Grant, then, that all have erred; that the apostle was mistaken in giving his testimony; that the Holy Ghost had no such respect to any one (church) as to lead it into truth, although sent with this view by Christ, [2146] and for this asked of the Father that He might be the teacher of truth; [2147] grant, also, that He, the Steward of God, the Vicar of Christ, [2148] neglected His office, permitting the churches for a time to understand differently, (and) to believe differently, what He Himself was preaching by the apostles, -- is it likely that so many churches, and they so great, should have gone astray into one and the same faith? No casualty distributed among many men issues in one and the same result. Error of doctrine in the churches must necessarily have produced various issues. When, however, that which is deposited among many is found to be one and the same, it is not the result of error, but of tradition. Can any one, then, be reckless [2149] enough to say that they were in error who handed on the tradition?

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Footnotes:

[2146] John 14:26.

[2147] John 15:26.

[2148] [Tertullian knows no other Vicar of Christ than the Holy Spirit. They who attribute infallibility to any mortal man become Montanists; they attribute the Paraclete's voice to their oracle.]

[2149] Audeat.