Apologetical Works; Octavius

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION I)ERTULLIAN, or Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus , to give him his full name, was born about the middle of the second century at Carthage, where his father was a centurion of the proconsular cohort. Carthage, after her restoration by Julius Caesar, had not only recovered her former position as a center of commerce but had also become a seat of learning. Thus, Tertullian's father was in a position to provide his son with an excellent education in rhetoric, literature, and law. Tertullian's education, however , was not limited to these fields. His works furnish ample proof that he possessed a good knowledge of history, archaeology, medicine, and the greater part of the important systems of Graeco-Roman philosophy. He also wrote with equal facility in Latin and Greek. After having finished his studies, he must have spent some time at Rome. In one of his works,l he expressly mentions a personal experience he had in the Roman capital. Moreover, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, the fourth-century Church historian,2 Tertullian distinguished himself at Rome by his outstanding qualities as a jurist. It is even possible that he wrote some books in the field of jurisprudence. In the Digests, a collection of extracts from the opinions of earlier jurists compiled by order of the Emperor Justinian, there appear some quotations from the writings of a jurist Tertullian (the titles are: Quaestionum libri V III; De castrensi peculio liber singularis). The question of whether this otherwise unknown jurist is identical with the ecclesiastical writer of the same name has given rise to schelarly controversies. However this may be, Tertullian's I On the Dress of Women 1.7. 2 Ecclesiastical History 2.2.4. Vll Vlll TERTULLIAN writings which have come down to us leave no doubt that he had a solid juridical training. His family was pagan and he himself confesses that he followed pagan customs and drank deep of the cup of worldly pleasures until, as a mature man, he became a Christian at Rome. In his writings he does not give a clear explanation of the reasons for his conversion. It seems, however, that he was moved to embrace the Christian faith by observing the perseverance of the Christians in the persecutions and the heroic courage of the martyrs. No early Christian writer has so emphasized the fact that the Church owed her triumph to sufferings : 'Crucify, torture, condemn, grind us to dust ... whenever we are mowed down by you, our number increases; the blood of Christians is the seed.'3 After his return to Africa he soon began to play an important part in the Carthaginian Church, using his pen in defense of the faith which he had embraced. According to St. Jerome,4 he also became a priest. A born fighter, Tertullian always had his eye upon an opponent whom he was eager to conquer: the pagan religion, the pagan governors, the Gnostics, and, finally, the Christian Church itself. His harsh and intolerant character , which kept him in a state of nervous irritation, led him, about A.D. 205 to the Montanists, a sect characterized by its emphasis on spontaneous ecstatic enthusiasm, eccentric asceticism , and various millenarian beliefs. So outstanding was his position in the African branch of this sect that its adherents were called Tertullianists. He lived in Carthage until death put an end to his stormy career some time after A. D. 220. As a writer, Tertullian surpasses in originality all Latin Christians before St. Augustine. His works exhibit a profound knowledge of the past and its literature, and a great familiarity 3 Apology 50.12f. 4 De viris illustribus 53. INTRODUCTION IX with the problems of his day. St. Jerome, unquestionably a critic above suspicion, exclaims in one of his letters: 5 'Can anyone be more learned, more acute of mind than Tertullian? His Ap'ology and his books Against the Gentiles contain all the wisdom of the world.' Vincent of Lerin6 states that Tertullian was to the Latins what Origen was to the Greeks and goes so far in his praise as to say: 'Who was more learned that this man? Who more competent in things divine and human? With his amazing mental capacity he embraced the entire range of philosophy, all the different philosophical schools, their founders , followers, and systems as well as history and science under their multiple forms.' As to his personality, his qualities are not all praiseworthy. He is an aggressive, disputatious, headstrong, and uncompromising...