Tertullian’s De praescriptione provides a sharply juridical defense of ecclesial authority: the Church’s long possession of apostolic teaching (as embodied in baptismal formulas, prayers, and liturgy) confers a prescriptive right against novelty; Augustine’s insistence on inward formation and Origen’s metaphysical sense of participation together problematize mere procedural claims if the Church’s memory is not embodied in faithful life, while Aquinas reminds us that causality and moral agency still require interior apprehension; read together the set invites Christians to weigh institutional continuity, inward holiness, and coherent causation when adjudicating doctrinal claims. (Matthew 28:19; 1 John 2:19; Psalm 22:27)
Readings:
Tertullian, De praescriptione haereticorum (On the Prescription of Heretics)
Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 2
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 9, Articles 5–6
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