Tertullian Quotes
He has inhibited discussion by designating admonition as the method of dealing with a heretic- and the first method, too, because he is not a Christian. This is so that he would not seem to require correction again and again and before two or three witnesses as though he were a Christian. He ought to be corrected for the very reason that he is not to be disputed with. In addition, this is said because a controversy over the Scriptures can, clearly, produce no other effect than help to upset either the stomach or the brain.
Tertullian. "The Prescription Against Heretics." Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, edited by Alexander Roberts et al., Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885, p. 251.
This quotation which appears on the surface to be simply a petulant Pope overreacting to some criticism about the church doctrine and custom of holy communion, was the trigger for one of the most momentous events in Western history—the schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church." Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg (German)
Tertullian (/tərˈtʌliən/; Latin: Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; c. 155 – c. AD 220) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. Of Berber origin, he was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He was an early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy, including contemporary Christian Gnosticism. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology."