Chapter VII:
CHAPTER VII: WHICH CONTAINS THE FOURTH ARGUMENT DRAWN FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT FOR AFFIRMING THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY
[The fourth argument from the New Testament: 1 John 5:7, “Three who bear witness in heaven.”]
§ 108. We take our fourth principal foundation from 1 John 5:7: “There are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.” From this passage (after first proving and asserting its canonical authority) we have proved: (1) the name “Trinity.” (2) The plurality of persons in the Godhead. (3) The trinity of persons. (4) The personality of the Holy Spirit. (5) The property of each person. (6) The order among the persons of the Godhead. (7) The equality and consubstantiality of those three persons. (8) The necessity of confessing the Trinity. (See our public disputations held on and from this passage, which you will find in Disp. theol. part 2.)
Socinus ended his Defensio animadversionum at this passage, for he could not finish because he was carried off by death or hindered by other business. Consequently, it is not necessary to say more about this passage.