The thought is Augustine’s. It closes Reply to Faustus the Manichaean (Contra Faustum), Book XVII, §3, which Richard Stothert translated in 1887 as “For to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel.” The familiar wording, beginning “If you believe what you like in the gospels…”, is a later paraphrase. No verified translation contains it.
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself” a modern paraphrase of Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean XVII.3 (trans. Richard Stothert, 1887: “For to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel.”)
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Provenance
Where the idea actually appears
Work
Contra Faustum Manichaeum (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean), Book XVII, §3
Written
c. 400 (Augustine’s chronology is approximate)
Translation
Richard Stothert, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 4, ed. Philip Schaff (1887)
Popular wording
A modern paraphrase. Earliest attribution on Wikiquote: George Sweeting, Who Said That? (1995)
Your evasions are met on every side. You ought to say plainly that you do not believe the gospel of Christ. For to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel.
Book XVII, §3
Stothert’s 1887 translation, as reproduced on New Advent ↗. Augustine is answering Faustus, who had rejected a saying of Jesus recorded in Matthew (“came not to destroy… but to fulfill” the law and the prophets). Faustus argued that Matthew was not yet a disciple when it was spoken, and that John, who was present, does not record it. The popular quote condenses Augustine’s last sentence and adds “in the gospels” and “reject what you don’t like.”
New Advent: Reply to Faustus, Book XVII ↗. Section 3 ends: “For to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel.” Credited to Richard Stothert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 4 (1887).
Wikiquote: Augustine of Hippo ↗. Lists the popular wording under “Disputed” and gives George Sweeting’s Who Said That? (1995) as the earliest attribution found. It notes that online sources never say which work the line comes from.
The popular wording is an anonymous modern paraphrase. Its first appearance is unknown (Wikiquote’s earliest attribution is 1995), so we assert no rights status for it. The underlying passage, in Richard Stothert’s translation in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers vol. 4 (1887), is a pre-1931 publication and is in the public domain in the US.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Real idea, rewritten words
Most fake Augustine quotes have no source at all. This one does have a real source, but the words people share are not his, nor any verified translation of his. A sharper modern paraphrase has replaced them.
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The ideaAugustine, Reply to Faustus XVII.3 Genuine
Augustine tells the Manichaean Faustus that accepting only the parts of the gospel that suit him means trusting himself, not the gospel: “For to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel” (Stothert trans., 1887 ↗).
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The wordingModern paraphrase, author unknown Paraphrase
“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself” matches no verified translation. Wikiquote ↗ files it under Disputed and gives George Sweeting’s Who Said That? (1995) as the earliest attribution.
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The citationOnline quote sites Unsourced
Wikiquote notes that online sources “always attribute the quote to Augustine, but never specify in which of his works it is to be found” (Wikiquote ↗). The missing reference is Contra Faustum XVII.3.
✓Credit the idea to Augustine, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean XVII.3. When quoting him, use a real translation: “to believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel” (Stothert, 1887 ↗).
Context
Why Augustine said it
Faustus was a Manichaean bishop. The Manichaeans accepted parts of the New Testament and rejected others. In Book XVII of Augustine’s reply, Faustus doubts that Jesus ever said he came “not to destroy” the law and the prophets. His reason is that only Matthew records it, and Matthew had not yet been called when it was said. Augustine answers that Faustus readily trusts Mani, who was not there either. He concludes that Faustus “ought to say plainly that you do not believe the gospel of Christ” (New Advent ↗).
So the original line was a rebuke in an argument over scripture, aimed at a particular opponent’s selective canon. The modern paraphrase turns it into a general maxim about cherry-picking scripture. Augustine’s point supports that reading, but the polished wording is not his.
To believe what you please, and not to believe what you please, is to believe yourselves, and not the gospel.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
354–430 · Bishop of Hippo Regius, theologian & Church Father
Augustine was born at Thagaste in Roman North Africa and died as Bishop of Hippo Regius. He wrote the Confessions and The City of God. As a young man he followed the Manichaeans for years. After his conversion he wrote long polemics against them, including a point-by-point Reply to Faustus the Manichaean.
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Cite this
Primary source (translation)
Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean (Contra Faustum), bk. 17, §3, trans. Richard Stothert, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 4, ed. Philip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887). The popular wording is a modern paraphrase; its earliest attribution on Wikiquote is George Sweeting, Who Said That? (1995).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/if-you-believe-what-you-like-in-the-gospels-and-reject-what/