The apostles did not hand down a hidden gospel, Augustine confesses that the entire human life is a battlefield of temptation, and Aquinas explains that true devotion is not merely emotion but the willing offering of oneself to God. In Tertullian’s Prescription Against Heretics, the unity of apostolic doctrine is defended against those who claimed secret teachings beyond the public faith once delivered to the Church. Augustine’s Confessions reveals the restless struggle of the soul caught between joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity, crying out to God for mercy and grace. Aquinas then brings these themes together by showing that devotion grows through meditation upon God’s goodness and through humble recognition of our own weakness. Together these readings remind us that Christianity is not sustained by hidden revelations, p ...