A Man of Single Purpose

IN THE early morning hours of Thursday, January 23, 1975, John Otto Groh ended forty-one years of devoted service to Jehovah his God. To those of Jehovah’s witnesses who knew him, he will be remembered as a man of single purpose. He was born at Kulm, North Dakota, on July 3, 1906, and as a young man became a university-trained research metallurgist. Then, in April 1934, he was baptized and eight years later he and his wife Helen began devoting their full time to the publishing of the good news of God’s kingdom in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They became members of the Brooklyn Bethel family in 1953, and Brother Groh in time became the chief purchaser for the Watchtower Society. He was a member of the world governing body of Jehovah’s witnesses. Many will also remember Brother Groh for the key part he played in supervising many large assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses in New York and elsewhere. At the Memorial service held in the Brooklyn Bethel Kingdom Hall numerous business acquaintances were among those present to hear about the happy hope that this friendly man of single purpose pursued. As the speaker on that occasion said, Brother Groh had come off victorious by his faithful course. (1 Cor. 15:57) Of him, along with other anointed ones who complete their earthly assignment, it can be said: “For the things they did go right with them.”​—Rev. 14:13.

Any Proof of the Trinity in 1 John 5:7, 8?

LONG have Bible scholars questioned the authenticity of certain words found at 1 John 5:7, 8. But since these words do appear in the Textus Receptus (“Received Text”), they are found in the King James, the Douay and other versions. As increasing evidence proved the words spurious, however, those believing in the Trinity seem to have taken a delaying action against expunging them from Bible translations.

For example, the noted English Roman Catholic Bible scholar Monsignor Knox has a footnote in his translation (1944) saying: “This verse does not occur in any good Greek manuscript. But the Latin versions may have preserved the true text.” And in its main text the Catholic Confraternity translation (1941) reads: “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one.” In a footnote, this translation states: “According to the evidence of many manuscripts, and the majority of commentators, these verses should read: ‘And there are three who give testimony, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three are one.’” Nevertheless, the footnote adds: “The Holy See reserves to itself the right to pass finally on the origin of the present reading.”

A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953) presumes to explain how the Father, the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit all give testimony to Christ’s divinity. Then, in explanation of the words “and these three are one,” this work states that they “have one identical nature.” However, it then refers to another page (which most readers probably would not consult). There one finds an admission that this passage now is generally held to be a gloss that crept into the Old Latin, Vulgate and Greek manuscripts. Since that is true, why attempt to explain it?

In contrast is the footnote appearing in The Jerusalem Bible (1966), which does not have the added words in the main text. It states: “Vulg[ate] vv. 1 Jo 5:7-8 read as follows ‘There are three witnesses in heaven: the Father the Word and the Spirit, and these three are one; there are three witnesses on earth: the Spirit the water and the blood’. The words in italics (not in any of the early Greek MSS, or any of the early