Augustine on Manichaean arguments about the integrity of the Bible

“Even before I left Carthage I had listened to the speeches of a man named Elpidius, who used to join in open controversy with the Manichees, and I had been impressed when he put forard arguments from Scripture which were not easy to demolish.  I htought that the Manichees’ answer was weak and, in fact, they were chary of giving it in public and only mentioned it in private to adherents of the sect.  They claimed that the books of the New Testament had been tampered with by unnamed persons who wished to impose the Jewish law upon the Christian faith, but they could produce no uncorrupted copies.” – Augustine’s Confessions, Book V, par. 11.

 

Interesting that even in the fourth century, there were claims that the Bible had been altered, but no proof could be provided for the claim.

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