Theme: Discernment, illumination, and rightly ordered delight guard the soul. These three readings form a tight pastoral sequence: in Tertullian (Chapters 4–6) we hear apostolic warnings against heresy and schism and are reminded that heresy is often a willful turning away from the apostolic rule; Augustine (Book 11, Ch. 3) amplifies that warning by locating true illumination in the Creator’s light—what the first “Let there be light” signifies for the spiritual creature; and Aquinas (Question 10) completes the arc by explaining enjoyment as a willful rest in a good apprehended by the intellect. Put together they teach us how to discern false teachers (test their conformity to apostolic doctrine), how to seek the transforming light that makes created goods intelligible, and how to train the will to enjoy rightly so that desire does not become a spring of division or idolatry. The pastoral thrust is plain: test teachings by the apostolic rule, receive the illuminating grace that converts desire, and let enjoyment follow possession only when the will is ordered by truth. (Matt. 7:15; Gal. 1:8; Gen. 1:3; Ps. 36:9; Ps. 16:11)

• Readings: Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum, Chapters 4–6

• Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 3 (Genesis 1:3 — Of “Light”)

• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 10 (Of Enjoyment)

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• #Tertullian #Augustine #Aquinas #Confessions #Enjoyment #SpiritualDiscernment

Theme: How truth resists counterfeit wisdom and the will must be ordered to the good. In these readings we face three related dangers and remedies: Tertullian shows how pagan philosophy supplies the raw materials for heresy, turning speculative systems into counterfeit gospels and seducing curious minds with dialectical sleights; Augustine responds theologically by reminding us that all things come from the plenitude of God’s goodness—creation is not a patch to fill God’s lack but a gift to be converted toward the fountain of life; Aquinas then brings this home practically by showing how the will’s intention must be rightly formed by the intellect so that our actions cohere toward true ends. Read together they warn: refuse the temptation to graft speculative systems onto the apostolic faith; receive instead the Scriptural light that locates all created goods in their dependence on God; and let the intellect and will collaborate so that our choices aim at rightly ordered enjoyment of the good rather than at private curiosity or prestige. These readings press a single pastoral conclusion — guard the deposit of faith, pursue illumination, and order your loves so that delight follows possession of what is truly good. (Matt. 7:15; Col. 2:8; Gen. 1:3; Ps. 36:9; Phil. 3:14)

• Readings: Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum, Chapters 7–8

• Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 4 (All things created by the grace of God)

• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 12 (Of Intention)

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• #Tertullian #Confessions #SummaTheologica #Heresy #Intention #Creation

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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#Tertullian #Praescriptio #RegulaFidei #EcclesialMemory

Aquinas is center stage: his technical distinctions disentangle proximate from remote causality so that the will’s interior act remains responsible even as God orders the causal chain; Augustine supplies the existential stakes—souls are made for the divine life and must be formed to persevere; Origen furnishes the ontological backdrop in which invisible realities and created participation make sense. The trio gives a balanced pastoral-theological framework: beware cosmic determinism, embrace interior formation, and recognize divine sovereignty without abrogating moral agency. (Philippians 2:12–13; Colossians 1:17; Psalm 139:1)

Readings:

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 9, Articles 5–6

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapters 1–2

Origen, De Principiis, Book 4, Chapters 31–37

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#Aquinas #Will #DivineCausality #PastoralTheology

Augustine’s voice is primary here: he asks how inchoate matter or spirit could “deserve” being and insists that receiving created being is pure gift; Origen supplies the metaphysical frame showing how turning to the Word enlightens the darksome deep; Aquinas supplies pastoral-theological purchase by clarifying how the will receives and responds—God grounds the capacity and orders the motion of the will, while proximate interior apprehension determines moral direction. The three readings together sharpen pastoral confidence: created things exist by God’s goodness, human participation is graded and fragile, and the soul’s persistence depends on interior orientation to the divine Form. (Psalm 90:2; Colossians 1:16; Romans 8:29)

Readings:

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 1

Origen, De Principiis, Book 4, Chapters 35–37

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 9, Articles 5–6

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#Augustine #Creation #Participation #ChurchFathers

Let us hold the difference between word and garment clearly: Origen shows how the Word makes visible and invisible realities intelligible while warning that language often masks rather than reveals; Augustine presses the inward drama—creatures receive being and may relapse into darkness unless they hold fast to God’s light; Aquinas ties those insights to agency, arguing that the will is moved not by stars or mere outward force but by an interior apprehension of the good, with external things and divine causality serving only as mediate occasions. Read together, the three offer a single arc: the cosmos is ordered by the Logos, human nature participates in that light yet remains fragile, and moral agency is properly interior even as it stands within a divinely ordered causal economy. (Colossians 1:15–17; Psalm 22:27; Philippians 2:13)

Readings:

Origen, De Principiis, Book 4, Chapters 31–34

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 2

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 9, Articles 5–6

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#Origen #Confessions #SummaTheologica #Logos #HistoricalTheology

A short, practical theme: formation — how God shapes desire through rite, reading, and reason. Today we listen for formation: Orienor emphasizes how covenantal practices (plagues, tabernacle, Jordan) form a people to thirst and receive greater things; Augustine models a posture we must adopt—intellectual humility that allows Scripture to yield multiple, complementary truths; and Aquinas translates both into moral theology, showing how the intellect’s presentation of the good orders the will and how training the intellect (through study and habit) changes what moves our will. The practical takeaway: tend your mind with Christian practices and careful reading so your will is steadily trained toward the true and lasting good. (Isaiah 6:3; Romans 11:33; Hebrews 8:5)

Readings:

Orienor, De Principiis (Peri Archon), "On First Principles", Book 2, Chapters 24–26

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 31 (Section 42)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 8 (Combined Articles)

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#Orienor #Augustine #Aquinas #Formation #SpiritualFormation #HistoricalTheology

A short, unifying theme: how shadows and types teach us to want the true good. In today’s three readings we trace a single thread: Orienor shows how the Old Testament rites and wanderings are divinely ordered types that train the soul toward heavenly realities; Augustine reminds us that a single sacred voice may hold many true meanings and that humility before Scripture opens us to truths beyond our present grasp; and Thomas Aquinas brings those movements together practically, arguing that the will is formally ordered to the good as apprehended by reason, and that particulars move us only insofar as they appear as participations of that universal good. Together they move us from typology and patient study, to humble receptivity, to a disciplined moral psychology that explains why we choose and how we should train the intellect to present the good rightly to the will. (Hebrews 8:5; Romans 11:33–34; Revelation 14:6)

Readings:

Orienor, De Principiis (Peri Archon), "On First Principles", Book 2, Chapters 24–26

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 31 (Section 42)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 8 (Combined Articles)

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#Orienor #Augustine #Aquinas #ChurchFathers #Confessions #SummaTheologica