 As Carroll observes, the projection of the term “fideism” ahistorically – onto thinkers as removed from the context in which it originated as Tertullian – is potentially the source of much confusion, given that the meanings of key terms like “faith” and “reason” vary dramatically from one context to another. Moreover, the term’s presently widespread pejorative connotations render “fideism” problematic as a descriptive category.