Editing Article:And These Three Are One by Jesse Boyd (section)

==Rhetorical Analysis== 

In the realm of rhetorical criticism, the Johannine Comma seems to conform to the Apostle John's literary style.  As far as tone is concerned, "there reigns throughout the Epistle a firm and manly tone, the perfect opposite of all effeminate and sentimental enthusiasm" (e.g. 1:6-10; 2:19; 3:6-10; 4:1-2; etc.).[96]This tone is likewise prevalent in the Comma which tersely presents the truth of an important doctrine, leaving the reader with no room to question. 

John's writings are also characterized by contrasts.  According to Tidwell, "the ordinary contrasts cover almost the same words and ideas of the Gospel such as life and death, light and darkness, righteousness and unrighteousness with several others and with the addition of Christ and anti-Christ."  The Comma, in particular, feeds the contrast which John creates between Jesus Christ and Antichrist (cf. 2:18-23).Jesus Christ is God (cf. 5:7-8).Antichrist, on the other hand, is the one who denies this fact (cf. 2:22). 

One final aspect of John's style that is worthy of consideration with respect to the Comma, is parallelism.  I John is filled with both positive and negative parallelism.  For example, the Apostle writes in 1:5, "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all," and in 1:9, "Forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  I John 5:7-8, the Comma included, also contains parallelism, a synthetic type to be exact.  The three heavenly witnesses (Father, Word, and Holy Ghost) and the three earthly witnesses (Spirit, water, and blood) are actually the same three witnesses.  As Oliver Greene argues, "Therefore, since the Trinity - the Father, Word, and the Holy Ghost - bear record in heaven, it is these three who also bear record in earth."[97]In other words, the promulgation of the three earthly witnesses serves to expand or elaborate on the role of the three heavenly witnesses.  The earthly witnesses are sourced in the heavenly witnesses.  The "blood" refers to the blood of God (cf. Acts 20:28) while the "water" is a reference to Jesus Christ at his baptism.  The "Spirit," of course, is the third member of the Godhead.  This particular type of parallelism is very common with John and could conceivably be called a chiasmus in this particular instance. 

A. Father 

B. Word     <------------------------------Heavenly Witnesses 

C. Holy Ghost 

A'.Blood 

If the Comma is omitted, the chiasmic structure falls apart. 

Altogether, the Johannine Comma reflects John's rhetorical style.  Fuller points out, "The connexion of the passage is altogether in its favor.  The phraseology is that of the Apostle John; so that if the words are not his, it must have been the most successful imitation of him that can be imagined."[98]