1 John 4:3

1 John 4:3 mh. o`mologei/ {A}

In place of mh. o`mologei/ several versional and patristic witnesses substitute the remarkable reading lu,ei (“Every spirit that annuls Jesus is not of God”) or solvit (“severs”). Although several scholars (including Zahn, Harnack, Büchsel [in Kittel], Preisker) have argued that lu,ei is the original reading, the Committee preferred mh. o`mologei/ because of overwhelming external support. The origin of lu,ei is probably to be sought in second century polemic against Gnostics who made a distinction between the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ.