Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 15
They argue from Scripture and try to win people over with Scripture; after all, where else could they possibly speak about the faith except from the documents of the faith? We have now reached the very point we were driving at, the point this introduction was designed to bring us to: the issue on which our opponents challenge us. They flaunt the Scriptures, and that sheer nerve instantly sways some listeners. In the actual clash, however, they merely exhaust the strong, ensnare the weak, and leave the undecided with a nagging doubt. That is exactly why we bar this move: we refuse to let them into any debate over Scripture at all. If that is the only strength they possess, then we must determine who actually owns the Scriptures, so that no one who has no claim to them is admitted to them.
Latin
Sed ipsi de Scripturis agunt, et de Scripturis suadent. Aliunde scilicet loqui possent de rebus fidei, nisi ex literis fidei? Venimus igitur ad propositum: huc enim dirigebamus, et hoc praestruebamus allocutionis praefatione, ut jam hinc de eo congrediamur, de quo adversarii provocant. Scripturas obtendunt, et hac sua audacia statim quosdam movent; in ipso vero congressu firmos quidem fatigant, infirmos capiunt, medios cum scrupulo dimittunt. Hunc igitur potissimum gradum obstruimus, non admittendos eos ad ullam de Scripturis disputationem. Si hae sunt illae vires eorum, uti eas habere possint, dispici debet cui competat possessio Scripturarum, ne is admittatur ad eas, cui nullo modo competit.