On Idolatry

by Tertullian

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Church History, Christian, Religion, Biblical Studies

48 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2004

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

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading this in tandem with the Old Testament book of Isaiah (something I highly recommend giving a try).

I've always been more sympathetic to Justin Martyr's perspective when it comes to the relationship of Christian faith and lifestyle to society and culture. But as I've gotten older (and grumpier, maybe), the more rigorist outlook of Tertullian in opposition to culture has become more appealing in some ways. I suppose by now I still largely find myself in Justin's camp, but with a surprising amount of sympathy and agreement with Tertullian. And the great thing is there is room within authentic Christianity for both perspectives and everything in between.

This is a work that finds Tertullian calling out Christians who, according to him, are cooperating with 'idol-worshiping' society in various ways and justifying themselves. He draws, in characteristic fashion, a clear and stark line between the worship of God and the worship of demons through idols. It's not a book or a way of thinking that necessarily resonates with a modern society like ours, but if read in a more figurative sense it still calls out Christians today who place any thing, person, idea, or value in a place of greater importance than the exclusive worship of God.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the translation by S. Thelwall in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tertullian makes a brief, yet useful argument against participating in the manufacture of idols as a trade. He does say some odd things, however, even arguing for pacifism at one point.

[Aid · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The principal crime of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgment, is idolatry."

A nice, short treatise. I especially enjoyed the part in which the Christians who built Pagan idols for a living defended the practice by citing the brass snake from the Old Testament, Tertullian responds by saying that if they really wanted to imitate Moses, they would build images only when explicitly commanded to by God. Schaff, who edited my version, points out that this same passage is used to justify iconodulia in the Catechism of Trent.

"An idolater is not found in the type of the Ark: no animal has been fashioned to represent an idolater. Let not that be in the Church which was not in the Ark."

[Grant Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking.

[Maxime N. Georgel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tertullien cherche à déterminer toutes les manières dont on pouvait rendre un culte aux idoles : serment, sacrifice, cérémonie, cupidité, etc.

Toujours une aussi bonne rhétorique et une rigueur morale stricte.

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful thoughts

[Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am absolutely loving this pamphlet on idolatry! It's totally convicting and challenging me to look into my own life to see what idols I'm making! The best lines so far (Tertullian is great for his one-liners):
"All things, therefore, does human error worship, except the Founder of all Himself."
And something that particularly speaks to me, given where I go to school:
"To live with heathens is lawful, to die with them is not. Let us live with all; let us be glad with them, out of community of nature, not of superstition."
And finally, he ends with hope:
"Amid these reefs and inlets, amid these shallows and straits of idolatry, Faith, her sails filled by the Spirit of God, navigates; safe if cautious, secure if intently watchful."

[Mayowa Adebiyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although most of what Tertullian speaks of in content is no longer a problem that Christians face, Idols have however morphed from their physical manifestation to the form we deal with today in sex, money, fame. To deify anything is to break one half of Jesus' summation of the law.

I suspect though that Tertullian might be going a bit too far on practical matters, for if we do all he recommends, "we shall have to go out the world".

[Gabriel Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work, short, but very powerful! If only the Church of Christ in the 21st century would heed the exhortation from a great father in the faith...
"Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:14
"Little Children, keep yourselves from Idols. Amen." ~ 1 John 5:21