The Complete Works of Tertullian

by Tertullian, Arthur Cleveland Coxe (Editor), Alexander Roberts (Translator)

This collection gathers together all of the works by Tertullian in a single, convenient, high quality, and extremely low priced Kindle volume!Of PatienceThe Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and FelicitasAd MartyrasOn PrayerOn BaptismOn RepentanceAgainst all HeresiesScorpiace. Antidote for the Scorpion's StingAgainst Praxeas; In Which He Defends, in all Essential Points, the Doctrine of the Holy TrinityOn the Resurrection of the FleshOn the Flesh of ChristAgainst the Valentinians, In Which the Author Gives a Concise Account of, Together with Sundry Caustic Animadversions on, the Very Fantastic Theology of the SectAgainst Containing an Argument Against His Opinion that Matter is EternalThe Five Books Against MarcionThe Prescription Against HereticsOn the SoulAn Answer to the JewsThe Soul's TestimonyAd NationesTertullian To ScapulaThe Chaplet, or De Corona. The Shows, or De SpectaculisOn IdolatryThe ApologyOn Fasting, In Opposition to the PsychicsDe Fuga in PersecutioneOn ModestyOn MonogamyOn Exhortation to ChastityTertullian To His WifeOn the Veiling of VirginsOn the Apparel of WomenOn the PalliumABOUT THE Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian, was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology." Though conservative, he did originate and advance new theology to the early Church. He is perhaps most famous for being the oldest extant Latin writer to use the term Trinity (Latin trinitas), and giving the oldest extant formal exposition of a Trinitarian theology. Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae, una Substantia" (itself from the Koine Greek "treis Hypostases, Homoousios"). He wrote his trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist; his ideas were at first rejected as heresy by the church at large, but later accepted as Christian orthodoxy.

Genres: Christianity, Theology, Christian, History, Religion, Church History, Philosophy

Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2011

About the author

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220 AD), was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology." Though conservative, he did originate and advance new theology to the early Church. He is perhaps most famous for being the oldest extant Latin writer to use the term Trinity (Latin trinitas), and giving the oldest extant formal exposition of a Trinitarian theology. Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae, una Substantia" (itself from the Koine Greek "treis Hypostases, Homoousios"). He wrote his trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist; his ideas were at first rejected as heresy by the church at large, but later accepted as Christian orthodoxy.

Reviews

[Torsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

მოკლედ - დამღალა. გასული საზარელი წელი, მწირი შემოსავლით, მსუყე და ვეება გასავლით (ვაი, რომ გასავლით ყველა არედან: ჯიბიდან, სულიდან, კარიდან) და ღამის მორიგეობანი თეოლოღიამ გადამატანინა. გვერდიდან გვერდამდინ - უფალო მიხსენ! აღმართე კედელი დაუმხობელი ჩემსა და ჩემს მეებს შორის, სამყაროს შორის და ა.შ. და ა.შ. მაგრამ მიუხედავად ყველაფრისა, ტერტულიანე აღმოჩნდა ისეთივე პროზაული, როგორც 2020. ცხადია, მის ღვაწლს დასავლური თეოლოგიის მიმართ, არვინ დაივიწყებს და თუკი მე დავივიწყე - ღმერთო შემინდე!

[James Ruley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tertullian is a legendary church father, with good reason. It took me nearly a year to read through his works, but it was well worth it. I particularly commend these works to you: (1) De Fuga In Persecutiona; (2) The Apology; and (3) Against Praxeas (a defense of the Trinity). Much of his work is apologetic in nature or confronts heresies overtaking the church in his day. Regardless, it is of great value to believers even now.

On Persecution
-Ad Martyras: a call to suffering and dying well in the midst of persecution (3.5/5)
-De Fuga In Persecutiona: an encouragement for Christians to bear persecution well as a gift from God for His glory. (4/5)
-Scorpiace: an exhortation to Christians to endure persecution and martyrdom well (3.5/5)
-The Martyrdom of Perpetua & Felicitas: a story of two early Christian martyrs and their faithfulness to death (4/5)
-To Scapula: A letter urging officials not to persecute Christians. (3/5)

Apologetics
-Ad Nationes: an apologetic work to show that Christianity is a better religion than the other religions of the Roman Empire (3/5)
-Against Hermogenes: an apologetic work against the false teachings of Hermogenes, who taught that matter was a god. Tertullian shows how this argument is unsound logically and when compared to the text of Scripture. (3/5)
-On The Soul: Tertullian responds to Platonic thought about the soul, arguing that it is created by God and is immortal (3/5)
-The Apology: Tertullian argues to a secular audience why Christians are good for Roman society, not bad for it, and how their persecution confirms their calling in Christ. (5/5)
-The Soul's Testimony: Argument that the soul in itself bears witness to God and to evil. (3/5)

Christian Virtues
-On Patience: a call for Christians to demonstrate godly patience in their lives (3/5)
-An Exhortation to Chastity: fundamentally, this work calls single Christians to celibacy and married Christians to monogamy. The key issues are whether polygamy and bigamy are permissible, and the answer is no. 3/5
-On Fasting: a brief work showing that Scripture calls Christians to fast, in honor to God, and a condemnation of those who teach otherwise. 3/5
-On Idolatry: Tertullian addresses the reality that all of our sins stem from idolatrous hearts. He gives special attention for how to live above idolatry in a pagan Roman world. 4/5
-On Modesty: In modern parlance, we would call this on purity. This work explains how the clear teaching of Scripture is that Christians abstain from sexual immorality. 3.5/5
-On Monogamy: Teaching that Scripture commands Christians to be married to only one person, from the beginning of creation. 4/5
-On Prayer: A meditation on how a Christian should pray, largely taken from the Lord's Prayer (4.5/5)
-On Repentance: A meditation on the necessity of true repentance and faith. (3.5/5).
-On the Apparel of Women: Ouch. This is unpopular in today's age. Tertullian calls for simplicity in apparel and bodily presentation, eschewing makeup, hair styling, and jewelry. Very provocative.. 4/5

Doctrinal Defenses/Anti-Heretical Works
-Against All Heresies: a brief work highlighting many of the heresies that had occurred in the church up to that point in time (3.5/5)
-Against Praxeas: a defense of the Trinity from Scripture (4/5)
-Against Valentinius: a defense against the Gnostic teachings of Valentinius (3/5)
-Against the Jews: a defense that Christ was the Messiah foretold in Scripture, as evidenced from the Old Testament and confirmed in the new. Tertullian also argues that the symbols of the Old Covenant (circumcision, sacrifices, observance of the Sabbath) have passed away. (3/5)
-On the Flesh of Christ: a rebuttal to the heretical views of Marcion, among others, who taught that Christ did not have human flesh. Tertullian rebuts this view with Scripture and a defense of Christi's humanity. (3/5)
-On the Resurrection of the Flesh: a Scriptural defense of the Christian’s expectation of a bodily resurrection. 3.5/5
-Five Books Against Marcion: A defense of Christianity against Marcionism, a dualistic heresy that bifurcated Jesus from the "Jewish" God of the Old Testament and claimed that Paul was Jesus' only true apostle. Tertullian shows, from all of Scripture, how the God of the Old and New Testaments are the same. (4/5)
-A Prescription Against Heretics: a work defending the veracity of Scripture, and the true gospel, against heresy. The work also provides advice for Christians when dealing with heretics. (3.5/5)

Miscellaneous
On Baptism: A brief work defending the necessity of baptism (3/5)
On the Pallium: A defense, mostly extrabiblical, of the pallium, an ecclesiastical vestment (2.5/5)
On the Veiling of Virgins: A defense of the practice of requiring virgins to be veiled. Logically presented, yet clearly outdated. (1/5)
The Chaplet: A meditation on how Christians should relate to temporal glory and the military. (3/5)
On the Shows: An exhortation for Christians to avoid attending Roman shows, which are defiling (3/5)
To His Wife: A brief exhortation on the importance of Christian marriage. (4/5)

[Josh Kannard · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Calvin is my theological father, Tertullian is my theological crazy uncle who has some really solid things to say, but is kind of wacky and all over the place (but funny), leading you to really question a lot of what he says. Also he's definitely a conspiracy theorist.

I really appreciated his treatise on repentance and his account of marriage at the end of his second letter to his wife. Some good pointers on patience too. The apology was a funny read as he totally rips into the hypocrisy of the Roman society of his time. It was also fascinating to read his words against abortion in the same treatise.

This volume is NOT a scholarly one. Lots of typos, no footnotes or Scripture references, poor punctuation, an old archaic translation... honestly I wouldn't recommend it, but it's where I could get the most Tertullian content for the cheapest price, so it worked.

Glad to add the knowledge of another father under my historical and theological toolbelt!

[Danny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I wasn't able to read the whole thing. Tertullain's words on Trinity is of vital importance.

[Alyosha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read several sections I was most interested in. It’s always rather incredible to find so much in common with a man who lived 2,000 years ago due to a faith that has been given us by God.

[Michael T Moos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable piece of early church history.