The First Christian Centuries: Tertullian

Tertullian (c. AD 160 - 225) was one of the first theologians of the Western Church & ranks among the most prominent of the early Latin fathers. His wide-ranging literary output offers a valuable insight into the Christian Church at a crucial stage in its development.

The first part and the appendices provide the objective chronological and historical framework without which Tertullian's writings cannot be understood. In the second part this framework is used as the basis of a sympathetic but not wholly subjective interpretation of his intellectual development, of his reaction to the society in which he lived, and of his place in Latin literature.

This book traces Tertullians handling of key doctrines and draws implications for some of today's crucial issues: Trinitarian faith, the status of creation, gender, authority and power abuse. It takes the agenda of early Christian thought seriously and finds it profoundly relevant today.

Was Tertullian of Carthage a schismatic? How did he view the church and its bishops? In this study David Rankin sets the writings of Tertullian in the context of the early third-century church and its developments, and discusses Tertullian's own theology of the church, his imagery and his perception of church office and ministry. Tertullian's contribution to the development of the church has often been misunderstood, and this thorough exploration provides a timely reassessment of its nature and importance.

Presents evidence of an interaction between Jews and Christians in late second-century Carthage about the validity of both religions and their interpretations of the scriptures.

There are five works of Tertullian which can be classified as apologetical writings.The reader will find in the present volume his Apology (Apologeticum),The Testimony of the Soul (De Testimonio animae),and To Scapula (Ad Scapulam).The other two are "To the Pagans" (Ad nationes),an Apology addressed to the pagan people,in which he refutes the accusations against the Christians,and criticizes pagan morals and beliefs; and his "Against the Jews"(Adversus Judaeos),a demostration of the truth of Christianity from the prophecies.The main topics of the first three treatises mentioned above are: Monotheism,the Christian idea of Creation,the moral superiority of the Christians as opposed to the immorality of the pagans, and the political and social behavior of the Christians.We have thought it opportune to offer still another treatise of Tertullian,his "On the Soul" (De Anima),an attempt at a Christian psychology.

This History of Latin Christian Literature is the outcome of over twelve years spent as Professor at the University of Fribourg-en Suisse.Thanks to the entire liberty allowed to me in the arrangement of the course of studies I was able to combine with my lectures on classic Latin literature a profound study of the Christian authors and thereby to follow the destinies of the Old Learning through their vicissitudes up to the threshold of the Middle Ages.

Tertullian is a primary source for a modern understanding of the issues that once confronted - and still confront - Christians living in a non-Christian world. This volume undertakes a judicious pruning of the original texts and brings an accessibility to the important writings of Tertullian.