Tertullian: Apology, De Spectaculis, And, Minucius Felix

by Tertullian

Meet Tertullian, the fiery African writer who helped shape early Christian thought.

This compact introduction places him in the broader world of Latin literature, Christian history, and the shifting ideas of his time. It explains how critics from Gibbon to Arnold viewed his work and why his style kept challenging readers for centuries.

This book traces where he fits among Africa’s Latin writers, the shift from pagan roots to Christian faith, and the tough, sometimes biting voice he used to argue for his beliefs. It also situates his life in Carthage and explains how his ideas influenced later Christian writers and debates. Discover Tertullian’s background, methods, and driving beliefs in a rapidly changing world. See how his words sparked praise and sharp critique from celebrated commentators. Explore the intellectual landscape of Roman Africa and its impact on Latin Christian writing. Learn how his attempts to defend Christian practice and doctrine shaped later debates. Ideal for readers of classical history, early Christian studies, and literary criticism seeking a clear window into a pivotal, controversial figure.

493 pages, Hardcover

Published August 24, 2018

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

[Logan Prettyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minucius Felix isn’t as worth reading, but Tertullian is a gem of rhetoric and sarcasm. His Apology opened my eyes to see the world of the early church, and De Spectaculis, my favorite of the three, has left me with a much different view of our culture of entertainment. Relevant as ever.