1 Tim. iii. 16. On account of the well-known textual controversy among Biblicists, this passage, as quoted by Augustin, is so far valuable, as it shows us how he read and understood the point in dispute, namely, whether it is “God was manifested” (as in our English version), or, “Who [which] was manifested,” as here by Augustin; in other words, whether the original text read Θεός or ὅς before ἐφανερώθη. The evidence is almost equally divided between the two; and the difficulty is chiefly caused by the circumstance, that in the earliest mss., the Uncial, ΘΕΟΣ (God) is usually written in a contracted form, consisting of the first and last letters, ΘΣ, which differs from the pronoun ὅς (who), written ΟΣ, merely by the little line inside the Θ, and another line over the contraction; both of which may have been unintentionally omitted at the time of copying, or purposely inserted at an after date. To us now, the question is of less importance, as, if the true reading be ὅς (who), its antecedent can only be Χριστός (Christ). [The R.V., in accordance with the oldest mss. and the best critical edition, reads: “He who (ὅς) was manifested”—Tr.]