Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos: A Rhetorical Analysis (review)

Geoffrey Dunn's close study of the rhetoric of Aduersus Iudaeos seeks to restore an oft-neglected treatise to center stage, both as a source for understanding Tertullian's rhetorical training and also as an important indicator of North African Jewish-Christian relations. Dislodged as a possible forgery in the eighteenth century, Aduersus Iudaeos has been ignored by many historians; those interested in Tertullian's rhetoric have also neglected the work, in part because of its uncertain status. Dunn aims to rectify the lacuna, first by demonstrating that Tertullian actually did write Aduersus Iudaeos and then by placing the work within an appropriate socio-historical context. Aduersus Iudaeos, Dunn argues, is an unfinished early work of the orator, likely published posthumously by a clumsy editor. As such, it offers important evidence not only of Tertullian's early career but also of his encounters with the Jews of North Africa.

The book begins with comprehensive survey of modern opinions regarding the composition of Aduersus Iudaeos. Poorly written and repetitive, both internally and in comparison to Aduersus Marcionem, Aduersus Iudaeos has regularly been regarded as either partially or fully forged. A nearly identical set of Scripture citations in the two works suggest that they must be related: either Aduersus Marcionem served as a source for whoever forged Aduersus Iudaeos or Tertullian mined the unfinished Aduersus Iudaeos himself when pulling together Aduersus Marcionem. Dunn advocates the latter theory, suggesting that self-plundering of an unfinished early work best explains both the character of Aduerus Iudaeos and its relationship to Aduersus Marcionem. He then makes his case for the authenticity and integrity of the earlier pamphlet: once its genre is recognized and the component parts identified, Tertullian's argument can be seen to proceed in expected ways, though the last five chapters were left unedited and incomplete.

Dunn classifies Aduersus Iudaeos as a controuersia—a declamatory exercise examining a legal matter by means of an imaginary forensic speech. He nevertheless argues that actual Jewish-Christian contact lies behind the work. As Tertullian explains in the exordium, he composed the treatise after witnessing an unresolved debate between a proselyte Jew and a Christian over the significance of God's grace. His pamphlet sets out to develop a more satisfactory line of reasoning that could be applicable to future debates, and thus the imaginary setting of this declamation does not obviate the possibility that an actual debate provoked the work. Unlike other orations from the same period, Dunn avers, Tertullian's rhetorical exercise sought to address a real situation of conflict and controversy, not only over Christian identity but also over the proper interpretation of Israel's scriptures.

The next three chapters address the rhetorical structure, argumentative strategies, and style of the work in order to demonstrate its overall unity. Although the work is unfinished and unrevised, the same patterns identified by Sider in Ancient Rhetoric and the Art of Tertullian (1971) can be detected in Aduersus Iudaeos. Despite the structural problems evident in the confirmatio, the pamphlet is knit together with summary comments and the plan, announced at the outset, is carried forward to the end. The arguments of Aduersus Iudaeos, however rough, are also consistent and appropriate. In presenting facts of the case derived from Jewish scriptures and avoiding the personal abuse characteristic of many of his other works, Tertullian endeavors to refute Jewish interpretation, not to attack Jews. Finally, the "plain style" adopted in Aduersus Iudaeos displays the Christian orator's familiarity with common Latin rhetorical figures and tropes, employs vocabulary suitable to its intended audience, and quotes scripture in expected ways. The disjointed and unpolished prose of the latter chapters points not to forgery but to the pamphlet's status as an unedited early work.

This detailed study of Tertullian's rhetoric is not likely to settle disputes over the proper interpretation of North African Christian anti-Judaism, yet Dunn's close reading of Aduersus Iudaeos...