In light of Rob Bell’s claim in Love Wins  that orthodoxy is wide and diverse I have been exploring historic orthodoxy.  In part 1, narrow orthodoxy was defined as the basic set of Christian essential doctrine that has been held throughout the history of the church. It does not incorporate speculative theological ideas.  Wide orthodoxy was defined as encompassing all the varying and often speculative teachings found in church history. I have asserted that orthodoxy is narrow. In part 2 we looked at what  Irenaeus listed as the essential apostolic tradition that was handed down. We examined these beliefs with one of the earliest creeds – the Apostle’s Creed . Irenaeus who lived in both Asia Minor and Gaul during his life was writing around 180 AD.

The main two points from that study was that the Scripture were accepted as the basis for doctrine and that the tenets of the Apostle’s Creed were considered the essential truths. Today we are going to look at Tertullian and see if these two points hold up. Continue reading →