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1924. The volume is divided into five books which contain notices of the chief Christian writers from the beginning till what is known as the Middle Ages, that it, from the great Tertullian at the end of the 1st century of the Christian era to St. Isidore of Seville at the close of the 6th. The books are divided into chapters, prefaced by bibliographical notices and enriched by notes of anything which could serve to inform the reader on the subject matter treated of. The lives of the various writers are brief, but are complete, and contain the important historical settings which gave occasion to the writing of the various pieces. Partial Contents: Latin Christian literature and the old learning; Sources of Origin; Third Century down to the peace of the Church AD 313; Golden age of Latin Christian literature; Break up of the empire; On the Threshold of the Middle Ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Unsurpassable Classic of Latin Patristic Scholarship
Thankfully, we have P. Labroille's 'History and Literature of Christianity from Tertullian to Boethius' in print today, for the old hardback editions of this milestone work of literary scholarship are indeed hard to find and are, even at that juncture, very expensive.In this work, Labroille exercises his superior merits as a Latinist and a patristic scholar; and the fruits of his formal profession render his understanding of the historical context of proto-Roman Christianity tremendously adept and full of insight. Now, the scope of this opus transcends what the title suggests, for Labroille's critique of Latin patristic literature begins at its point of origin before its common beginning with Tertullian.The author makes it a careful point to emphasize that if we are to understand the role and development of Latin Christian literature we must not overlook the significance that the first Latin translations from the Septuagint played in establishing a loose basis for all subsequent authors prior to St Jerome.These scattered Latin translations were, after all, used as a principal authority for the earliest Latin ecclesiastics (albeit, juxstaposed with the the Greek version) and to minimize the impact these versions had upon authors such as Tertullian, when writing formal treatises, would be unfounded.Did not the mighty Augustine himself swear by the dignity and authority of the archaic Latin versions, over and above, Jerome's Vulgate?The voluminous writings of Augustine are layered with citations from the old versions.Many of these citations Augustine employed are at variance with the Vulgate and certainly played no inconsequential role in the formulation of his theology.Thus, not just chronologically speaking, but doctrinally, the origins of the line of Latin Christian literature began from the point of the old Latin versions of Scripture.Moreover, the title suggests that the work ends with Boethius, when it actually ends with Isidore of Seville; and Labroille gives fine critiques of several minor authors that filled the interlude between those two authors.Thus, the scope this work exhaustively treats the period from the earliest appearance of the old Latin versions to the time of Isidore, at the dawn of the Middle Ages.In fact, the work as a whole exhaustively critiques every known Latin author during this epoch and satisfies every measure of biography, historiography and literary interpretation to an outstanding degree.It is doubted that there ever has been, or ever will be, a work that has been so faithfully committed to deciphering and perpetuating the memory of Latin Christianity in the manner that Pierre de Labroille's has.Just why this work has fallen into such a sink of obscurity, is not clearly intelligible.As a whole, this early twentieth-century work is still completely relevant today as it was when it was first published; and that is the mark of a true classic. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1920Original Publisher: Society for Promoting Christian KnowledgeSubjects: TrinityMontanismChristianityChurch historyReligion / Christianity / HistoryReligion / Christian Theology / GeneralReligion / Christian Theology / SystematicReligion / TheologyReligion / Christian Church / HistoryNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or an index.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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One of the first Apologetic Fathers of the Church proves to the Jews that the Messiah expected by the Prophets can be no one else but Jesus Christ.A quite pertinent theme, since today's Vatican recommends Catholics to no longer stress this truth, and encourages them to admit the false messiah of the Jews.Add it to your library today! You won't regret it.Smooth translation, brilliant arguments, fascinating reading.A timely return for a classic from the 2nd century!Format: Paperback, 80 pp. (A-23)Publication Date: 2008 ... Read more

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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

Customer Reviews (1)

Did not buy!
The deal fell through and the seller was not able to deliver the book.I have no idea on how else to clear this book from my list of those to review.Not sure there is that much of an "audience" for this type of reading.I do know that the few who buy and read ancient Christian writers, (and those who write reviews) can be very critical and even nasty at times.Doesn't fit, does it? ... Read more

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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Tertullian," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Tertullian in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Tertullian when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Tertullian, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

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This book traces Tertullian's handling of key doctrines and draws implications for some of today's crucial issues: Trinitarian faith, the status of creation, gender, authority and power abuse. It takes the agenda of early Christian thought seriously and finds it profoundly relevant for today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Almost unreadable
Studies of the theology of Tertullian in English are rare things, and the quality tends to be low. The 1905 classic "La theologie de Tertullien" by D'Ales has never had an English equivalent -- indeed Roberts in 1924 was able to write his less than useful book without even referencing D'Ales. So it is exciting to come across a book, however curiously named, which addresses itself to the subject.

The book is copiously annotated.Indeed I found it very useful as a guide to publications on aspects of Tertullian's theology.For instance, three pages are devoted to the famous 'credo quia absurdum', in which Kearsley summarises 3 ways to look at this, with references.This was indeed useful.Likewise it is possible to dip into the book at points, searching for texts and concepts and find a useful collection of books and articles for further reading, and some sort of digest of them.

Unfortunately the book has many serious defects. The first which strikes the reader is the style, which is turgid and unreadable. The book derives from a PhD thesis, and I suspect the process of condensation must bear some of the blame.

The second issue that strikes the reader forcibly is that every other sentence seems to be a reference, not to Tertullian, but to the opinion of some modern theological writer about him. (The overwhelming majority of these are anglophone, which is disappointing). This makes the book intensely frustrating to the reader who wants to hear the voice of Tertullian, not that of modern writers about him.

For instance, in chapter 2 there is a discussion of why Tertullian placed Athens and Jerusalem in opposition, and what Tertullian thought of 'philosophy'.It's too condensed, for one thing. Many things might be said about this. But the focus is on modern opinions (all rather uninteresting), not on Tertullian, and I frankly felt that neither the author nor his sources had actually read and enjoyed the first 10 chapters of De praescriptione haereticorum as a living text with something to say, rather than as raw material for his thesis. It is very hard to read Greenslade's excellent version and then regard these pages as useful comment on it.

The volume is likewise marred by political correctness of a particularly intrusive kind. Apparently the idea of political authority stemming from the emperor is anathema in the author's circles.This anachronism is very destructive.There is much talk of 'rescuing' bits of the Christian gospel (the PC code-word for syncretism), in order to relate them to this PC fad or that.This is deeply offensive to Christians, and logically nonsensical. Finally the text is stuffed with theological jargon, all of it smelling strongly of the lecture-notes of some salaried and tenured professor of religious studies at some marginal secular university.

All of this makes the volume very hard indeed to read, and I found my attention wandering on just about every page. I cannot say that I learnt anything about Tertullian from it. Probably there are some useful insights, if you can get past the obstacles. But I didn't find any. D'Ales is immensely better.

The general reader will find T.D.Barnes, "Tertullian: A Literary and Historical Study" a far better introduction to Tertullian as a whole.However, it would be unfair to complain that Kearsley does not rival Barnes, as he did not set out to do so.

I'm not sure to whom this book can be recommended. It has a certain value as a guide to the literature. ... Read more

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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

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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

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Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1870 edition by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. Volume 18: The Writings of Quintus Sept. Flor. Tertullianus, Volume 3. With the Extant works of Victorinus and Commodianus XIX, 514 ... Read more

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Besides, it would be a harsh and absurd proceeding to exempt anything from the class cf corporeal beings, on the ground that it is not exactly like the other constituents of that class. And where individual creature's possess various properties, does not this variety in works of the same class indicate the greatness of the Creator, in making them at the same time different and yet like, amicable yet rivals? ... Read more