The works of Nathaniel Lardner - The Christian Researcher - Home

The Manichees. Sect. VI. 421
* scriptures, by which their impious opinions are clearly
' confuted, and Avliich therefore tliey cannot nrest to their
' purpose, are not riglit : which wrong- things however they
' do not ascribe to the apostles, but to some unknown cor-
' rupters of the same scriptures. 13nt since they cannot
'justify themselves by the more numerous, or more ancient
' copies, nor by the authority of the original language, from
' which the Latin copies have been translated, their foolish
' assertion is easily confuted.'
(2) In his book to his friend Ilonoratus, Augustine
observes: ' Their' opinion is, that some unknown men, who
' were desirous to mix the law with the gospel, had inter-
' polated the scriptures of the New Testament before the
' time of Mani. But,' says he, ' this opinion of theirs always
' appeared to be extremely absurd and unreasonable. It
* appeared so to me when I was among them : and not to me
' only, but to you, and to others also who had any good
' degree of understanding. But I am now still more per-
' suaded of the egregious folly of such an opinion, since
' they cannot make it out by the difference of the copies of
' scripture.'
(3) In another place Augustine says, ' the*" books of
* scripture could not be corrupted. If such an attempt had
* been made by any one, his design would have been pre-
' vented and defeated. His alterations would have been
' immediately detected by many and more ancient copies.
' The difficulty of succeeding in such an attempt is apparent
* hence, that the scriptures were early translated into divers
' languages, and copies of them were numerous. The
' alterations, which any one attempted to make, would have
' been soon perceived : just even as now,' says he, ' in fact
' Voliint enim nescio quos corruptores divinorum librorum ante ipsius
Manichaei tcmpora fuisse : corrupisse autem illos, qui Judffiorum legem evangelio
miscere cupiebant. De Ut. Cred. c. 3. n. 7. sub f. Quse vox mihi
semper quidem, etiam cum eos audirem, invalidissima visa est ; nee mihi soli,
sed etiam tibi, (nam bene memini,) ct nobis omnibus, qui paulo majorcra
diligentiam in judicando habere conabamur, quam turba credentium. Nunc
vero— nihil mihi videtur ab eis impudentius dici, vel, ut mitius loquar, incuri-
osius et imbecillius, quam scriptur':is divinas esse conuplas ; cum id nullrs in
tam recenti memoria exstantibus exemplaribus possint convincere. ib. n. 7. in.
'" quid faceretis, dicite mihi, nisi clamarctis, nullo modo vospotuisse
falsare codices, qui jam in manibus essent omnium chrislianorum ? quia mox,
ut facere coepissctis, vetustiorum exemplarium veritatcconvinceremini. Qua
igifur causa a vobis corrumpi non possent, hac causa a neminc potuerunt.
Quisquis cnim hoc primitus ausus esset, raultorum codicum vetustiorum colla-
tione confutaretur ; maxime, quia non una lingua sed multis eadem scriptura
contineretur. Nam etiamnum nonnullae codicum mendositates vel de antiqui-
oribus, vel de lingua praecedente, emendantur. Contr. Faust. 1. 32. c. 16. f.