The Authority of the Septuagint

From the very first there have been in the churches of God, and especially in the church of Jerusalem, plenty of men who were born Jews and became Christians. Their perfect command of both languages, and their sufficient knowledge of the law, is shown by the way they carried out the office of bishop. In all this abundance of learned men, has there been a single one who dared to make havoc of the divine record handed down to the churches by the apostles and the deposit of the Holy Spirit? For what can we call it but havoc, when some parts of it are transformed, and this is called the correction of an error? For instance, the whole story of Susanna, which taught the churches of God a lesson in chastity, has been cut out by him, thrown aside and dismissed. The hymn of the three young men, which is regularly sung at festivals in the church of God, he has wholly erased from the place where it stood. But why should I list these cases one by one, when their number cannot be reckoned? [a]

This, however, cannot be passed over. The seventy translators, each in his own separate cell, produced a version in harmonious and identical words, under the inspiration, as we cannot doubt, of the Holy Spirit. That version must certainly carry more authority with us than a translation made by a single man under the inspiration of Barabbas.

But setting that aside, I ask you to listen to this, as one example of what we mean. Peter was bishop of the church of Rome for twenty-four years. We cannot doubt that, among the other things the church needed for its instruction, he himself delivered to them the treasury of the sacred books, which no doubt had even then begun to be read under his presidency and teaching. What are we to say, then? Did Peter, the apostle of Christ, deceive the church, and deliver to them books that were false and had nothing of truth in them? Are we to believe that he knew the Jews had what was true, and yet decided that the Christians should have what was false? But perhaps the answer will be that Peter was unlettered, and that although he knew the books of the Jews were truer than those the church had, he could not translate them into Latin because he lacked the language. What then! Was the tongue of fire given by the Holy Spirit from heaven of no use to him? Did not the apostles speak in every language?