Tertullian
Tertullian
Tertullian, full name Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, c. 155 – c. 240 AD, was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy, including contemporary Christian Gnosticism. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology."...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionAuthor
giving principles scripture
All the Scriptures give clear proof of the Trinity, and it is from these that our principle is deduced...the distinction of the Trinity is quite clearly displayed.
abortion birth murder
To forbid birth is only quicker murder.
religious art divorce
[Hermogenes] despises God's law in his painting, maintains repeated marriages [almost certainly a reference to remarrying after divorce or perhaps even widowhood, which Tertullian, who became a Montanist, opposed], alleges the law of God in defense of lust [likely same reference], and yet despises it in respect of his art.
religious mean sacrifice
Offerings to propitiate the dead then were regarded as belonging to the class of funeral sacrifices, and these are idolatry. Idolatry, in fact, is a sort of homage to the departed, the one as well as the other is a service to dead men. Moreover, demons dwell in the images of the dead. ... this sort of exhibition has passed from honors of the dead to honors of the living; I mean, to quaestorships [financial overseers]and magistractes, to priestly offices of different kinds. Yet, since idolatry still cleaves to the dignity's name, whatever is done in its name partakes of its impurity.
lust soul maidens
The soul whose bosom lust did never touch Is God's fair bride; and maiden's souls are such.
way earning usual
The usual complaint is, 'I have no other way of earning a living.' The harsh reply can be, 'Do you have to live?'
long littles wander
Indeed it is better to postpone, lest either we complete too little by hurrying, or wander too long in completing it.
prevention birth murder
Prevention of birth is a precipitation of murder.
christian blood seeds
The blood of Christians is seed.
freedom pieces parcel
You cannot parcel out freedom in pieces because freedom is all or nothing.
pleasure dies
Can we not live without pleasure, who cannot but with pleasure die?
states impossibility
The state of faith allows no mention of impossibility.
office church speak
It is not permitted for a woman to speak in the church, nor is it permitted for her to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer [the eucharist], nor to claim for herself a share in any masculine function- not to mention any priestly office.
differences prevention birth
Prevention of birth is premature murder, and it makes no difference whether it is a life already born that one snatches away or a life that is coming to birth.