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Tertullian was a prolific Latin writer from Carthage who defended Christianity against paganism and heresy. He is known for coining the term trinity and influencing later theologians such as Cyprian and Augustine.
- Overview
- Life
- Literary activities
- Tertullian as a Montanist
- Legacy
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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 was a 2nd-century Christian theologian, polemicist, and moralist who wrote in Latin and shaped Western Christianity. He defended the faith against various heresies, argued for the resurrection of the flesh, and advocated for chastity and martyrdom.
Feb 5, 2019 · Tertullian was a prolific early Christian apologist, theologian, and moralist from Carthage, North Africa. He wrote extensively in Latin, defending the faith, refuting heresies, and shaping Western Christian doctrine.
Jul 17, 2020 · Tertullian was a lawyer, a convert, and a passionate defender of the faith in the second century AD. He coined the term Trinity, attacked paganism and heresies, and wrote about martyrdom and persecution.
Jan 4, 2022 · Learn about Tertullian, the first church leader to write in Latin and a key defender of Christianity against persecution and heresy. Discover his contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity, the use of the Old Testament, and the principle of religious liberty.
Oct 4, 2016 · Learn about Tertullian, a North African church father who defended Christianity against Roman persecution and heresies. Discover his contributions to Trinitarian theology, apologetics, and Latin Christianity.
Jun 13, 2023 · Learn about Tertullian, the early Christian writer and apologist, and his works, theology, and legacy. Find texts, translations, editions, manuscripts, bibliography, and more on this site.
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