De Apologetico Tertulliani Hodie

  1. What can we say about Tertullian's Apology today? Any ancient document can be referred to for historical insight – to learn about the Empire, about persecution or the early church. Of more interest to me, however, is what this great work might say about the church today and how it might offer useful statements of faith for our own times.
  2. The Apology is an ancient defense of Christianity against persecution in the Roman Empire.
    1. The Apology was written at Carthage in A.D. 197-198. It is one of the earliest Latin Christian writings, written as propaganda to counter the persecution and prejudice aimed against the Christians.
    2. This is a masterwork of literary sarcasm. Karl Baus writes that the Latin of the Apology "achieves an artistic form superior to any coming before." It is a masterwork, but in a genre which limits its own appeal. "As an argument it is magnificent; and Tertullian's command of sarcasm is unsurpassed in history," writes Henry Gwatkin. "But this is defiance, not persuasion ..."
    3. The argument is structured to address the issues of the persecution of the church.
      1. Tertullian begins by challenging the validity of the legal process.
        1. The charges, he claims, are unjust, based merely on prejudice [chapters i-iii].
        2. What is more, he says, they are founded on invalid law [iv-xvi].
        3. Finally, a fair review of the merits of the charges argues for their dismissal [xvii-xxi].
      2. As a good lawyer, Tertullian does not end his brief after making the case for dismissal. He continues with refutations of the specific legal charges.
        1. The first charge is impiety, not taking part in the sacrifices to the Roman gods. This is refuted by arguing that the Roman religion is itself flawed, that other points of view are tolerated, and that the officially sanctioned forms are not the source of Roman greatness [xxii-xxvii].
        2. The second charge is treason, since the sacrifice was for the emperor's health. This is refuted by arguing that Christians pray for the emperor's health more effectively than do their detractors [xxviii-xxxiv].
      3. Tertullian then provides a sympathetic view of Christian practice, contrasted with the practices of their accusers [xxxv-xxxix]. The chapter on Christian worship [xxxix] is especially informative.
      4. Tertullian then turns attention to popular prejudice, which (given his arguments about the underlying causes of the legal actions) may be more to the root of the situation.
        1. First of all, Christians are not the cause of every calamity. There were calamities before there were Christians [xl-xli].
        2. Neither are Christians bad for business. They have to eat as much as anyone and are productive workers and citizens [xlii-xlv].
      5. Finally, Tertullian argues that Christianity is more than merely another philosophy [xlvi-xlix] and, in a triumphant final chapter, declares that even under persecution it is the Christian who triumphs [l].
    4. Some of Tertullian's individual thrusts would still have force in a debate today.
      1. Among these are his belittlement of reincarnation especially between species, which might lead to the danger of eating great-grandfather by accident. Persuasum quis habeat, ne forte bubulam de aliquo proavo suo obsonet? [xlviii.1,13].
      2. Tertullian's support of freedom of religion is another example. After arguing that the gods would not want forced worship (Nemo se ab invito coli volet [xxiv.6]), he raises a concern echoing that of many Christians today: It seems that any position is acceptable - except the true one. Sed apud vos, he says, quodvis colere ius est praeter deum verum [xxiv.10].
    5. The Apology is no longer directly useful for the purposes for which it was originally intended.
      1. The church is not presently faced with the type of persecution which Tertullian was addressing; the church in North America, in fact, is not facing persecution at all.
      2. The social environment is significantly different today than it was in the Carthage of 197.
        1. The works of Tertullian were the first distinctive Latin Christian writing. We should expect, then, a concern with the issues of the day; a work intended for the ages would likely be placed in the classic line. "The Christian literature which begins will Tertullian vividly reflects the special features of the world of African Christianity in the third century," notes Baus.
        2. The plan of Tertullian's argument naturally presumes on the reader's knowledge of Roman religion, of Roman law, life, games, current philosophy, and even recent scandals, which serve as illustrations of the current state of society. But the issues have changed, and the examples are no longer current.
      3. The literary wonders of Tertullian's prose cannot be rendered fully. Our sense of rhetoric has changed and Tertullian's word-play is pervasive; a translation that did justice to his style, if it could be done, would involve rewriting the work.
      4. Sometime after the Apology, about A.D. 207, Tertullian switched to the Montanist camp. Even though the Apology was a defense of orthodox Christianity, the accusation of heresy clings to his work.
        1. It is easy to find traces of heretical tendencies; when Tertullian writes plane volumus pati, "clearly we choose to suffer" [l.1], one will see the "willing submission to martyrdom" ascribed to the Montanists.
        2. But heresy is not what it once was, and some of Tertullian's positions during his Montanist days no longer seem so heretical as they might have in the past. For example, Baus quotes De pudicitia (21.17) concerning the church inhering in any gathering of the faithful: "ubi tres, ecclesia est, licet laici". Today, that sentiment is orthodox, albeit Protestant.
  3. Within Tertullian's sarcasm there lie gems of clarity which continue to sparkle down the centuries. When he writes of Christ or of the church, Tertullian pens statements which I believe still speak to Christian faith today.
    1. Quod colimus, deus unus est: What we worship is (the) one God [xvii.1].
      1. God created the universe and gave it order. God is important not merely as a first cause but as the underlying intelligence of the universe and the source of its order. The universe is an expression of God's word, reason, and power: verbo quo iussit, ratione qua disposuit, virtute qua potuit, de nihilo expressit [xvii.1; also xxi.10].
      2. It is because God's rationality is expressed in the universe that we can understand God at all. God can only be known to God; quod vero immensum est, soli sibi notum est. Still, whatever has been created allows us to learn something of God: Hoc quod est, deum aestimari facit, dum aestimari non capit [xvii.3].
      3. Within the human soul as well we can find the natural expression of God. Tertullian praises this witness of the naturally Christian soul, testimonium animas natualiter Christianae [xvii.6] without expanding on the thought. It is enough for us to note that the soul is not so separate from the rest of creation that it knows a totally different truth.
      4. Scripture is provided so that we can more fully (plenius et inpressius) understand God's thoughts and will [xviii.1].
        1. Scripture is thus continuous with "natural theology"; they are not two distinct forms of revelation. On the contrary, it is scripture which points out God's relationship to creation and how natural events have served as signs and agents of God's will [xviii.3].
        2. Scripture can look forward as well as back. There is only one time in scripture, unum tempus est [xx.4], even though for us there is past, present, and future. Tertullian is impressed by predictions coming true; the deeper point is that scripture shows us not only the source of the universe (as does nature itself) but also its end. In this sense, scripture is the complement of nature.
    2. Colimus deum per Christo: We worship God through Christ [xxi.28].
      1. Like pagan philosophers, Christians believe that Spirit or Logos pervades the universe [xxi.10]. This is not a separate doctrine, but an expression of the fact that God created the universe verbo et ratione et virtute [xxi.10].
      2. Since God is spirit there is unity of this spirit of the universe with God [xxi.11].
        1. The spirit proceeds from God like a ray from the sun: The ray is of the same substance as the sun and cannot be separated from the sun, a matrice non recessit sed excessit [xxi.12-13].
        2. This "ray", then, entered into Mary's womb and was fashioned into flesh. This flesh then is Christ: in utero eius caro figuratus nascitur[,] homo deo mixtus. Caro spiritu instructa nutritur, adolescit, adfatur, docet, operatur et Christus est [xxi.14].
        3. In this way, Jesus is God and the Son of God both: ita et quod de deo profectum est, deus est dei filius et unus ambo [xxi.12]. (Tertullian is not presenting a systematic theology and is willing to leave certain concepts as ambiguous as the word mixtus. The Apology is not fully trinitarian in its expression, but Tertullian elsewhere uses fully trinitarian formulae.)
        4. Tertullian's figure may have even greater force in this age of relativistic physics. Today, we understand the light to be truly made out of the sun's substance (mass). We therefore may accept this analogy in a way that some of the intervening centuries might not have been able to.
      3. Christ is the means by which God wishes to be known and worshipped: Illum hominen putate, per eum et in eo se cognosci et coli deus vult [xxi.28]. Thus Christ is the completion of the revelation of God in nature and in scripture. There is no division of revelation; what is clear in nature is more explicit in scripture; what is explicit in scripture is present in Christ. Christ gives us eyes to recognize that truth which was already before us [xxi.30].
    3. Corpus sumus de conscientia religionis et disciplinae unitate et spei foedere: We form a body from the common sense of religion and the unity of teaching and the bond of hope [xxxix.1].
      1. In Tertullian's view, the church is communal. The church is formed by the common bonds of faith, hope, and teaching.
        1. Such a community forms a bond of sibship deeper than that of our common nature or that of secular societies (and even, in Tertullian's experience, deeper than family relations among the Christians' accusers). "But how much more fittingly are those called brothers and treated as brothers who have come to know one Father God, who have drunk of one Spirit of holiness, who from one womb of common ignorance have come with wonder to the one light of Truth!" [xxxix.9].
        2. In such a community, the Christians share their substance. There is a voluntary offering (cum velit, et si modo velit, et si modo possit, apponit; nam nemo compellitur) which is used for members who are in need [xxxix.5-6] and there is the implication, at least, of a much broader communalism. (Christians share everything except their wives, he writes [xxxix.11].)
      2. The church functions as a channel of communication between God and humankind.
        1. The church has a priestly role, by joining forces (vis) to bring the petitions of the Christian people before God [xxxix.2].
        2. Similarly, the church brings God to the people, through reading scripture, teaching, and rebuking [xxxix.3]. The emphasis placed on judgement may reflect the situation of the church under persecution; more generally, these functions reflect the care which the Christians take of each other spiritually.
        3. The church also cares for it members materially, as mentioned above.
        4. The church's caring extends not only to its own members, but to society as a whole. The church prays for the government, for peace and the security of the world: Oramus etiam pro imperatoribus, pro ministris eorum et potestatibus, pro statu saeculi, pro rerum quiete, pro mora finis [xxxix.2].
    4. Nos ergo soli innocentes: Christians alone know true innocence [xlv.1].
      1. Evil is a continuing condition of history.
        1. Disasters have been known throughout history [xli.3-9]. Tertullian cites a series of natural disasters throughout the Mediterranean, wars in the Empire, and stories from the Old Testament. We would be able to add as many again from current events.
        2. Evil will continue to the final days, which will be very evil. Christians, who know who the real enemy is [xxvii.3-4] pray that the days of his ascendency will be delayed [xxxii.1, also xxxix.2].
        3. Evil and good both come ultimately from God, but the human family fails to recognize it. Cuius bonis utebatur[,] ante editis quam sibi deos fingeret, cur non ab eo etiam mala intelligat evenire cuius bona esse non sensit? [xl.12] As Job said, "shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" [Job 2:10, KJV] In this context, "bad things" are not to be understood as being separated from God and opposed to God's will. That understanding gives rise to dualism, which is alien to Tertullian and to scripture.
        4. Human beings deserve the evil: semper humana gens male de deo meruit for we ignore what we do know of God and we accept crime and vice, omnibus vitiis et criminibus inolevit [xl.10]. It is not that we merely do evil deeds, are caught, and then punished (on which see also below). The essence of the guilt is that humanity does not seek the God already revealed in part, and instead grows in evil. Humanity is subjected to evil from its willful blindness. As will be seen, this understanding also modifies how we respond to evil.
      2. Until the end, God treats all alike. Aequalis est interim super omne hominum genus et indulgens et increpans [xli.3]. God has ordained a final judgement, but is in no hurry to execute the division of good from evil - quae est condicio iudicii, which is the essence of the judgement [xli.3]. To immunize the good people now from the condition of the world would be precipitous; it would be unjust because it would rush the judgement.
      3. Christians must respond honestly to the evil which clearly exists in the world. A Christian must "see this existence as dark and bitter and hard, and as an unfathomable and radical risk" as Karl Rahner wrote.
        1. Christians continue to live in this world and we need to be participants in what seems to be an evil society.
          1. We buy and sell like other people, have the same needs for food and shelter, work next to non-Christians [xlii.1-3].
          2. We are subject to the same laws and government, which God has commanded us to respect. Noster est magis Caesar, says Tertullian, [quia] a nostro deo constitutus [xxxiii.1; also see xxxi.1].
          3. From this it can be seen that we are not able to extricate ourselves from our age, nor are we asked to do so.
        2. Christians respond differently to the reality of evil than do non-Christians because we have a better understanding of what it is.
          1. All experience God's leniency and severity alike. Christians learn from life to desire the leniency and fear the judgement [xli.3]. Seeking God, the "bad things" which occur are lessons to Christians but punishment to others: nobis ... in admonitionem, vobis in catigationem a deo obvenient [xli.4].
          2. Even the "bad things" which affect the Christians may be a source of hope in the recognition of God's plan (recognitione divinarum praedicationum, confirmantium scilicet fiduciam et fidem [xli.5]). In our culture, any such expression seems to mean that God has planned or willed specific events which we may not like. In the context of Tertullian's theology as set forth here, it implies rather a continuation of the the revelation of God. "Bad things", as well as "good things", can serve to confirm our understanding of the order which God has given to the universe and which God is revealing to us continuously.
          3. Christians are not only the passive bearers of better knowledge; they are actively choosing their fate. In the face of persecution a person could only be condemned willingly: Certe, si velim, Christianus sum. Tunc ergo me damnabis, si damnari velim [xlix.5]; "you can condemn me, if I am am willing to be condemned." In more general terms, "I will suffer, only if I choose to suffer."
      4. Christians are held to a higher standard. This is not merely a more rigorous standard, but one of a different quality, for it cuts to the very soul. (Otherwise, Montanist leanings might be supposed here, for "utmost rigor was the law" among the Montanists.)
        1. There are higher precepts in the Christian teaching. Tertullian takes his cue from Christ's amplification of the Jewish Law, asking quid plenius, dicere: Non occides, an docere: Ne irascaris quidem? ... Quid eruditius, de maleficio, an et de maliloquio interdicere? [xlv.3]
        2. Innocentiam a deo edocti et perfecte novimus, ut a perfecto magistro revelatam [xlv.1]. Christians have been taught the true meaning of innocence by God. Human laws deal only with overt actions, and then only if they are found out, but God sees all. We can't view innocence as a game we play with the authorities, but are compelled to take it seriously.
      5. Final judgement and salvation.
        1. Death is real. Qui ergo nihil fueras priusquam esse, idem nihil factus cum esse desieris [xlviii.5]: You were nothing and you will be nothing. True to his unified view of revelation, Tertullian gives examples of death and dissolution from nature usch as day and night and the seed. Rahner also writes, "He is a Christian only if he believes that everything positive and beautiful and everything which blossoms has to pass through what we call death." It is not Christian to minimize death.
        2. Ressurection is real. Qui non eras, factus es; cum iterum non eris, fies [xlviii.6]. For while we shall become nothing, that very nothingness belongs to the God who created everything from nothing: Eius est nihilum ipsum[,] cuius et totum [xlviii.9].
        3. Judgement is real, and it is personal. We are not brought to life again just for the sake of recycling but for the sake of judgement: ratio restitutionis destinatio iudicii est [xlviii.4]. (Tertullian is forceful against reincarnation [xlviii.1, 4, 13]). So we ourselves will be ourselves again to be with God forever; erimus idem qui nunc, ... dei cultores quidem apud deum semper [xlviii.13].
        4. This eternal reward is the rest of that tempus unum which is being revealed to us. In the militaristic language of the final chapter, Ea victoria habet et gloriam placendi deo et praedam vivendi in aeternum [l.2]. Pleasing God is a glory which does not make sense to those who do not see what God has revealed, just as eternal life is worthless plunder for those without hope. Because we are able to see something of this eternal order, Christians choose the path of God's will.
  4. What is the value of the Apology today?
    1. Unless one is engaged in historical study or gleaning catch lines for a political debate, the best reason for reading the Apology today is to enjoy the wit and (if you can read the Latin) the wordplay.
    2. Underlying the text there is also a way of viewing the truth which can be helpful to our theological thinking today.
      1. In the Apology there is one time, one universe, one revelation. God has made a universe of order and because of this order we are able to know God. God has given us help in understanding this good order in scripture and in God's self-revelation in Christ.
      2. We respond to this knowledge with a different view of our responsibilities and with a different view of events which surround us.
      3. Thus the Apology provides an outline of a unified system which we can use to deal with the issues of our times.

Peter Cardinal.
August 16, 1993.
Formatted March 28, 2003.