Against the Philosophers

Atque utinam nullas haereses oportuisset existere, ut probabiles quique emicarent. Nihil omnino cum philosophis super anima quoque experiremur, patriarchis, ut ita dixerim, haereticorum, siquidem et ab apostolo iam tunc philosophia concussio ueritatis prouidebatur; Athenis enim expertus linguatam ciuitatem cum omnes illic sapientiae atque facundiae caupones degustasset, inde concepit praemonitorium illud edictum.  Proinde enim et animae ratio per philosophatas doctrinas hominum miscentes aquas uino: alii immortalem negant animam, alii plus quam immortalem adfirmant, alii de substantia, alii de forma, alii de unaquaque dispositione disceptant; hi statum eius aliunde deducunt, hi exitum aliorsum abducunt, prout aut Platonis honor aut Zenonis uigor aut Aristotelis tenor aut Epicuri stupor aut Heracliti maeror aut Empedoclis furor persuaserunt. Deliquit, opinor, diuina doctrina ex Iudaea potius quam ex Graecia oriens. Errauit et Christus piscatores citius quam sophistam ad praeconium emittens. Si qua igitur in hunc modum de nidoribus philosophiae candidum et purum aerem ueritatis infuscant, ea erunt Christianis enubilanda et percutientibus argumentationes originales, id est philosophicas, et opponentibus definitiones caelestes, id est dominicas, ut et illa quibus ethnici a philosophia capiuntur, destruantur, et haec quibus fideles ab haeresi concutiuntur, retundantur.  Tertullianus, De Anima

Would to God that no heresies had existed that the approved might be made manifest. We should then never about the soul have to grapple with philosophers, those patriarchs, for so they may be entitled, of heretics. The Apostle in his own time foresaw that philosophy would do injury to the truth. Having experienced that chattering city of Athens, having tasted all its wisdom and the hawkers of it he coined that monitory edict. This is the account of the soul according to the doctrines of such philosophical men, who mix water with wine: some deny the immortality of the soul, others affirm that it is more than immortal, others give judgement about its substance, others about its form, others about its faculties. One group draws it forth from various sources, while another leads it off to different destinations.In so far as they honour Plato, or the vigour of Zeno, or the way of Aristotle, or the stupor of Epicurus, or the mourning of Heraclitus, or the madness of Empedocles, so are they persuaded. The Divine doctrine errs, I suppose, because it arose in Judea rather than Greece. And Christ made a mistake in sending forth fishermen to preach rather than intellectuals. Therefore whatever fumes of philosophy obscure the bright and pure air of truth, it will be for Christians to clear the clouds by piercing the original arguments, that is, the philosophical ones, and by opposing to them heavenly definitions, that is, those of the Lord, thus that by which philosophy captivates the Gentiles may be destroyed, and that by which the faithful are shaken by heretics may be blunted. Tertullian, On the Soul