QUINTUS FLORENS TERTULLIAN
160 - 220
NORTH AFRICAN DEFENDER OF
THE FAITH.
If he ever came to speak
at your church you would probably never forget
him. He was passionate, articulate, totally
committed. He boldly taunted the might of
the Roman empire, courageously defended oppressed
believers, and harshly reprimanded compromising
Christians. In later life, he lost favor with
much of the Church when he at least temporarily
took up with the Montanists- what we would
probably call today a puritanical-charismatic
sect. He was the pacesetter as the church
expanded its teaching and influence into the
Latin speaking world, breaking new and fertile
ground in theological understanding. For example,
he coined the word Trinity, a word that does
not appear anywhere in the Bible, to help
us to understand the New Testament teaching
about what God is like. He was one of the
most fascinating leaders in all church history.
Quintus Septimius Florens
Tertullianus was born about 150 A.D. in Carthage,
North Africa, the city considered second in
importance only to Rome in his time. His father
was the captain of a Roman legion and provided
Tertullian with the education and training
to become a lawyer. When he was about 40,
Tertullian was converted to Christianity.
He exuberantly embraced the gospel and ably
used his legal skills to defend Christianity
from pagan attackers.
Bait. . . Blood. . . Seed
Thirty-one of Tertullian's writings remain,
touching on all areas of human life. His works
include apologetic treatises, controversial
attacks on heresies, and moral writings. His
Apology defending the Christian faith contains
one of the earliest and most eloquent pleas
for religious liberty. He argued that the
church was self-supporting and provided the
most peaceful citizens to the state. The government
should be protecting such citizens, not persecuting
them. Tertullian also saw, however, that the
persecution of the church by the Roman authorities
actually strengthened the Church of Christ:
"It is bait that wins men for (our) school.
The oftener we are mown down by you, the more
in number we grow: the blood of Christians
is seed [of the church]."
Persecution was an ever present
danger in Tertullian's time and place. Christians
were often perplexed by it. Was it from the
Devil? Should they flee to avoid persecution.
Tertullian took a tough line as difficult
to understand today as it must have been then
for he saw even persecution as from God: It
never happens without God willing it, and
it is fitting-even at times necessary-for
Him to do so, to the approval or condemnation
of His servants. . . this is his winnowing
fan which even now cleanses the Lord's threshing
floor-His church, winnowing the mixed heap
of the faithful and separating the wheat of
the martyrs from the chaff of the cowards...
(When persecution strikes), the Church is
mightily stirred; then the faithful are more
careful in their preparations, greater attention
is given to fasts and station days, to prayers
and humility, to mutual charity and love,
to holiness and temperance. Men have time
for nothing but fear and hope. Therefore,
it is clear that persecution, which works
for the improvement of the servants of God,
cannot be blamed on the Devil.
Truth Not Custom
Tertullian had a tenacious sense of the truth,
and frequently railed against the church's
conformity to the world and compromise with
surrounding paganism. The social life of his
time (just like our time but in slightly different
appearance) was riddled with idolatry. Tertullian
believed the Christian's conscience should
be sensitive to the idolatry associated with
the gladiatorial shows, violent games, plays,
literature, administration, and even business
guilds. "Our Lord Christ has surnamed
Himself Truth, not Custom," and Christians
should beware of being conformed to this world.
The spirit of Christianity, wrote Tertullian,
is of meekness, peace, and purity, while the
public shows and sporting events only excite
the wild and furious passions of anger and
lust. Licentious speech is condemned by God,
and what a man should not say he should not
hear.
Regarding Worldly Philosophies
In these early years church leaders were struggling
to understand how they should relate the faith
to worldly learning. Other Christians of this
period, such as Justin Martyr (see issue #
50), sought common ground between Greek philosophy
and Christian belief. He would consider someone
like Socrates as perhaps a Christian before
the time of Christ. Tertullian, however, demanded
"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"
Socrates, he asserted, was not a forerunner
of Christianity: For by whom has truth ever
been discovered without God? By whom has God
ever been found without Christ? By whom has
Christ ever been explored without the Holy
Spirit? By whom has the Holy Spirit ever been
attained without the mysterious gift of faith?
Socrates, as none can doubt, was actuated
by a different spirit. . .
In keeping with his great
sense of truth, Tertullian also wrote several
works attacking the heresies of his day, writing
against Gnosticism and expounding orthodox
Christian belief, especially the doctrine
of the Trinity. Some of his ascetic ideas
were later adopted by medieval monasticism.
He fought the battle on many
fronts as Christians sought to find their
way in the midst of a hostile pagan culture.
But Tertullian, who had written so outspokenly
about martyrdom and persecution, died peacefully
sometime after 229 A.D.
