Theme: Defend the deposit — a single rule of faith guards the church from endless seeking and private gospels. Tertullian insists that Christ has given one definite deposit of doctrine — one God, the Creator by the Word made flesh, the life, death, resurrection, ascension, sending of the Spirit, final judgement and the resurrection of the body — and that to seek beyond that deposit is to open the door to perpetual doubt and division. Augustine reads the first verses of Genesis and sees there the triune God at work — Father, Word, and Spirit — a canonical sight that anchors belief in a concrete revelation, not in speculative systems. Aquinas on choice reminds us that practical deliberation about means must be disciplined by a settled end; when the church holds one faith and believers choose means ordered to that end, the life of the congregation is preserved from the restlessness of curious, novelty-seeking factions. Together these readings urge fidelity to the apostolic rule, caution against feigned “seeking,” and a practical theology that orders the intellect and will to the one faith. (Jude 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16; Genesis 1:1–2; Romans 10:17)
• Readings: Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum, Chapters 13–16
Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 5 (The Trinity in Genesis 1)
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 13 (Of Choice)
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