One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another. All things are common among us but our wives. —Tertullian, “The Apology,” cap. 39 in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian
Tertullian On The Apologetic Power Of Sola Scriptura
Take away, indeed, from the heretics the wisdom which they share with the heathen, and let them support their inquiries from the Scriptures alone: they will then be unable to keep their ground. Tertullian, De res. 3. On the Resurrection of the . . . Continue reading →
Zeno’s Porch Is Not Solomon’s
I am puzzled by the assertion that, in order to hold to ecumenical truth (e.g., the eternal generation of the Son), one must be a Platonist. Continue reading
What Tertullian Really Said About Jerusalem And Athens
These are “the doctrines” of men and “of demons” produced for itching ears of the spirit of this world’s wisdom: this the Lord called “foolishness,” and “chose the foolish things of the world” to confound even philosophy itself. For (philosophy) it is . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian Anticipated Anselm On The Ontological Argument
The principal, and indeed the whole, contention lies in the point of number: whether two Gods may be admitted, by poetic license (if they must be), or pictorial fancy, or by the third process, as we must now add, of heretical depravity. . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian On The Natural Knowledge Of God
For indeed, as the Creator of all things, He was from the beginning discovered equally with them, they having been themselves manifested that He might become known as God. For although Moses, some long while afterwards, seems to have been the first . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian And The Athanasian Creed
Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian On The Trinity
In the course of time, then, the Father forsooth was born, and the Father suffered,—God Himself, the Lord Almighty, whom in their preaching they declare to be Jesus Christ. We, however, as we indeed always have done (and more especially since we . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian Was A Cautious Paedobaptist (Part 1)
I was baptized as an infant. I was an adult when I wrestled with whether I should have been. Baptism has been a fairly controversial Christian issue for two thousand years if some are to be believed—or five hundred if others have . . . Continue reading →
Tertullian Was A Cautious Paedobaptist (Part 2)
What Hath Angels to Do With Baptism? For a homily on baptism, Tertullian sure talks about angels more than one might expect. What are we to make of it all? As with any historical figure, it is all too easy to impose . . . Continue reading →