Product Description
A collection of five of Tertullian's best writings, which give the reader invaluable insight into how the early Christians worshipped and lived. In these works, which have been translated into contemporary English, Tertullian discusses entertainment, prayer, dress, baptism, and the prayer veil. These works enable the reader to see for himself or herself what Christianity was really like in the second century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Tertullian is a truth warrior
I am proud to have this man as a brother not only through world history, but also in eternal life to come.Check out the section "On Baptism".If you find yourself confused of what baptism is and is for, look to the Scriptures first, but also look to what the early Christians were teaching.Many of the early writings were by contemporaries of the apostles.

My 2 other favorite early Christian writings are sold as books called "The One Who Knows God" and "We Don't Speak Great Things, We Live Them" by Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr.Read what these men wrote, learn your spiritual ancestral history and what they persevered through to receive the goal of their faith.You will see that ancient man was probably smarter than any of mondern man when it came to philosophy and reasoning.

Early Church Life or Tertullian's Life Experience?
I did not enjoy this book entirely.I was struck while reading it that Tertullian and Luther were weighted down by excessive guilt.While Luther's manifested itself in other ways, I had the sense that Tertullian advocated and developed certain theologies based on mistakes he had as a young man - almost as if by taking some more extreme positions he could make amends for his mistakes.This is not a long read, but is not something that I would say is a great starting point for those looking to learn more about the Apostolic Fathers.I would also suggest that some of the positions Tertullian ended up taking (vestil virgins) are indicative of other problems in his theology as well.

Very interesting reading.
From platform shoes to marks to gladiators! What a neat look at one bishop's view of how early Chirstians were to aply Biblical truth to their lifes.

A Great Text...For the 2nd Century
There's three different ways I could rate this book. As a translation and edition of an ancient text, it is great- 5 stars. It is readable, with many notes for the modern reader, and those more confusing and redundant passages are relegated to the end. As a text of an early church father, and thus a window into the beliefs of the nascent church, I would also give it five stars, for it's historical value. However, for the writing itself- i.e. if Tertullian were alive today and writing and expressing what he does, I would give it two stars. I simply wouldn't agree with this author and the way he expresses himself. His logic is often incomplete or nonexistant, by modern standards. And he is rude and condescending. There is little of the Spirit of Christ in his expression- of patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Honestly, if he was my introduction to Christianity at the time, I would probably have turned to one of the mystery cults, hoping that there might be at least some semblance of love there.

Thus an average rating of 4 stars.

But Tertullian doesn't write in modern times. He writes in a time when the midrash technique was still popular in Christian sermons, and logical connections weren't as important as allegory and the history of Missio Deo. And he *is* an early church father. Which means, regardless of what I might personally think about his beliefs, they to some degree represent what the early church believed- those who were far closer to Jesus' words and person than I. If I take that seriously, then I also need to take some of Tertullian's ideas seriously as application to my walk today.

I think there are times when his lapse into the Montanist heresy betray the orthodoxy of his thoughts. Though the Montanists were heretical in practice and not in theology, there practices did lead to influences and tweaking of belief, as they do for us all. They believed that the Spirit was available to Christians for inspiration in 200 AD in the same way that He had been for the apostles in 60 AD. They frowned on marriage and sex, and hence tended towards a more dualistic and anti-material, anti-flesh philosophy. They were very hard against the lapsi- those who had been with the faith and then left under persecution- even claiming they could not return to Christ in some cases.

So you find these same beliefs expounded on by Tertullian. There is only one chance for salvation. Marriage is impure, and relations between men and women need to be carefully guarded. Angels can visit with revelations that change the way one would exegete a text. These ideas would not be supported by the majority of the orthodox church, but some of them are expressed in different ways in this text by Tertullian. His ideas on the scarving of women should be read in this light, as he has a very low view of gender reconciliation.

The issue of scarving of women is also an element which appears to bring up cultural arguments. For instance, following along Paul's reasoning, Tertullian argues from the obvious assumptions that short hair on a woman or long hair on a man are ugly. While there are some valuable insights on loving our brothers and sisters with how we dress and behave, they should be read through the cultural lenses of the day.

Other valuable aspects of Tertullian's speeches include: 1) His discussion of entertainment and the dangers of violence and sexual imagery. It is interesting to equate that to events we have today, like boxing, or sexuality in the movies. The same kind of sexuality we see today he had in the theaters at the time, and he makes a strong and reasonable case against even kissing on the movies. If they are not married/involved, what right have they to be kissing? 2) The discussion of the Lord's Prayer and prayer gave some interesting insights into prayer customs like raising hands in the shape of the cross and the stations of prayer- customs that are suprisingly similar to those practiced today by followers of that other great Middle Eastern religion, Islam. And 3) his discussion of baptism gives good insights into the beliefs of the early believers on the centrality of baptism for salvation and it's ability to perform an actual work in the person through the grace of Christ. However, I believe due to his Montanist influences he doesn't represent well enough the prevailing belief that salvation was a necessary part of baptism but that it was still possible to die without it and be saved.

I encourage a reading of this work, and others, to get a better grasp of what the early Christians did and believed.

Tertullian the Impassioned
This little book provides a snapshot of the fervor of one who must have been a controversial figure in the church of the early third century as he is in the modern one. A couple of impressions regarding the African's personality: He cannot be accused of being lukewarm. He works himself into a frenzy trying to persuade his flock not to become excited or impassioned. In addition, he is strikingly imaginative, creatively applying scriptures to suit his purposes. I enjoyed his Montanist outlook on pleasures, the games, the theater, and especially his macho views of women. Reading this book sheds light on the secular ecumenical practices of christians living in a predominantly non-christian milieu. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Church history; Fathers of the church; Prayer; Baptism; History / General; Religion / Christian Life / Prayer; Religion / Christianity / History; Religion / Christian Rituals ... Read more

Product Description
This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.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
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.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
1870. Part Eighteen of Twenty-four. The translations of the writings of the early Church writers from the time of Christ till the Council of Nicea in 325 into English, known as the Ante-Nicene Library. Contents of Volume Eighteen: The Writings of Quintus Sept. Flor. Tertullianus, Volume III with the extant works of Victorinus and Commodianus including On Exhortation to Chastity; On Monogamy; Of Modesty; On Fasting; On the Veiling of Virgins; On the Ascetics' Mantle; An Answer to the Jews; Against all Heresies; A Fragment Concerning the Cursing of the Heathen's Gods; A Strain of Jonah the Prophet; A Strain of Sodom; Genesis; A Strain of the Judgment of the Lord; Five Books in Reply to Marcion; A Fragment of an Epistle or Treatise of Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, against the Sabellians; A Fragment on the Creation of the World. By the Martyr Victorinus, Bishop of Petau; Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John. By St. Victorinus, Bishop of Petau and Martyr; and The Instructions of Commodianus in Favour of Christian Discipline, Against the God of the Heathens. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

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Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... 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

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A curious mixture
415 pages, publ. 1956.A series of works with prefaces are translated with limited notes, mostly historical or giving the scripture references.Here are the contents:

Tertullian:De praescriptione haereticorum (with selections from Irenaeus, Adv. Haer, and Tertullian, De Pudicitia, as appendices);De idololatria.

Cyprian:De unitate; letter 33 (on the lapsed); letters 69 & 73 (on the baptismal controversy)

Ambrose:Letter 10 (on the council of Aquileia, AD. 381); letter 17 (on the altar of victory); letters 20 & 21 (on the struggle over the basilicas); letter 24 (Ambrose and Maximus); letters 40 & 41 (on the synagogue at Callinicum); letter 51 (on the massacre at Thessalonica); letter 57 (Ambrose & Eugenius); letter 63 (the episcopal election at Vercellae)

Jerome: Letters 14 (To Heliodorus), 15 (To Pope Damasus), 52 (To Nepotianus), 107 (To Laeta), 108 (To Eustochium) and 146 (To Evangelus).

This review will concentrate on the material by Tertullian.

Dr. Greenslade gives an excellent modern translation of the important text, De praescriptione, and indeed I bought the book for this alone, as it is the most modern English version of this work.The editor, in common with most others, rejects the CSEL text of Kroymann as too arbitary, and so based his translation on an eclectic text of his own selection.Occasionally one may quibble at some of the text choices made - in 40, 4, following Kroymann and the Corpus Cluniacense he omits the name of Mithras, presumably as a gloss, although it is present in the Agobardinus, and included by Rigalt and Oehler.It is unfortunate that the critical text of Refoule seems to have come to hand too late to be more than mentioned in the preface.But it is a good translation, and carries much of the force of Tertullian's work for the general reader, and the notes will inform but not stifle.

The selections added are interesting; De pudicitia lacks any English translation other than the elderly Ante-Nicene Fathers one, and an unpublished version by Gosta Claesson, abandoned in favour of his magnum opus, the Index Tertullianeus.As such, it is useful to have even such scraps as these.

The 1890 CSEL 20 text is used for De idololatria.This translation does not have the sparkle of the former; probably reflecting the less polished nature of the work.It is a useful work; but there is now a more modern version by J.H. Waszink etc which supercedes it.

The selections from other authors on other subjects did not spark my interest, and indeed I have been unable to find the time to read most of them.These suffer from the lack of any clear theme to the selections.

In summary, a useful volume of good clear modern translations. ... Read more

Product Description
General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1876Original Publisher: Harper ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Notre Dame, Ind. : University PressSubjects: Tertullian, ca. 160-ca. 230Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.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

Product Description
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
Publisher: London : S.P.C.K. ; New York : MacmillanPublication date: 1919Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.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