma Johanneum was a clause present in most translations of the First Epistle of John published from 1522 until the later part of the 19th century, owing to the widespread use of the third edition of the Textus Receptus (TR) as a sole source for translation. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ... (Redirected from 1 John) The First Epistle of John is a book of the Bible New Testament. ...

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

Using the writings of the early Church Fathers, the Greek and Latin manuscripts and the testimony of the first versions of the Bible, Newton attempted to demonstrate that the words "in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one," in support of the Trinity doctrine, did not appear in the original inspired Greek Scriptures. He then traced the way in which the spurious reading crept into the Latin versions, first as a marginal note, and later into the text itself. He showed that it was first taken into a Greek text in 1515 by Cardinal Ximenes on the strength of a late Greek manuscript corrected from the Latin. Finally, Newton considered the sense and context of the verse, concluding, "Thus is the sense plain and natural, and the argument full and strong; but if you insert the testimony of 'the Three in Heaven' you interrupt and spoil it." Father with child Daddy and Fatherhood redirect here. ... The Greek word λόγος or logos is a word with various meanings. ... The Holy Spirit, from the Christian viewpoint, while related to Gods will, is not Gods will personified. ... The (Early) Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... 1515 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cisneros visits the construction of the Hospital of the Charity. ...

1 Timothy 3:16

The shorter portion of this dissertation was concerned with 1 Timothy 3:16, which reads (in King James Version): (Redirected from 1 Timothy) This article or section should be merged with Second Epistle to Timothy The First Epistle to Timothy is a book of the canonic New Testament, one of the three so-called pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the Epistle to Titus). ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ...

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.

Newton showed how, by a small alteration in the Greek text, the word "God" was inserted to make the phrase read "God was manifest in the flesh." He demonstrated that early Church writers in referring to the verse knew nothing of such an alteration.

Summary of both passages

Summing up both passages, Newton said: "If the ancient churches in debating and deciding the greatest mysteries of religion, knew nothing of these two texts, I understand not, why we should be so fond of them now the debates are over." In the two hundred years and more since that treatise was compiled by Isaac Newton, only a few minor corrections have been necessary to the evidence he adduced. Yet it was only in the nineteenth century that Bible translations appeared correcting these passages. Modern versions of 1 John 5 say something like "the Spirit bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth" while 1 Tim 3:16 omits "God".

Historical background

Newton did not publish these findings during his lifetime, likely due to the political climate. Those who wrote against the doctrine of the Trinity were subject to persecution in England. As late as 1698 the Act for the Suppression of Blasphemy and Profaneness made it an offense to deny one of the persons of the Trinity to be God, punishable with loss of office, employment and profit on the first occasion, and imprisonment for a repetition. Newton's friend William Whiston (translator of the works of Josephus) lost his professorship at Cambridge for this reason in 1711. In 1693 a pamphlet attacking the Trinity was burned by order of the House of Lords, and the next year its printer and author were prosecuted. In 1697 Thomas Aikenhead, an eighteen-year-old student charged with denying the Trinity, was hanged at Edinburgh, Scotland. Within Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a perichoresis of three persons (hypostases, personae): Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit, and thus is sometimes used by Christians as a name for... Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... William Whiston William Whiston (December 9, 1667 - August 22, 1752), English divine and mathematician, was born at Norton in Leicestershire, of which village his father was rector. ... A representation of Flavius Josephus, a woodcutting in John C. Winstons translation of his works Josephus (37 – shortly after 100 AD/CE)[1], who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius Josephus[2], was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal... Shown within Cambridgeshire Geography Status: City (1951) Region: East of England Admin. ... 1711 (MDCCXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Events January 11 - Eruption of Mt. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Events September 11 - Battle of Zenta, Prince Eugene of Savoy crushed Ottoman army of Mustafa II September 20 - The Treaty of Ryswick December 2 – St Pauls Cathedral opened in London Peter the Great travels in Europe officially incognito as artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov Use of palanquins increases in Europe Christopher... Thomas Aikenhead (c. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I...

See also

• Isaac Newton's religious views