Tertullian (ca. 155 – ca. 225) is responsible for some of the best-known
quotations from the early Church. For example (all quotes but one are from CCEL):
But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many
to put a brand upon us. See, they
say, how they love one another, for
themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for
one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death (Apology 39; CCEL notes
that this apparent praise may be made in the context of mockery of Christians
by others).
.
. . men are made, not born, Christians (Apology
16).
This victory of ours gives us the
glory of pleasing God, and the spoil of life eternal. But we are overcome. Yes,
when we have obtained our wishes. Therefore we conquer in dying; we go forth
victorious at the very time we are subdued.
. . .
But go zealously on, good
presidents, you will stand higher with the people if you sacrifice the
Christians at their wish, kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust; your
injustice is the proof that we are innocent. Therefore God suffers that we thus
suffer . . . .
Nor does your cruelty, however
exquisite, avail you; it is rather a temptation to us. The oftener we are mown
down by you, the more in number we grow; the
blood of Christians is seed (Apology
50).
The Son of God was born: shameful,
and therefore there is no shame. The Son of God died: absurd, and therefore
utterly credible. He was buried and rose again: impossible, and therefore a
fact (De Carne Christi 5; Bettenson
126).
What indeed has Athens to do with
Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? what
between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from “the porch of
Solomon,” [referring to Acts 3:5] who had himself taught that “the Lord should
be sought in simplicity of heart” [Wisdom of Solomon 1:1]. The Prescription Against Heretics 7)
If I
should offer you a rose, you will not disdain its Maker (Against Marcion 15)
Tertullian’s writings offer little information about himself
(e.g., he does not even give his full name, although he famously refers to
himself as “Tertullian, a sinner”; De
Carne Christi 59.3), but the 53rd chapter of Jerome’s Lives of Illustrious Men, “Tertullian
the Presbyter,” contains a brief account of some details of Tertullian’s life.
Not all the details in Jerome’s treatment seem accurate, but it seems clear
that Tertullian was raised as a non-Christian in Carthage in Africa. He appears
to have been converted to Christianity after witnessing the courage of
Christian martyrs (see Repentance 1.1;
see also the above quote about the “blood of Christians”). Less likely,
however, are Jerome’s claims that Tertullian was a presbyter and that
Tertullian’s father was proconsul or centurion (see Wilhite 19). Some other
details are found in the Eusebius’s Church
History (2.2.4), who says that Tertullian was a “well versed in the laws of
the Romans.” Some scholars like Adolph Harnack interpreted that statement to
mean that Tertullian was a lawyer, even equating him with another Tertullianus, a lawyer who lived in Rome
and wrote a legal reference book, but that identification most certainly is
incorrect. Although Tertullian’s writings contain some legal terminology, those
may simply derive from his brilliance as a rhetorician. In addition, scholars
also debate whether Tertullian actually became a Montanist as Jerome claimed
(Montanism stressed asceticism, eschatology, the immediacy of the Holy Spirit
[the Paraclete] including ecstatic prophecy). It is clear, however, that this
puritanical movement, which called itself “New Prophecy,” attracted him, with
the prophetic immediacy of the outpouring of the Paraclete and its rigorously
ascetic lifestyle. For Tertullian, doctrine and ethics were inherently
intertwined, and his goal was to obey the demanding law of Christ.
Tertullian was a vehement apologist for Christianity,
polemicist against those he perceived to be heretics, and interpreter of
Scripture. He advocated a rigorous, uncompromising Christianity, and his
writings advise Christians to separate themselves from pagans to avoid
contaminating themselves with their idolatry and immorality. He also defends
Christians as good citizens within the Roman Empire, refutes pagan attacks
against Christianity, and assails paganism (see his Apology).
Tertullian authored at least thirty-one writings over a span
of approximately twenty-five years—the earliest extant Christian writings in
Latin (although he also wrote a few in Greek). As a rhetorician who was in
vigorous debates with his opponents, Tertullian’s interpretation of Scripture
was sometimes contingent on the necessities of the debates in which he found
himself. (Dunn, in Bingham 2010: 155). Since Tertullian wrote in in the heat of
battle, his use of Scripture is not consistent, but he preferred unadorned
simplicity to speculative allegory. Since Tertullian used Scripture as
testimony against the speculative doctrines of those like the Gnostics, he
wanted to demonstrate certitude with a style of brevity, conciseness, and
simplicity. As a rhetorician, he started with what was clear and obvious—often using
logic or customary practice as the basis for his arguments—and built his case from
there (On the Resurrection of the Flesh
19). Although he recognized the presence of allegory in Scripture, he was
restrained in his use of it; the allegorical was used only after the literal is
demonstrated to be inadequate (Against
Marcion 3.5.3, 4; McKim 2007: 965). He preferred a literal understanding of
Scripture when possible, a restraint also partly due to the Gnostics’ extensive
use of allegory (see On the Resurrection
of the Flesh 63).
The next post will continue discussing Tertullian’s interpretation of
Scripture in general before focusing on Tertullian's interpretations of selected parables.
