Book Description

The African Q. Septimus Florens Tertullianus (ca. 150-222 CE), the great Christian writer, was born a soldier's son at Carthage, educated in Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and medicine, studied law and became a pleader, remaining a clever and often tortuous arguer. At Rome he became a learned and militant Christian. After a visit to churches in Greece (and Asia Minor?) he returned to Carthage and in his writings there founded a Christian Latin language and literature, toiling to fuse enthusiasm with reason; to unite the demands of the Bible with the practice of the Church; and to continue to vindicate the Church's possession of the true doctrine in the face of unbelievers, Jews, Gnostics, and others. In some of his many works he defended Christianity, in others he attacked heretical people and beliefs; in others he dealt with morals. In this volume we present Apologeticus and De Spectaculis.

Of Minucius, an early Christian writer of unknown date, we have only Octavius, a vigorous and readable debate between an unbeliever and a Christian friend of Minucius, Octavius Ianuarius, a lawyer sitting on the seashore at Ostia. Minucius himself acts as presiding judge. Octavius wins the argument. The whole work presents a picture of social and religious conditions in Rome, apparently about the end of the second century.

Customer Reviews (3)

A useful small edition
The Latin text of the Apologeticum is the rather elderly 1851 Oehler text; the text of De Spectaculis is that from the serviceable 1890 Vienna edition (CSEL 20).The translation by T.R.Glover is very readable.There are a small number of critical notes at the foot of the Latin, although not a critical apparatus by any means, and a useful preface.Glover draws attention to the difficult problem of the dual Latin text and possible two editions of the Apologeticum.A modern bibliography is on the fly-leaf.

The Apologeticum is Tertullian's most important work, and this is a sterling translation of it.While the edition is now somewhat aged (from the 20's, I would guess), it still is one of the best introductions to Tertullian.

De Spectaculis is a rare work by Tertullian, preserved only in a single manuscript, and this edition makes it readily available.

The volume is completed with a Latin text and pleasant English translation of the Octavius of Minucius Felix.This last work deserves to be better known than it is.Preserved by the slenderest of threads, the little book describes three friends walking along the beach at Ostia, and then holding a Ciceronian debate about the truth or falsehood of the Christians.

Note that, as with all the older editions, a portion of the Latin of the Octavius which is obscene is left untranslated.

Loeb's Tertullian
This is an excellent translation of a difficult and important author. Tertullian is generally considered the most important author in the LatinChurch before Augustine.Because this book includes the Latin text, it isa "primary source" of considerable importance.The translationis lucid, especially given the difficulty of Tertullian's Latin, and thetranslator's notes are very helpful.The introduction is also learned andthorough.My only regret is that the translator chose to translate DeSpectaculis rather than more important works.

good
Accout to tertullian is simple and so sliper ... Read more

Book Description
I am more afraid of them than of Anytus and his associates, who are dangerous, too, in their own way. But far more dangerous are these, who began when you were children, and took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause. These are the accusers whom I dread.Download Description
I am more afraid of them than of Anytus and his associates, who are dangerous, too, in their own way. But far more dangerous are these, who began when you were children, and took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause. These are the accusers whom I dread. ... Read more

Book Description
Tertullian (c. AD 160 - 225) was one of the first theologians of the Western Church and ranks among the most prominent of the early Latin fathers.His literary output is wide-ranging, and provides an invaluable insight into the Christian Church in the crucial period when the Roman Empire was in decline.
This book is the first accessible introduction in English to Tertullian's works, providing translations of Adversus Iudaeos (Against the Jews), Scorpiace (Antidote for the Scorpion's Sting) and De Verginibus Velandis (On the Veiling of Virgins). These crucial works, together with Geoffrey D. Dunn's comprehensive commentary, illuminate the early church's reaction to paganism, Judaism, Scripture, and its development of a distinctive Christian ethic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

good translations and helpful overview
I read a copy I borrowed from Notre Dame library and decided to purchase a copy.The introductory material is very well researched and written.Dunn did his PhD on Tertullian and is particularly skilled at writing about Tertullian.

The translations are much, much better than those found in the Ante-Nicene Fathers editions from the 19th century.The first review here on amazon.com gave the translations a low score, but I disagree.They are much more lively than what we used to have and based on better Latin versions.I found them highly readable and engaging in style and language.Dunn did a good job translating the texts.

My only complaint is the price: at $30 a pop this book is quite expensive and makes it not as accessible to a more popular audience than it should and could be at a lower price. But I suppose the costs of printing demand it be that high at this point.I purchased a copy even so.

If you are looking for an overview of Tertullian and also a few sample texts translated well into modern English, this would be a decent place to begin.

Andy Alexis-Baker
@ Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary

New translations of Tertullian
This contains a set of prefaces, and new English translations of Adversus Iudaeos (mercifully without political correctness), Scorpiace, and De Virginibus Velandis.

The book is typeset in a way familiar to all who have ever bought a university textbook.Those are always appalling to read, because they know that people will have to read them, easy to read or not.Shame on you, Routledge, for this.

The prefaces are really useful and provide an up-to-date overview of anglophone thinking on Tertullian.The importance of rhetoric in his work is emphasised, a useful section of scripture is included.

The translations are rather dull.In fact they are too literal to be easy to read.Something more lively would have been better, but probably less accurate.Still, they will appear in footnotes for years.

More! ... Read more

Book Description
Tertullian was the first Western Christian to write theology, defending Christians against the hostility of the Roman state, as well as arguing against Marcion, Praxeas and theosophical fantasy. A complex thinker, Tertullian has, in the modern era, been rejected by both liberal Christianity and its secular critics. For a long time misquoted and misused, he now calls for sustained analysis and interpretation. This book offers a major reappraisal of his theology and its influence on the shape of the Western Christian tradition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Theological Perspective
I was not very certain who the intended audience for this book was, but it contains some very interesting material, and I wondered whether it is in fact an apologia for Tertullian to a modern secularised theological audience.If so, it is rather well done.It is telling that he begins with a well-phrased demand that some attempt should be made to understand Tertullian rather than moving swiftly to abuse him.He remarks that "Since the Enlightenment, no ancient Christian writer has attracted more hostility" and he acutely observes that much of the discussion in the past has failed to read the context of these remarks, and has therefore consisted "of the common game of 'telling men of straw that they have no brains.' "(p.xv).

Osborn describes the different reactions in the literature to 'What has Athens to do with Jerusalem' and 'Credo quia absurdum' in some depth.He tries to give a fair statement of the positions adopted; that Tertullian is an anti-rationalist; a rationalist; a mediaevalist - and then offers his own insights.There is constant interest in the Stoic influence on Tertullian, and in the connection with philosophy.Chapters follow on Adversus Marcionem, Trinity and Christology and Montanism - where he makes the interesting suggestion that Tertullian's theological views did not in fact change at all throughout his extant work; only the way in which they were expressed.

A barrier to the correct understanding of much of what Tertullian wrote he describes as 'Tertullian's trick', by which he means that 'missing' portions of the argument are often to be found elsewhere in Tertullian's output, and that Tertullian expects us to recognise it.It is also pleasing to find recognition of the humour in Tertullian.The book is not always as easy to read as it might be, perhaps because Dr. Osborn (rightly) tries to avoid imposing his own opinions on it.On the other hand he is evidently appreciative of the splendour of Tertullian's prose, and produces some nice translations of selected phrases.

These are just a few highlights from the book.Certainly worth a look, if you can cope with the vocabulary.The use of theological jargon such as the 'economy of God' without explanation may be a barrier to some readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Orthodox, theological but a bit stodgy
The Tertullian portion of this work is rather old-fashioned and not very enthralling.It does contain a review of the misunderstanding often encountered on Tertullian's Adversus Hermogenem that Tertullian did not believe in the coeternity of the Son.However this is not enough to make it a necessary purchase.Not bad - just a bit too old-fashioned. ... Read more

Book Description
Tertullian lived and wrote in Roman Carthage during the reigns of Septimus Severus (193-211) and his son Caracalla (211-217).His voluminous tracts and pamphlets reveal the atmosphere of early Christianity in an era of persecution. The author sets Tertullian's writings within a chronological
and historical framework, then uses them to interpret Tertullian's intellectial development, his reaction to the society in which he lived, and his place in Latin literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A classic, and a liberal education for an amateur
This book is the best book ever written on Tertullian in English.The summaries of the content of each work are full of life, and Tertullian himself lives in these pages.

Much of the book is taken up with a detailed and systematic exploration of what we think we know about the man and the world he lived in.Barnes wrote this in 1971, under the influence of 1960's revisionism, and his conclusions have since been revised (see the appendix written in 1985 in which he discusses this).But simply reading how he goes about evaluating the data, and how he refers to it, will be a liberal education for most people.

The humanities does not have to consist merely of people promoting their prejudices.It can be solidly fact-based and data-driven.Barnes provides this marvellous example of a Roman historian discussing a difficult subject in the most objective manner possible.

Multiple Rewards
In his first major work which was based on his Phd. thesis, T. D. Barnes offers a striking revision of what was then current opinion on Tertullian.The book has of course two stated purposes: An historical and a literary study.Barnes states that no biography of Tertullian is possible.However, his historical analysis is keen.First of all, the author points out the dearth of information about North African Chistianity prior to 150 C.E. and the sparseness of further information from the late second century C.E.

This places Tertullian as the first major Christian author west of Alexandria in Africa.He carefully demolishes Jerome's assertions that Tertullian was the son of a Roman military offical and a priest of the Church.Based on his reconstruction of Tertullian literary corpus, Barnes assesses what can be known.For Barnes' observations about the nature of the persectuion of Christians by the Romans, the book is worth reading alone.He see persecution as random in time and location.It crops up here and there but continually by the time of Tertullian.A freightening picture of fear is mapped out.Persection and the subsequent responses to it in Northern Africa ripped its Christian Church into schismatic factions.A situation only settled by the eventual Muslim conversion.Tertullian is classed as becoming a Montanist by Barnes.This puts him at odds with Roman Church orthodoxy which eventually viewed Montanism as heretical.The sweep of historical analysis thus presented is wide and thought pervoking.

Why not five stars.The literary analysis is less persuasive.This was amplying pointed out by A. Momigliano, who was one of Barnes doctoral advisers, in his review of the book many years ago. Inspite of his Montanism, Tertullian had a lasting and profound effect on the Roman Church and its thought.Both Cyprian and Jerome credit him highly.However, Barnes gives Tertullian's theology far less attention than it deserves.His dating of the works of Tertullian's corpus is not argued with overwhelming force and is suspect.And lastly, Barnes proposes that Tertullian was a Christian Sophist which may be the weakest part of the work.However, all that being said, the two short reviews previous to this are right when they state that this is the place for all English speakers to start their study of Tertullian.There may be something in the French language that compares, but I do nor read the language.It may also be the definitive starting point of any study of the early Christian Church in central north Africa.This is an immensely exciting book well worth reading and accesible to almost all.

A lively, fascinating study which makes Tertullian live
Tertullian's thought and life come alive in this marvellous study.Written during the revisionist fashion in the 1960's, the book is still required reading.The text is very readable, and extremely detailed, containing more than enough references to take a newcomer to the criticalliterature.The starting point for any English speaker wanting to knowabout Tertullian, although not all of his views have found acceptance.

This book is the most important source for study Tertullian.
This book is a really treasure for everyone who wants to start seriouslystudy Tertullian. It is full of new (provocative?) informationabout him(theopposite is f.e. "Tertullian. in: Bardenhewer, O.: Geschichte deraltchristlichen Literatur. 2. Bd. 1913.) My question is: how can bepossible, that this book is not available neither in Czech Republic (notonly the translation of it, but even not an original), nor in Amazonbookstore?! ... Read more

Book Description
We, however, are not permitted to cherish any object(1) after our own will, nor yet to make choice of that which another has introduced of his private fancy. In the Lord's apostles we possess our authority; for even they did not of themselves choose to introduce anything, but faithfully delivered to the nations (of mankind) the doctrine(2) which they had received from Christ.Download Description
We, however, are not permitted to cherish any object(1) after our own will, nor yet to make choice of that which another has introduced of his private fancy. In the Lord's apostles we possess our authority; for even they did not of themselves choose to introduce anything, but faithfully delivered to the nations (of mankind) the doctrine(2) which they had received from Christ. ... Read more

Book Description
We must follow, then, the clue(20) of our discussion, meeting every effort of our opponents with reciprocal vigor. I say that my Gospel is the true one; Marcion, that his is. I affirm that Marcion's Gospel is adulterated; Marcion, that mine is. Now what is to settle the point for us, except it be that principle(1) of time, which rules that the authority lies with that which shall be found to be more ancient; and assumes as an elemental truth,(2) that corruption (of doctrine) belongs to the side which shall be convicted of comparative lateness in its origin.Download Description
We must follow, then, the clue(20) of our discussion, meeting every effort of our opponents with reciprocal vigor. I say that my Gospel is the true one; Marcion, that his is. I affirm that Marcion's Gospel is adulterated; Marcion, that mine is. Now what is to settle the point for us, except it be that principle(1) of time, which rules that the authority lies with that which shall be found to be more ancient; and assumes as an elemental truth,(2) that corruption (of doctrine) belongs to the side which shall be convicted of comparative lateness in its origin. ... Read more

Product Description
Who was Tertullian, and what can we know about him? This work explores his social identities, focusing on his North African milieu. Theories from the discipline of Social/Cultural Anthropology, including kinship, class and ethnicity, are accommodated and applied to selections of Tertullian s writings. In light of Postcolonial concerns, this study utilizes the categories of Roman colonizers, indigenous Africans and new elites. The third category, new elites, is actually intended to destabilize the other two, denying any "essential" Roman or African identity. Thereafter, samples from Tertullian's writings serve to illustrate comparisons of his own identities and the identities of his rhetorical opponents. The overall study finds Tertullian's identities to be manifold, complex and discursive. Additionally, his writings are understood to reflect antagonism toward Romans, including Christian Romans (which is significant for his so-called Montanism), and Romanized Africans. While Tertullian accommodates much from Graeco-Roman literature, laws and customs, he nevertheless retains a strongly stated non-Roman-ness and an African-ity, which is highlighted in the present monograph. ... Read more

Book Description
The judgment that one forms of the theory and practice of penance in Christian antiquity will be largely determined by the interpretation which one puts upon these two treatises. On Penitence dates from Tertullian's Catholic period, and is a sermon addressed to the faithful on the subject of repentance and forgiveness. On Purity is one of his most violent Montanist treatises. In it he criticizes the policy the Church follows in granting pardon to serious sins. ... Read more

Book Description
"One of the first great events in Christian history was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened to organize Christian sects and beliefs into a unified doctrine. The great Christian clergymen who wrote before this famous event are referred to as the Ante-Nicenes and the Apostolic Fathers, and their writings are collected here in a ten-volume set. The Ante-Nicenes lived so close to the time of Christ that their interpretations of the New Testament are considered more authentic than modern voices. But they are also real and flawed men, who are more like their fellow Christians than they are like the Apostles, making their words echo in the ears of spiritual seekers. In Volume IV of the 10-volume collected works of the Ante-Nicenes first published between 1885 and 1896, readers will find the writings of:a Christian apologist and influential Latin Christian thinker lix, known for his dialog Octavius , a Latin poet who converted to Christianity rolific writer and theologian." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Purchase Tertullian in Full in Phillip Schaff's Church Fathers Set
This immense volume contains a good eighty-percent of Tertullian's writings; and it is fair to say that his best and most important ones will be found here as well, respectively.Now the remainder of his works are present in the second volume, which also has major writings from Origen and Minucius Felix.True, this particular volume is out of print, however it may be acquired in the complete thirty-eight volume set (Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers) compiled by Phillip Schaff near the turn of the ninteenth century.The set is somewhat outdated.The English translation is a bit archaic.But regardless of this, the collection is still used universally in the English speaking world as a source for the study of the Greek and Latin Fathers.And for the price ($350.) this series is definitely priceless.So if you are seeking to purchase Tertullian's complete corpus, please consider my referral. ... Read more

Book Description
"One of the first great events in Christian history was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened to organize Christian sects and beliefs into a unified doctrine. The great Christian clergymen who wrote before this famous event are referred to as the Ante-Nicenes and the Apostolic Fathers, and their writings are collected here in a ten-volume set. The Ante-Nicenes lived so close to the time of Christ that their interpretations of the New Testament are considered more authentic than modern voices. But they are also real and flawed men, who are more like their fellow Christians than they are like the Apostles, making their words echo in the ears of spiritual seekers. In Volume III of the 10-volume collected works of the Ante-Nicenes first published between 1885 and 1896, readers will find three of Tertullians writings. In Apologetic, Tertullian addresses the powers that be in Rome, demanding that Christians be accepted and tolerated by Roman law. In Anti-Marcion, Tertullian attacks and discusses heretics. And in Ethical he discusses a variety of moral questions." ... Read more

Product Description
Contents: The Apology.- On Idolatry.- The Shows, or De Spectaculis.- The Chaplet, or De Corona.- To Scapula.- Ad Nationes.- An Answer to the Jews.- The Soul's Testimony.- A Treatise on the Soul.- The Prescription against Heretics.- The Five Books against Marcion.- Against Hermogenes.- Against the Valentinians.- On the Flesh of Christ.- On the Resurrection of the Flesh.- Against Praxeas.- Scorpiace.- Appendix: Against All Heresies.- On Repentance.- On Baptism.- On Prayer.- Ad Martyras.- Appendix: The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas.- Of Patience. ... Read more

Book Description
Among the voices that come across the centuries from early Christianity, few speak with sharper accents, or in more highly colored tones, than that of Tertullian. First in the Latin-speaking West to leave a major corpus of writings, Tertullian is also the first in the West to address in both treatise and tract the issues confronted by Christians in their encounter with the surrounding pagan world.Tertullian belonged to an era when Roman imperial power was at its height and paganism could proudly claim the blessings of the widespread Roman civilization. Though it was an officially tolerant world, unofficially it was suspicious of the politically incorrect: challenging social structures was an act of unthinkable bravado. Tertullian took on the challenge.

Before his conversion, Tertullian appears to have participated fully in his contemporary pagan culture. A Carthaginian, his education was thoroughly Roman; he was fluent in Latin and Greek, and widely read in literature, philosophy, rhetoric, and medicine. His conversion to Christianity brought to him a radically new vision of the world, while his pagan education provided him with the tools to express that vision with almost unparalleled power. He possessed a logic that penetrated through misty ambiguities to the heart of things; he practiced a formulaic style that sharpened inherent contrasts; and he refined a narrative art that enriched theology with vignettes of the pagan and Christian worlds of his day.

Tertullian is a primary source for a modern understanding of the issues that once confronted—and still confront—Christians living in a non-Christian world. Unfortunately, his writings have often been cast aside as too difficult to read. In this volume, Robert D. Sider undertakes a judicious pruning of the original texts and brings a fresh accessibility to the important writings of Tertullian. ... Read more