Matters of import in Hebrew life required witnesses. Two of them was the requisite number with which John the Apostle and his fellow Hebrews had been enculturated. Look how he writes as he draws this first of his existing letters to a close:
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. (1 John 5:7-8–ESV)
“For there are three that testify,” he wrote, and then went on to identify them. The testimony of the spirit comprised the two-part lesson of last week’s class (part 1 /part 2). Two other witnesses, the water and the blood, testify in their own right, but how? Where are the voices of the water and blood? Is John merely using a literary tool here or do these actually express something? These speak the language of the heart. [Read more…] about 1 John 5:7-8>>Real solutions and a triple testimony.