silence" arguments, looking at the extant early church writer material, should not be given much weight as reflecting absence in the manuscripts—with the exception of verse-by-verse homilies, which were uncommon in the Ante-Nicene era. Origen's scholium on Psalm 123:2 In the scholium on Psalm 123 attributed to Origen is the commentary: This has been considered by many commentators, including the translation source Nathaniel Ellsworth Cornwall, as an allusion to verse 7. Ellsworth especially noted the Richard Porson comment in response to the evidence of the Psalm commentary: "The critical chemistry which could extract the doctrine of the Trinity from this place must have been exquisitely refining". Fabricius wrote about the Origen wording "ad locum 1 Joh v. 7 alludi ab origene non est dubitandum". Athanasius and Arius at the Council of Nicea Traditionally, Athanasius was considered to lend support to the authenticity of the verse, one reason being the Disputation with Arius at the Council of Nicea which circulated with the works of Athanasius, where is found: Today, many scholars consider this a later work Pseudo-Athanasius, perhaps by Maximus the Confessor. Charles Forster in New Plea argues for the writing as stylistically Athanasius. While the author and date are debated, this is a Greek reference directly related to the doctrinal Trinitarian-Arian controversies, and one that purports to be an account of Nicaea when those doctrinal battles were raging. The reference was given in UBS-3 as supporting verse inclusion, yet was removed from UBS-4 for reasons unknown. The Synopsis of Scripture, often ascribed to Athanasius, has also been referenced as indicating awareness of the Comma. Priscillian of Avila The earliest quotation which some scholars consider a direct reference to the heavenly witnesses from the First Epistle of John is from the Spaniard Priscillian . The Latin reads: The English translation: Theodor Zahn calls this "the earliest quotation of the passage which is certain and which can be definitely dated (circa 380)", a view expressed by Westcott, Brooke, Metzger and others. Priscillian was probably a Sabellianist or Modalist Monarchian. Some interpreters have theorized that Priscillian created the . However, there are signs of the , although no certain attestations, even before Priscillian". And Priscillian in the same section references The Unity of the Church section from Cyprian. In the early 1900s the Karl Künstle theory of Priscillian origination and interpolation was popular: "The verse is an interpolation, first quoted and perhaps introduced