Irenaeus Against Heresies Book IV And not alone by what has been stated, but also by the parable of the two sons, the younger of whom consumed his substance by living luxuriously with harlots, did the Lord teach one and the same Father, who did not even allow a kid to his elder son; but for him who had been lost, [namely] his younger son, he ordered the fatted calf to be killed, and he gave him the best robe.[589] Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book II For it were not seemly that we, after the fashion of the rich man's son in the Gospel,[23] Tertullian On Repentance That most gentle father, likewise, I will not pass over in silence, who calls his prodigal son home, and willingly receives him repentant after his indigence, slays his best fatted calf, and graces his joy with a banquet.[82] Tertullian Of Patience patience.[132]