Tertullian Collection [2 Books]

by Tertullian

TERTULLIAN COLLECTION [2 BOOKS]



— Quality Formatting and Value

— Active Index, Multiple Table of Contents for all Books

— Multiple Illustrations



Tertullian, full name Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, c. 155 – c. 240 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, including contemporary Christian Gnosticism. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology."



—BOOKS—



AGAINST PRAXEAS

APOLOGETIC AND PRACTICAL TREATISES



AETERNA PRESS

439 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2016

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

[Michael O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

As part of an effort to read the writings of Africa’s ancient Christians, I selected Tertullian, a prominent second century Christian writer.

I would love to say that he is a great writer and really profound, but, to be honest, I found him to be a real plod to read and very long-winded. As seems to be the writing style of this time period, he tends to repeat the same points in different variations repeatedly. Maybe, also a problem with the translation of his writings itself, but, on occasion, he oft will have a paragraph running almost 2 pages, and run on sentences running third to half a page, The modern notion of never using many words where one might suffice seems unknown to Tertullian.

Perhaps more a fault of the translator than of Tertullian, Tertullian often makes cultural or religious references that apparently would be clearly understood to the intended audience of his time that are obscure to today’s readers. These should have been identified and footnoted in my opinion.

The book does have notes with commentary at the end of each book by Tertullian (evidently mostly from an Anglican viewpoint), but I found them less about explaining the overall previous text or on some of Tertullian’s more obscure references and more fixating on some less interesting or important point from it, pedantically and insipidly.

Probably the best of Tertullian’s writings is “The Book of Apology Against the Heathen”. In it, Tertullian doesn’t merely play defense against the many slanders, misconceptions, and blood libels held by the pagans —- he does do this —- but then goes on offense, pointing out the many double standards and inconsistencies of their own religion, customs, and culture. He points out their mythology —- in which they worship deities who did far worse things than anything Christians are accused of. And he then goes even further — pointing out that their own present day polytheism is not even in keeping with the previous moral beliefs held by pagans even a century ago. — moral beliefs held then in the past before Christianity, held now by Christians. In doing so, he eviscerates the beliefs of contemporary pagans as not even meeting the real standards of pagans in previous times, much less those of Christianity, and being little more than a desiccated husk of hypocrisy and empty ritual.

I don’t recommend this book for the average reader, I do think it may be useful for seminarians and for scholars of ancient Christian writings.