It is common knowledge that the manuscripts of the Gospel differ, and that the manuscripts of the Psalms differ to an even greater extent. In any case, no rational person can say that it is impossible for some copies to have been altered. Yet if they contend, “None of them has been altered, for they are all one discourse with identical wording in every language,” such a claim is baseless for two reasons.

First, to claim certain knowledge that every manuscript is identical is an even bolder assertion than merely claiming that alteration is possible. If tampering with every copy were truly impossible, then for a single individual to know the contents of them all—and that their wording is perfectly uniform despite the diversity of languages—would be even more impossible.

Second, the claim contradicts observable reality. Variations among the manuscripts of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms do in fact exist; we have seen them with our own eyes, and others have seen them as well. I have examined several copies of the Psalms that differ from one another in many passages, and we have observed certain wordings in the Torah transmitted by one group—who keep it in writing and insist it is the authentic Torah conveyed to them by continuous transmission—that conflict with the wording of the Torah possessed by another group; the same holds true for the Gospel.

In sum, their statement, “This cannot be, because all the manuscripts are one discourse with identical wording in every language,” contains two faults: it rests on a false claim and an unsound argument. Their declaration, “This is impossible,” is sheer obstinacy, for the possibility of altering some manuscripts is something no rational person can dispute. Yet someone might object: “If some copies were altered and that became known, it would spread…”