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Jul 5, 2016 · Tertullian opens The Apology by laying out his case before the Roman rulers: “Your hatred [of] the name Christian is unjust.” The rulers detested the Christians, but knew almost nothing of who they were or what they believed. How can it be just or fair to call people “mad” and punish them without knowing their beliefs and practices?
18 Tertullian's Apology for the Christians. upon whose government you yourselves have set a brand, and rescinded their acts, 1 by restoring those whom they condemned. But of all the emperors down to this present reign, who under- stood anything of religion or humanity, name me one who perse- cuted the Christians.
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Oct 4, 2016 · October 4, 2016. Though he died almost 18 centuries ago, Tertullian is often quoted today in theological and apologetics circles. But what did this man believe, and what did he ultimately contribute to historic Christianity? Here’s your crash course on the life and accomplishments of Tertullian—and why he still matters today. Who Was Tertullian?
- Overview
- Life
- Literary activities
- Tertullian as a Montanist
- Legacy
Tertullian (born c. 155/160, Carthage [now in Tunisia]—died after 220, Carthage) important early Christian theologian, polemicist, and moralist who, as the initiator of ecclesiastical Latin, was instrumental in shaping the vocabulary and thought of Western Christianity. He is one of the Latin Apologists of the 2nd century.
Knowledge of the life of Tertullian is based almost wholly on documents written by men living more than a century after him and from obscure references in his own works. On this basis a general outline of his life has been constructed, but most of the details have been continually disputed by modern scholars.
He was born in Carthage, which at that time (approximately 155–160 ce) was second only to Rome as a cultural and educational centre in the West. Tertullian received an exceptional education in grammar, rhetoric, literature, philosophy, and law. Little is known of his early life. His parents were pagan, and his father may have been a centurion (i.e., a noncommissioned officer) in an African-based legion assigned to the governor of the province. After completing his education in Carthage, he went to Rome, probably in his late teens or early 20s, to study further and perhaps begin work as a lawyer. He is most likely not the jurist Tertullian mentioned in the Digest, a collection of Roman legal opinion compiled under the aegis of the 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian, though this is disputed.
During the next 20 to 25 years—i.e., from his early 40s to mid-60s—Tertullian devoted himself almost entirely to literary pursuits. Developing an original Latin style, the fiery and tempestuous Tertullian became a lively and pungent propagandist, though not the most profound writer in Christian antiquity. His works abound with arresting and memorable phrases, ingenious aphorisms, bold and ironic puns, wit, sarcasm, countless words of his own coinage, and a constant stream of invective against his opponents. Yet, he could be gentle and sensitive, as in a treatise to his wife (Ad uxorem), and he could be self-critical and reflective, as in his treatise on patience (De patientia), a virtue that he admitted was conspicuously absent from his life.
As a historical personage, Tertullian is known less for what he did than for what he wrote. The range of his interests and the vigour with which he pursued them, however, encouraged other Christians to explore previously uninvestigated areas of life and thought. Like his contemporaries, he wrote works in defense of the faith (e.g., Apologeticum) and treatises on theological problems against specific opponents: Adversus Marcionem (“Against Marcion,” an Anatolian heretic who believed that the world was created by the evil god of the Jews), Adversus Hermogenem (“Against Hermogenes,” a Carthaginian painter who claimed that God created the world out of preexisting matter), Adversus Valentinianos (“Against Valentinus,” an Alexandrian gnostic, or religious dualist), and De resurrectione carnis (“Concerning the Resurrection of the Flesh”). He also wrote the first Christian book on baptism, De baptismo; a book on the Christian doctrine of humanity, De anima (“Concerning the Soul”); essays on prayer and devotion, De oratione (“Concerning Prayer”); and a treatise directed against all heresy, De praescriptione haereticorum (“Concerning the Prescription of Heretics”).
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Sometime before 210 Tertullian left the orthodox church to join a new prophetic sectarian movement known as Montanism (founded by the 2nd-century Phrygian prophet Montanus), which had spread from Asia Minor to Africa. His own dissatisfaction with the laxity of contemporary Christians was congenial with the Montanist message of the imminent end of t...
In antiquity most Christians never forgave him for his apostasy (rejection of his earlier faith) to Montanism. Later Christian writers mention him only infrequently and then mostly unfavourably. Somewhat grudgingly, however, they acknowledged his literary gifts and acute intelligence. Modern scholars, however, do not share this earlier view. Since the 19th century Tertullian has been widely read and studied and is considered one of the formative figures in the development of Christian life and thought in the West.
Tertullian is usually considered the outstanding exponent of the outlook that Christianity must stand uncompromisingly against its surrounding culture. Recent scholarship has tended to qualify this interpretation, however. Because he was a moralist rather than a philosopher by temperament—which probably precipitated his famous question, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”—Tertullian’s practical and legal bent of mind expressed what would later be taken as the unique genius of Latin Christianity. Like most educated Christians of his day, he recognized and appreciated the values of the Greco-Roman culture, discriminating between those he could accept and those he had to reject.
Tertullian concludes his apology by likening the struggle of the Christians to a man fighting a battle. The Christians take no pleasure in being persecuted and enduring trials, but as soldiers of Christ they too must fight for the truth, all, of course, for the glory of God.
Jul 17, 2020 · His Apology defending the Christian faith contains one of the earliest and most eloquent pleas for religious liberty. He argued that the church was self-supporting and provided the most peaceful citizens to the state. The government should be protecting such citizens, not persecuting them.
Nov 8, 2002 · He is the True Word, Reason, and Power of God, Who, begotten eternally by His Father, and being Co-essential with Him was made Flesh. The Jews misunderstood His Advent, His Work, and His Doctrine. They put Him to death, but He rose from the dead, as was predicted, and after forty days ascended into Heaven.
