The subject of this publication is the treatise Aduersus Manichaeos, attributed to Evodius of Uzalis. Evodius was a friend and contemporary of Augustine of Hippo. The treatise Aduersus Manichaeos is an important source on the North African Catholic church and its polemics against the Manichaeans. Although the treatise is strongly influenced by the anti-Manichaean writings of Augustine of Hippo, it also offers much original and likely authentic information on the Manichaean movement. Thus far, however, no systematic study had been conducted on this anti-Manichaean treatise attributed to Evodius. As a result, some of its historical circumstances have been shrouded in mystery.

The present volume reconstructs the circumstances in which Aduersus Manichaeos was written, and studies the treatise in relation to its fifth-century North African context. The study offers a literary, historical and theological analysis of Aduersus Manichaeos. The publication also complements the study of Aduersus Manichaeos with a new critical edition of the original Latin text, with a facing English translation.

"Abgesehen von den monierten Kleinigkeiten stellt das Buch mit seiner profunden Zusammenstellung manichäischer Theologie im Allgemeinen und der Einbettung des Werks in seinen geistesgeschichtlichen Kontext im Besonderen eine Bereicherung der Forschung da, zu der man seinem Verfasser uneingeschränkt gratulieren darf." (Clemens Weidmann, in Plekos 23, 2021, S. 435-443, https://www.plekos.uni-muenchen.de/2021/r-vanspauwen.pdf).

"In Defence of Faith is an impressive and comprehensive work of scholarship. (...) A wide range of scholars across guilds (historical, theological, and philological) will find invaluable aspects of Vanspauwen's study. (...) the translation and critical apparatus are of singular importance." (Thomas Clemmons, in Augustiniana 71/2, 2021, p. 520-523)