This useful work represents the substance of a course of lectures delivered by the author, as Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, in the Lent and Easter terms of 1825. The second edition makes use of the insights from August Neander's work Antignosticus Geist des Tertullians (The Anti-Gnostic Spirit of Tertullian) and discusses that work at length in the Preface. Contents 1. On Tertullian and His Writings 2. On the External History of the Church 3. On the State of Letters and Philosophy 4. On the Government of the Church 5. On the Doctrine of the Church 6. On the Ceremonies Used in the Church 7. Concerning the Heresies and Divisions Which Troubled the Church John Kaye (1783-1853) was Bishop of Bristol and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Among his publications are: The First Apology of Justin Martyr, Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of Clement of Alexandria, and Some Account of the Council of Nicea.