The KJV is English and the Greek may not always come out well in Greek. Take Love for example, four Greek words, with four different meanings, translated as one English word. Just as Charizomai and Ephiemi being translated forgive. As for "sending away" sin, if you idea of sin being just a legal issue, they perhaps I can see your view. But if sin is more that "legal", and real, as EGW has often portrayed it, then the sending away of sin make much more sense. And the cleansing makes much more sense. And sanctification makes more sense.

I don't know that you could conclude that. She said "many errors of former versions were corrected, and the sense was more clearly rendered". It's a better work, but not all that "speaks well" would imply or that you're implying. And leaves plenty of room for remaining errors.

Have you taken a logic class? Seems I recall you know about object-oriented so I'm a little surprised.

Maybe it is more important to see what the text is saying in context than say definitively whether it is a "comma" or not.
Here is a different look at the text, from Bro. Bill Pinto.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7. This is a clear and plain text proving that the Father, Son and Spirit are one God. How can you continue to reject the Trinity in light of this evidence?

Answer:

The text from 1 John 5:7 lists the three and says they are one. The Trinitarian will understand that to mean that they are one God. This is done by supplying the word "god" after "one" when the Bible places a full stop. But this is not what is stated there. The actual verse explains that the "one" applies to the record that is borne, not to the persons of God. They are all one in bearing the same record. From the context of the chapter (the whole epistle even) we learn that John is not expounding on the doctrine of who is God (or how many persons/beings). The immediate context of that passage offers the simple answer. Let us read verse 8 where another "three" are listed:
8 "And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."
The oneness spoken of in this verse does not refer to the nature of the spirit, water and blood. It is rather a oneness in agreement. They are one in that they all bear the same testimony: "agree in one". This is obvious to any reader. This is exactly what John means in verse 7. He uses almost the same words, elaborating more on them in verse 8. "These three" (Father, Word, Spirit) he says, "are one". Not one God (or Godhead, as some call it), as many would like to believe, but ONE IN TESTIMONY. They all agree in giving the one testimony, in bearing one record. This is the plain meaning of the text.
What is that testimony that John seeks to elaborate on in this chapter?
5 "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
10 "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."
What is the record that God gave of His Son? What is that record that is testified to in heaven and earth?
What is that record that "these three are one" in bearing? Please notice how the Father, the Word, and the Spirit bear the same record:
The Father testified: Matthew 3:17 "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 17:5 "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him."
The Son of God testified: John 10:36 "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?"
The Spirit also testified through the Apostles (John 15:26; 1 John 5:10):
Acts 5:32 "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."
Acts 8:37 "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Acts 9:20 "And straightway he [Paul] preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God."
34 "(and many, many other similar testimonies given by men moved by the spirit of God)"
Therefore, it is not dividing the word of truth correctly when we attempt to use that text to teach that there are three co-equal, co-eternal divine persons or beings. We are also breaking John's testimony when we deny that the Son of God was begotten (John 3:16) of the Father from the days of eternity (Micah 5:2) being so far back in the ages of eternity that it cannot be computed or calculated (7BC 919, ST, May 3, 1899 par. 4). To teach 3 co-equal, co-eternal beings is to deny the Father-Son relationship. It is to deny that Jesus is the Son of the living God, reducing that noble and ineffable relation to a mere metaphor and role-play! People who use this text to teach a trinity (denying the Son of God) only serve the purpose of obliterating the testimony that heaven is trying to reveal to us!

Another quality Flexesite by Omnifico
Copyright © 2011 Restitution Ministries

Interesting, Geoff. The gentleman makes a few good points, but the conclusion is, unfortunately, incorrect.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

No, unfortunately you only have to read our literature to see that the conclusion is correct. Spangler speaks of the members of the Godhead taking on even "interchangeable" roles. When I personally asked a theologian "Was Jesus really the Son of God?"
the answer was "No."

Jude1:3 "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

Like Sunday keeping, trinitarianism did not start to appear till later times and was only established in the church in the 4th century, and more explicitly confirmed a few more centuries later. (Specifically the Trinity).
The trinitarian faith we proclaim today was not the faith once delivered to the saints.

Ephesians 4:13 "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

The Holy Spirit is not just a nebulous "non-person" presence of the Father.


If we have a "Third Person," it clearly means we have also a "Second Person" and a "First Person," each of which is distinct from the others. In fact, Mrs. White is even the more clear in other statements.


As for Christ's sonship, it began at His birth in Bethlehem. That He was counted as having been "begotten from eternity" is a tribute to God's unwavering love commitment toward His creatures, even undeserving, fallen ones like us. He was also "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world." But was He slain during Creation Week? I mean, really slain? Of course not. It was only by promise. The same is true of His Sonship.

The word "begotten" in John 3:16 is crucial. It is too bad that it is so lightly treated, frequently misunderstood, and omitted from the modern versions. Though we do not have a better word for it in English, it essentially means "become-son." Jesus is the only member of the Godhead to have ever had the experiencing of becoming a Son. He was not a son before His incarnation. It was then, and only then, that He "became flesh and dwelt among us." Number 23:19 is clear that as of that point in time, God was not a "son." It hadn't happened yet.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

"Soon He must leave them to face the world without the comfort of His visible presence. He knew how bitter hate and unbelief would persecute them, and He desired to prepare them for their trials." {DA 410.3} But He said He would never leave them or forsake them.
He is always with us by His Holy Spirit. In another place she says the Holy Spirit is Himself, divested of the personality of humanity.


"As for Christ's sonship, it began at His birth in Bethlehem. That He was counted as having been "begotten from eternity" is a tribute to God's unwavering love commitment toward His creatures," Your comment.

That is a possibility, but does the evidence support it?

"Angels were expelled from heaven because they would not work in harmony with God. They fell from their high estate because they wanted to be exalted. They had come to exalt themselves, and they forgot that their beauty of person and of character came from the Lord Jesus. This fact the [fallen] angels would obscure, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ." {TDG 128.2}

"The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. The Son of God shared the Father's throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. About the throne gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng--"ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" (Revelation 5:11.), the most exalted angels, as ministers and subjects, rejoicing in the light that fell upon them from the presence of the Deity. Before the assembled inhabitants of heaven the King declared that none but Christ, the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes, and to Him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels of His will. The Son of God had wrought the Father's will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But in all this He would not seek power or exaltation for Himself contrary to God's plan, but would exalt the Father's glory and execute His purposes of beneficence and love." {PP 36.2}

Here is that quote you referred to.

That quote is among the more clear in delineating the personality of the Holy Spirit as being separate from that of Jesus. After all, if the Spirit is really just the presence of Jesus, that would make Jesus omnipresent after all, right? But the Spirit cannot be Jesus, because Jesus is NOT omnipresent, having given that up in His human incarnation, whereas the Spirit is called "the Omnipresent." So they have very distinct, and separate roles.




Again, Jesus was begotten from eternity. What does this mean? Does it not have something to do with the relationship held among the members of the Godhead? Mrs. White also quotes Jesus' prayer in John and expounds on it as having to do with the decision between God the Father and Jesus that gave Him to be our Savior.



Regarding personalities of the Godhead, and their individualities whilst at the same time being "one," Mrs. White says the following:


So Mrs. White clarifies the sort of "oneness" that is spoken of in 1 John 5:7-8.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

"That quote is among the more clear in delineating the personality of the Holy Spirit as being separate from that of Jesus."

I hope you can forgive me if I am blind, but I just cannot see the quote saying what you say.
"The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent."
The "himself" spoken of here is Jesus. The quote is consistent with 2 Cor. 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty."

Neither the Bible or the prophet say the Father is the Son, or the Son is the Father, but they both say the Lord is the Spirit. It is also consistent with Psalm 139:7 "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" Notice the Hebrew poetry of repeating the same meaning in different words. And the consistency with, "The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. "The Lord's throne is in heaven" (Psalm 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand." Ed. 14.
"No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this life of struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to believe in law and force, in things that have no pity, and never hear the cry for help. We need to know of an almighty arm that will hold us up, of an infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in His Word revealed Himself." {FLB 54.3}
"Christ said, "It is expedient for you that I go away." No one could then have any preference because of his location or personal contact with Christ. The Saviour would be accessible to all alike, spiritually, and in this sense he would be nearer to us all than if he had not ascended on high." {RH, January 2, 1913 par. 6}
This is also consistent with "What saith our Saviour? "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." ...
When trials overshadow the soul, remember the words of Christ, remember that He is an unseen presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, and He will be the peace and comfort given you, manifesting to you that He is with you, the Sun of Righteousness, chasing away your darkness. "If a man love me," Christ said, "he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." --Letter 124, 1897. {DG 185.2}

"The work of the Holy Spirit is immeasurably great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to the worker for God; and the holy Spirit is the Comforter, as the personal presence of Christ to the soul. {HM, November 1, 1893 par. 28}

That the Holy Spirit is the personal invisible presence of the Father and Son is further shown in the following.
"To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world's dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, "with healing in His wings." Mal. 4:2. (DA 22)
This is also consistent with,
Matt. 11:27 "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [him]." IF the Holy Spirit was a seperate individual being like the Father and the Son, then surely he also would have known the Father.
So the person of the Holy Spirit is not another individual being, but the personal invisble presence of the Father and the Son. Yes, there is not only a Father and a Son, but a third person, not in the sense of a different person, but in the sense of different manifestation of their personal presence.

It is also interesting how Christ prays that we would be one with Him as He is one with the Father, not one in a Trinity.