Tertullian

Tertullian, whose full Latin name was Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, lived from around 155 to about 220 AD. He was a prolific early Christian writer from Carthage, in the Roman province of Africa. He became the first Christian author to create a large body of Latin Christian literature, working as an apologist and polemicist against heresies such as Gnosticism. Because he was the first theologian to write in Latin, he is known as "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western [Christian] theology." His most famous contribution is being the earliest Latin writer to use the word "trinity" (trinitas).

Tertullian introduced new theological ideas and helped shape early Church doctrine. However, some of his teachings—like the idea that the Son and Spirit are subordinate to the Father—were later rejected by the Catholic Church. In his later years, he joined the Montanist sect, though most scholars today disagree with the claim that he left the mainstream church or was excommunicated.

Very little reliable evidence survives about Tertullian's life; most of what is known comes from brief mentions in his own works. Roman Africa was known for its orators, and this influence appears in his writing style, which features archaisms, provincialisms, vivid imagery, and a passionate tone. He was a well-educated scholar who wrote at least three books in Koine Greek, none of which survive. Some sources describe him as Berber. Linguist René Braun suggested he had Punic origins but noted that Carthage's heritage had become common to the Berbers. Tertullian himself referred to himself as "Punic among Romans" in his book *De Pallio* and called Africa his homeland. Church tradition says he was raised in Carthage. Jerome claimed his father was a *centurio proconsularis* in the Roman army in Africa.

He has been thought to be a trained lawyer and an ordained priest, based on accounts by Eusebius and Jerome. Some also identified him with the jurist Tertullianus, quoted in the Pandects, because of his use of legal analogies. However, his legal knowledge does not clearly exceed what a good Roman education would provide, and the writings of that jurist exist only in fragments without explicit Christian authorship. The idea that he was a priest is also uncertain; in his surviving works, he never calls himself ordained and seems to place himself among the laity. His conversion to Christianity likely occurred around 197–198 AD, but its immediate causes are unknown. It appears to have been sudden and decisive, transforming his personality. He wrote that a truly Christian life required such a conscious break: "Christians are made, not born" (*Apol.*, xviii). Two books addressed to his wife confirm he was married to a Christian woman.

Around 207 AD, he was attracted to the "New Prophecy" of Montanism, but most scholars today reject the idea that he left the mainstream church or was excommunicated. He was highly regarded by St. Cyprian. By Augustine's time, a group called "Tertullianists" still had a basilica in Carthage, which later passed to the orthodox church. It is unclear whether this name simply referred to North African Montanists or meant Tertullian later split from them to form his own group. Jerome says Tertullian lived to old age. Through his doctrinal works, he became the teacher of Cyprian and the predecessor of Augustine, a key figure in western theology.

Thirty-one of Tertullian's works survive, along with fragments of others. About fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as the 9th century (such as *De Paradiso*, *De superstitione saeculi*, and *De carne et anima*, which were still present in the damaged Codex Agobardinus in 814 AD). His writings cover the entire theological field of his time—apologetics against paganism and Judaism, polemics, church polity, discipline, and morals—essentially reorganizing human life on a Christian basis. They offer a valuable picture of the religious life and thought of the era for church historians. Like other early Christian writers, Tertullian used the term *paganus* to mean "civilian," contrasting it with "soldiers of Christ." The motif of *Miles Christi* did not take on a literal military meaning until the 5th century. In his 2nd-century writings, *paganus* meant a "civilian" lacking self-discipline. In *De Corona Militis* XI.V he writes on this topic.

The chronology of his writings is hard to determine with certainty. In his work against Marcion, which he calls his third composition on the Marcionite heresy, he dates it to the fifteenth year of Severus's reign (about 208 AD). His writings can be divided by subject into two groups: apologetic and polemic works, such as *Apologeticus*, *De testimonio animae*, the anti-Jewish *Adversus Iudaeos*, *Adv. Marcionem*, *Adv. Praxeam*, *Adv. Hermogenem*, *De praescriptione hereticorum*, and others.