Timeless Christians

Tertullian, Quintus Septimius Florens

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus was the first of the great Latin Fathers. His writings have been called "thunderbolts." During his life the church in Africa was violently persecuted but this did not prevent him from speaking and writing boldly. It was he who said, "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church."

For all his prominence, we have few definite dates for his life. He was born at Carthage in North Africa somewhere between a.d. 150 and 160, and died between 220 and 240. His father was a centurion, or commander of 100 soldiers, who saw to it that Tertullian got a good education. Tertullian studied Homer and could write Greek, but poetry attracted him less than philosophy, history, science, ancient lore, and Roman law.

The steadfastness of the Christians in times of persecution staggered Tertullian and attracted him to their faith. He was also impressed that demons confessed the superiority of Christ. These facts led him to examine Christianity. He discovered that it was illustrated by a life of holiness and humility--the pure life of Jesus, compared to which the noblest philosophers seemed sickening to him.

His conversion took place around 192.

While persecution raged, Tertullian wrote an "apology" or defense of Christian faith. This was a cry for justice. However, no amount of injustice could defeat the church. "Strike it down, it will rise the more. We repay to no man evil for evil, but we warn you--Don't fight against God!"

Tertullian wrote many books. These defended Christianity, rejected heresy, challenged the persecutors of the Roman Empire, or called for Christians to live holy lives and to base their teachings on the Scripture alone. "Of Patience," is a sermon preached to himself quite as much as to others.

He also developed the Christian understanding of Christ and the Trinity long before the church adopted an almost identical solution to the problems of Scripture. Tertullian was weakest when writing about marriage. Sexual sin was so common that he strained Scripture to make it say things it does not. His poor arguments in this case are often printed in college texts for students to scoff at.

In middle age, Tertullian became a Montanist, a system he preferred because it was more strict and lively than the Roman church--rather like modern Pentacostalism. Tertullian felt that the Catholic church was too lax. In fact, he became the head of the Montanists in Africa. Three centuries later they were still known as "Tertullianists." Some call him a heretic because he opposed the Roman church, and he did produce some weak and harsh arguments, but he saw many of the same problems later reformers also saw. Tertullian wanted a spotless church, so he wrote from his heart, without attempting to make his speech graceful or dignified. Jerome and Cyprian admired his writings a great deal.

Tertullian gave theology a language to explain Christian beliefs, and he brought in words such as "Trinity," "satisfaction (for sins)," "sacrament," "substance," "free will," and "person." Because Tertullian loved and defended Christ, Christian truth, and purity, he holds a permanent place in the history of the church.

abbreviated and adapted by Dan Graves from a public domain article by Rev. J. M. Fuller, M.A.]