Peter Martyr Vermigli on 1 John 5:7

I was just doing some reading in Peter Martyr Vermigli’s Commonplaces tonight and came across his treatment of 1 John 5:7–8. Vermigli (1499–1562) was a major Italian Reformer who seems to be gaining renewed appreciation today. 

In his section defending the divinity of the Holy Spirit, he brings up 1 John 5:7. What caught my attention is that he does not think he needs the Comma to prove the Trinity since he finds everything he needs theologically in the part of the text that is not in question. What’s interesting about this is that this same trinitarian interpretation of the three (earthly) witnesses is the most likely cause the the clause about the three heavenly witnesses. In other words, because Vermigli follows the early interpretation of 1 John 5:7–8, he does not need to follow the later text of it to prove his point. Had later theologians followed his lead, the debate about these verses might have been far less extended and acrimonious.

Here’s his discussion. The full source is here.