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         Tertullian:     more books (105)
  1. Tertullian: Webster's Timeline History, 190 - 2007 by Icon Group International, 2010-03-10
  2. Translation of the epistles of Clement of Rome, Polycarp and Ignatius, and of the apologies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian; by Temple Chevallier, Martyr Justinus, 2010-08-29
  3. Tertullian's Theology of Divine Power (Rutherford Studies, Series 1: Historical Theology) (Rutherford Studies on Historical Theology) by Roy Kearsley, 2002-04-01
  4. The Apology by Tertullian, 2010-05-23
  5. The Prescription Against Heretics by Tertullian, 2010-05-23
  6. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Volume 18: The Writings of Quintus Sept. Flor. Tertullianus (Volume 3) by Florens Quintus Septmius Tertullian, 2001-07-10
  7. A Treatise On The Soul by Tertullian, 2010-05-23
  8. A Glimpse at Early Christian Church Life. by Tertullian, 1990-11
  9. Tertullian's Treatises; Concerning Prayer, Concerning Baptism by Tertullian, 2010-07-24

41. Search Results For Tertullian - Encyclopædia Britannica
Results 15 of 5. 1), tertullian. 2), Apologist. 3), Carthage. 4), Montanism. 5), patristic literature. Results 1-5 of 68. 1), tertullian important
http://www.britannica.com/search?query=Tertullian&ct=&fuzzy=N

42. Tertullian (Roberts-Donaldson)
Extensive entry on tertullian encompasses his life and theological notions, and includes outlines of his tracts. From the Early Christian Writings.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/info/tertullian-wace.html
Tertullianus (1), Quintus Septimius Florens. I. L IFE .The earliest of the great Latin Fathers, their chief in fire and daring, and the first to create a technical Christian Latinity, is known almost entirely through his writings. It can only be conjectured that he was born between A.D. 150 and 160, and died between 220 and 240, with preference for the later dates. He was born at Carthage (Hieron. Catal. Script. Eccl. 53; cf. Tertull. Apol. c. ix.) of heathen parents ( de Poen. c. i.; Apol. c. xviii. "de vestris sumus"), his father being a proconsular centurion (Hieron.). Tertullian received a good education ( Apol. c. xiv.; adv. Prax. c. iii.). In after-life he recalled his school studies in Homer ( ad Nat. i. c. x.); but poetry attracted him less than philosophy, history, science, and antiquarian lore. He spoke and composed in Greek, but his Greek writings are lost. He studied the systems of the philosophers if he mocked and hated the men (cf. de Anima , cc. i.-iii.). Possibly destined for state-official life, he was celebrated for his knowledge of Roman law (Eus. H. E.

43. Western North African Christianity: A History Of The Christian Church In Western
treasures of the ancient church. •tertullian. tertullian (160240) was shaped by the experience of persecution. He viewed it his
http://www.bethel.edu/~letnie/AfricanChristianity/WesternNorthAfricaHomepage.htm
African Christianity Homepage
Western North African Christianity A History of the Christian Church in Western North Africa
Western North Africa
Tertullian
Cyprian
Donatists
Circumcellions ...
Augustine of Hippo
Christianity came to Western North Africa from Rome and grew more rapidly in this province of the Roman Empire than in any other western province. It was firmly established in Carthage and other Tunisian towns by the third century. Christianity in Western North Africa was predominantly urban, since its evangelists were Latin speakers who for various reasons had come to North Africa from Rome or other parts of the Roman empire, though the church also grew rapidly in the frontier regions of Numidia where there were fewer Romans and more people of Phonecian ancestry.
The Christian Church in Western North Africa suffered rather severe, though sporadic persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire. This history of martyrdom left an indelible mark on the church’s subsequent development. Accounts of martyrdom were circulated widely and the martyrs remembered for their courage and their witness. The North African theologian Tertullian went so far as to write that "the blood of Christians is the seed of the church." One of the clearest accounts of an early martyrdom is that of Perpetua and Felicitas who died about AD 200.

44. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. IV
Written during tertullian's Montanist years, defends the Montanist practice of frequent fasting. S. Thelwall translation, with notes. From the AnteNicene Fathers, vol. 4, American edition.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-21.htm
VIII. On Fasting. In Opposition to the Psychics.
VIII. On Fasting. In Opposition to the Psychics.
[Translated by the Rev. S. Thelwall.]
    Chapter I.-Connection of Gluttony and Lust. Grounds of Psychical Objections Against the Montanists.
I should wonder at the Psychics, if they were enthralled to voluptuousness alone, which leads them to repeated marriages, if they were not likewise bursting with gluttony, which leads them to hate fasts. Lust without voracity would certainly be considered a monstrous phenomenon; since these two are so united and concrete, that, had there been any possibility of disjoining them, the pudenda would not have been affixed to the belly itself rather than elsewhere. Look at the body: the region (of these members) is one and the same. In short, the order of the vices is proportionate to the arrangement of the members. First, the belly; and then immediately the materials of all other species of lasciviousness are laid subordinately to daintiness: through love of eating, love of impurity finds passage. I recognise, therefore, animal faith by its care of the flesh (of which it wholly consists)-as prone to manifold feeding as to manifold marrying-so that it deservedly accuses the spiritual discipline, which according to its ability opposes it, in this species of continence as well; imposing, as it does, reins upon the appetite, through taking, sometimes no meals, or late meals, or dry meals, just as upon lust, through allowing but one marriage.

45. Western North African Christianity: Tertullian
Western North African Christianity. tertullian (160240). tertullian set the North African church on a rigorous and uncompromising path.
http://www.bethel.edu/~letnie/AfricanChristianity/WNATertullian.html
African Christianity Homepage
Western North African Christianity
Tertullian (160-240)
Western North Africa
Tertullian
Cyprian
Donatists
Circumcellions
Augustine of Hippo
Tertullian, a lay theologian from Carthage, North Africa,was perhaps the most important theologian in the Western Church at the end of the second century. He had been trained in Stoic philosophy, rhetoric and possibly law, when he converted to Christianity in Rome, at the age of 40. He returned to North Africa, and used his literary skill to defend the Christian community against their persecutors. Tertullian set the North African church on a rigorous and uncompromising path. He believed that once a seeker has found the truth, it is time to stop any further seeking, and simply to believe that truth. He vigorously opposed mixing the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition into Christian theological thinking, or using Greek or Roman concepts to help understand the truths of Christianity. He condemned "all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition." (Against Heretics) Such attempts led him to the rhetorical question, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" He believed that Christians should rely only on the bible as a source for their thinking.

46. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III
tertullian at his sarcastic best. Peter Holmes translation, from the AnteNicene Fathers, vol. 3, American edition. Translator's introduction and each book in its own file, with notes, and links to previous, next, table of contents.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-26.htm
The Five Books Against Marcion.
The Five Books Against Marcion.
[Translated by Dr. Holmes.]

47. Tertullian, Carthage, Ancient Christian Church
tertullian c. 160 to 240 AD Ancient Christian Church Carthage. tertullian was born about 160 AD in Carthage in what is modern Tunisia and Algeria.
http://www.gospelcom.net/dacb/stories/algeria/tertullian_.html
Tertullian
c. 160 to 240 A.D.
Ancient Christian Church
Carthage
Tertullian was born about 160 A.D. in Carthage in what is modern Tunisia and Algeria. He was the son of a highly placed pagan centurion. Some scholars think that he was the son of a commander of the proconsul's guard. This may account for his use of military metaphors such as, for example, his remarks that "the Lord, in disarming Peter, unbelted every soldier." Tertullian considered that it was almost impossible for any Christian to hold public office or accept military service. This may be because he was a military man. One was expected not only to swear an oath of allegiance to the emperor but also to the gods.
Tertullian's early years were surrounded by the household gods or deities of Rome. Later he contended vehemently against paganism. Tertullian had a good education and was a brilliant student. He studied rhetoric, the poets, and philosophy in Carthage and then went to Rome where he read law. He had much learning in Stoicism which remained with him throughout his life even when he became a Christian. He had a negative attitude toward philosophy which he considered profane.
We do not know for certain, what led him to Christianity. It was not unlikely that he was impressed by the example of the Christian martyrs and the impact of the Christian community rather than by a careful comparison of philosophical systems. There was also the spiritual impact of Christians.

48. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III
A fairly short treatise by tertullian, in S. Thelwall's translation. With notes. From the AnteNicene Fathers, vol. 3, American edition.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-47.htm
On Repentance.
On Repentance.
[Translated by the Rev. S. Thelwall.]
    Chapter I.-Of Heathen Repentance.
Repentance, men understand, so far as nature is able, to be an emotion of the mind arising from disgust at some previously cherished worse sentiment: that kind of men I mean which even we ourselves were in days gone by-blind, without the Lord's light. From the reason of repentance, however, they are just as far as they are from the Author of reason Himself. Reason , in fact, is a thing of God, inasmuch as there is nothing which God the Maker of all has not provided, disposed, ordained by reason -nothing which He has not willed should be handled and understood by reason . All, therefore, who are ignorant of God, must necessarily be ignorant also of a thing which is His, because no treasure-house at all is accessible to strangers. And thus, voyaging all the universal course of life without the rudder of reason, they know not how to shun the hurricane which is impending over the world.

49. General Term: Tertullian (c. 160-220 CE)
tertullian (c. 160220 CE). African Church Father and one of the first major Christian theologians to write in Latin. Known for the
http://www.meta-library.net/theogloss/tertu-body.html
Tertullian (c. 160-220 CE)
African Church Father and one of the first major Christian theologians to write in Latin. Known for the dictim credo quia absurdum est Related Topics: Theology Contributed by: Marty Maddox CTNS Search for Tertullian (c. 160-220 CE) Full Glossary Index To return to the previous topic, click on your browser's 'Back' button.

50. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III
The earliest Christian treatise on a sacrament. Incidentally, tertullian displays his disdain for women here. S. Thelwall translation, with notes. From the AnteNicene Fathers, vol. 3, American edition.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-49.htm
On Baptism.
On Baptism.
[Translated by the Rev. S. Thelwall.]
    Chapter I.-Introduction. Origin of the Treatise.
Happy is our sacrament Of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed (in the faith), but them who, content with having simply believed, without full examination of the grounds of the traditions, carry (in mind), through ignorance, an untried though probable faith. The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism. Which is quite in accordance with nature; for vipers and asps and basilisks themselves generally do affect arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes, after the example of our Icqus Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water; so that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine

51. Tertullian Quotes And Quotations - BrainyQuote
tertullian Quotes, tertullian He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies. tertullian Hope is patience with the lamp lit.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/tertullian.html
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Tertullian Quotes Arguments about Scripture achieve nothing but a stomachache and a headache.
Tertullian

He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies.
Tertullian

Hope is patience with the lamp lit.
Tertullian

Nothing that is God's is obtainable by money.
Tertullian
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Tertullian You can judge the quality of their faith from the way they behave. Discipline is an index to doctrine. Tertullian You cannot parcel out freedom in pieces because freedom is all or nothing. Tertullian Type: Author Quotes Year of Birth: Year of Death: Nationality: Roman Biography: Tertullian Biography Find on Amazon: Tertullian Quotes RSS Feeds About Us Inquire Privacy Terms

52. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III
Much of the story is told by Perpetua herself, and some think that tertullian was the editor. R.E. Wallis translation. From AnteNicene Fathers, volume 3.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-54.htm
The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas.
The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas.
    Preface.

53. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III
Foreword to the 'Acta' detailing their sufferings, possibly compiled by tertullian or by another Montanist writer.
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-53.htm
Introductory Notice to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas.
Introductory Notice to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas.
(Translated by the Rev. R. E. Wallis, Ph.D.) Nobody, will blame me for placing here the touching history of these Martyrs. It illustrates the period of history we are now considering, and sheds light on the preceding treatise. I can hardly read it without tears, and it ought to make us love "the noble army of martyrs." I think Tertullian was the editor of the story, not its author. Felicitas is mentioned by name in the De Anima: and the closing paragraph of this memoir is quite in his style. To these words I need only add that Dr. Routh, who unfortunately decided not to re-edit it, ascribes the first edition to Lucas Holstenius. He was Librarian of the Vatican and died in 1661. The rest may be learned from this Introductory Notice of the Translator: Perpetua and Felicitas suffered martyrdom in the reign of Septimius Severus, about the year 202 a.d. Tertullian mentions Perpetua, The "Acta," detailing the sufferings of Perpetua and Felicitas, has been held by all critics to be a genuine document of antiquity. But much difference exists as to who was the compiler. In the writing itself, Perpetua and Saturus are mentioned as having written certain portions of it; and there is no reason to doubt the statement. Who the writer of the remaining portion was, is not known. Some have assigned the work to. Tertullian; some have maintained that, whoever the writer was, he was a Montanist, and some have tried to show that both martyrs and narrator were Montanists.

54. Shell5.ba.best.com/~gdavis/ntcanon/tertullian.htm
tertulliantertullian. Quintus Septimius Florens tertullian (b. ca. 150160, d. ca. 220 Jerome says that tertullian lived to a great age. In
http://shell5.ba.best.com/~gdavis/ntcanon/tertullian.htm

55. Of Patience - Index - IntraText CT
Intratext Digital Library provides the sixteen chapters of tertullian's tract concerning patience, each in its own file, along with concordances and word frequency lists.
http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0265.HTM
Index Help Words Alphabetical Frequency Inverse Length ... IntraText Library
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus

Of patience
I IntraText Edition CT
2002 - See also: Credits IntraText CT is the hypertextualized text together with wordlists and concordances.
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(Occurrences: 7737. Words: 1836)
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56. On Prayer - Index - IntraText CT
Intratext Digital Library provides the twentynine chapters of tertullian's tract on prayer, each in its own file, along with concordances and word frequency lists.
http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0263.HTM
Index Help Words Alphabetical Frequency Inverse Length ... IntraText Library
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus

On prayer
I IntraText Edition CT
2002 - See also: Credits IntraText CT is the hypertextualized text together with wordlists and concordances.
Overview
Lists Concordances Glossary ... For easier reading...
- Index -
Statistics and graphs
(Occurrences: 7337. Words: 1598)
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57. Lexikon - Tertullian Definition Erklärung Bedeutung
Translate this page tertullian. Definition, Bedeutung, Erklärung im Lexikon. Artikel auf Englisch tertullian. tertullian (* um 160 † um 230
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Definition, Bedeutung, Erkl¤rung im Lexikon
Artikel auf Englisch: Tertullian
Tertullian (* um ) war ein bedeutender, aber auch umstrittener fr¼her Kirchenvater . Er hieŸ eigentlich Quintus Septimius Florens . Sein Beiname Tertullianus bedeutet in etwa: "Dreimal im K¤fig". Tertullian wurde in Karthago (im heutigen Tunesien ) als Sohn eines r¶mischen Offiziers geboren. Um wurde er Christ und siedelte nach Rom ¼ber. Er studierte die klassischen F¤cher (Grammatik, Jus, Rhethorik) und arbeitete als Rechtsanwalt. Viele seiner Schriften lesen sich auch wie ein jurisitisches Pl¤doyer, entweder f¼r oder wider. Zu seinen Werken z¤hlen viele Streitschriften gegen die Juden, gegen die Gnosis (Valentinianer und Doketisten ), gegen Marcionisten, und andere H¤resie n, aber auch Verteidigungsschriften f¼r das Christentum vor heidnischem Publikum. Der "heidnischen" Philosophie (vor allem Platon und der Stoa ) blieb er trotz aller Angriffe im Detail im ganzen verpflichtet. In "De pallio" rechtfertigt er seine Gewohnheit, weiterhin den Philosophenmantel zu tragen.

58. To The Martyrs
Short. In plain text, translator unnamed.
http://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/humftp/E-text/Tertullian/ter-mart.txt
TO THE MARTYRS by Tertullian Chapter 1 Blessed martyrs elect, along with the nourishment for the body which our Lady Mother the Church from her breast, as well as individual brethren from their private resources, furnish you in prison, accept also from me some offering that will contribute to the sustenance of the spirit. For it is not good that the flesh be feasted while the spirit goes hungry. Indeed, if care is bestowed on that which is weak, there is all the more reason not to neglect that which is still weaker. (2) Not that I am specially entitled to exhort you. Yet, even the most accomplished gladiators are spurred on not only by their trainers and managers but also from afar by people inexperienced in this art and by all who choose, without the slightest need for it, with the result that hints issuing from the crowd have often proved profitable for them (3) In the first place, then, O blessed, 'do not grieve the Holy Spirit who has entered prison with you. For, if He had not accompanied you there in your present trial, you would not be there today. See to it, therefore, that He remain with you there and so lead you out of that place to the Lord. (4) Indeed, the prison is the Devil's house too, where he keeps his household. But you have come to the prison for the very purpose of trampling upon him right in his own house. For you have engaged him in battle already outside the prison and trampled him underfoot. (5) Let him, therefore, not say: 'Now that they are in my domain, I will tempt them with base hatreds, with defections or dissensions among themselves.' Let him flee from your presence, and let him, coiled and numb, like a snake that is driven out by charms or smoke, hide away in the depths of his den. Do not allow him the good fortune in his own kingdom of setting you against one another, but let him find you fortified by the arms of peace among yourselves, because peace among yourselves means war with him. (6) Some, not able to find this peace in the Church, are accustomed to seek it from the martyrs in prison. For this reason, too, then, you ought to possess, cherish and preserve it among yourselves that you may perhaps be able to bestow it upon others also. Chapter 2 (1) Other attachments, equally burdensome to the spirit, may have accompanied you to the prison gate; so far your relatives, too, may have escorted you. From that very moment on you have been separated from the very world. How much more, then, from its spirit and its ways and doings? Nor let this separation from the world trouble you. For, if we reflect that it is the very world that is more truly a prison, we shall realize that you have left a prison rather than entered one. (2) The world holds the greater darkness, blinding men's hearts. The world puts on the heavier chains, fettering the very souls of men. The world breathes forth the fouler impuritieshuman lusts. (3) Finally, the world contains the larger number of criminals, namely, the entire human race. In fact, it awaits sentence not from the proconsul but from God. (4) Wherefore, O blessed consider yourselves as having been transferred from prison to what we may call a place of safety. Darkness is there, but you are light; fetters are there, but you are free before God. It breathes forth a foul smell, but you are an odor of sweetness. There the judge is expected at every moment, but you are going to pass sentence upon the judges themselves. (5) There sadness may come upon the man who sighs for the pleasures of the world The Christian, however even when he is outside the prison, has renounced the world and, when in prison, even prison itself. It does not matter what part of the world you are in, you who are apart from the world. (6) And if you have missed some of the enjoyments o life, remember that it is the way of business to suffer one losses in order to make larger profits. I say nothing yet about the reward to which God invites the martyrs. Meanwhile, let us compare the life in the world with that in prison to see if the spirit does not gain more in prison than the flesh loses there. (7) In fact, owing to the solicitude of the Church and the charity of the brethren, the flesh does not miss there what it ought to have, while, in addition, the spirit obtains what is always beneficial to the faith: you do not look at strange gods; you do not chance upon their images; you do not, even by mere physical contact, participate in heathen holidays; you are not plagued by the foul fumes of the sacrificial banquets, not tormented by the noise of the spectacles, nor by the atrocity or frenzy or shamelessness of those taking part in the celebrations; your eyes do not fall on houses of lewdness; you are free from inducements to sin, from temptations, from unholy reminiscences, free, indeed, even from persecution. (8) The prison now offers to the Christian what the desert once gave to the Prophets. Our Lord Himself quite often spent time in solitude to pray there more freely, to be there away from the world. In fact, it was in a secluded place that He manifested His glory to His disciples. Let us drop the name 'prison' and call it a place of seclusion. (9) Though the body is confined, though the flesh is detained, there is nothing that is not open to the spirit. In spirit wander about, in spirit take a walk, setting before yourselves not shady promenades and long porticoes but that path which leads to God. As often as you walk that path, you will not be in prison. (10) The leg does not feel the fetter when the spirit is in heaven. The spirit carries about the whole man and brings him wherever he wishes. And where your heart is, there will your treasure be also. There, then, let our heart be where we would have our treasure. CHAPTER 3 (1) Granted now, O blessed, that even to Christians the prison is unpleasantyet, we were called to the service in the army of the living God in the very moment when we gave response to the words of the sacramental oath. No soldier goes out to war encumbered with luxuries, nor does he march to the line of battle from the sleeping chamber, but from light and cramped tents where every kind of austerity, discomfort, and inconvenience is experienced. (2) Even in time of peace soldiers are toughened to warfare by toils and hardships: by marching in arms, by practicing swift maneuvers in the field, by digging a trench, by joining closely together to form a tortoise-shield. Everything is set in sweating toil, lest bodies and minds be frightened at having to pass from shade to sunshine, from sunshine to icy cold, from the tunic to the breastplate, from hushed silence to the warcry, from rest to the din of battle. (3) In like manner, O blessed, consider whatever is hard in your present situation as an exercise of your powers of mind and body. You are about to enter a noble contest in which the living God acts the part of superintendent and the Holy Spirit is your trainer, a contest whose crown is eternity, whose prize is angelic nature, citizenship in heaven and glory for ever and ever. (4) And so your Master, Jesus Christ, who has anointed you with His Spirit and has brought you to this training ground, has resolved, before the day of the contest, to take you from a softer way of life to a harsher treatment that your strength may be increased. For athletes, too, are set apart for more rigid training that they may apply themselves to the building up of their physical strength. They are kept from lavish living, from more tempting dishes, from more pleasurable drinks. They are urged on, they are subjected to torturing toils, they are worn out: the more strenuously they have exerted themselves, the greater is their hope of victory. (5) And they do this, says the Apostle, to win a perishable crown. We who are about to win an eternal one recognize in the prison our training ground, that we may be led forth to the actual contest before the seat of the presiding judge well practiced in all hardships, because strength is built up by austerity, but destroyed by softness. CHAPTER 4 (1) We know from our Lord's teaching that, while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Let us, however, not derive delusive gratification from the Lord's acknowledgment of the weakness of the flesh. For it was on purpose that He first declared the spirit willing: He wanted to show which of the two ought to be subject to the other, that is to say, that the flesh should be submissive to the spirit, the weaker to the stronger, so that the former may draw strength from the latter. (2) Let the spirit converse with the flesh on their common salvation, no longer thinking about the hardships of prison but, rather, about the struggle of the actual contest. The flesh will perhaps fear the heavy sword and the lofty cross and the wild beasts mad with rage and the most terrible punishment of alldeath by fireand, finally, all the executioner's cunning during the torture. (3) But let the spirit present to both itself and the flesh the other side of the picture: granted, these sufferings are grievous, yet many have borne them patiently nay, have even sought them on their own accord for the sake of fame and glory; and this is true not only of men but also of women so that you, too, O blessed women may be worthy of your sex. (4) It would lead me too far were I to enumerate each one of those who, led by the impulse of their own mind put an end to their lives by the sword. Among women there is the well-known instance of Lucretia. A victim of violence, she stabbed herself in the presence of her kinsfolk to gain glory for her chastity. Mucius burnt his right hand on the altar that his fair fame might include this deed. (5) Nor did the philosophers act less courageously: Heraclitus, for instance, who put an end to his life by smearing himself with cow dung ; Empedocles, too, who leaped down into the fires of Mt. Etna; and Peregrinus who not long ago threw himself upon a funeral pile. Why, even women have despised the flames: Dido did so in order not to be forced to marry after the departure of the man she had loved most dearly; the wife of Hasdrubal, too, with Carthage in flames, cast herself along with her children into the fire that was destroying her native city, that she might not see her husband a suppliant at Scipio's feet. (6) Regulus, a Roman general, was taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, but refused to be the only Roman exchanged for a large number of Carthaginian captives. He preferred to be returned to the enemy, and, crammed Into a kind of chest, suffered as many crucifixions as nails were driven in from the outside in all directions to pierce him. A woman voluntarily sought out wild beasts, namely, vipers, serpents more horrible than either bull or bear, which Cleopatra let loose upon herself as not to fall into the hands of the enemy. (7) You may object: 'But the fear of death is not so great as the fear of torture.' Did the Athenian courtesan yield on that account to the executioner? For, being privy to a conspiracy, she was subjected to torture by the tyrant. But she did not betray her fellow conspirators, and at last bit off her own tongue and spat it into the tyrant's face to let him know that torments, however prolonged, could achieve nothing against her. (8) Everybody knows that to this day the most important festival of the Lacedaemonians is the "diamastigosis," that is, The Whipping. In this sacred rite all the noble youth are scourged with whips before the altar, while their parents and kinsfolk stand by and exhort them to perseverance. For they regard it as a mark of greater distinction and glory if the soul rather than the body has submitted to the stripes. (9) Therefore, if earthly glory accruing from strength of body and soul is valued so highly that one despises sword, fire, piercing with nails, wild beasts and tortures for the reward of human praise, then I may say the sufferings you endure are but trifling in comparison with the heavenly glory and divine reward. If the bead made of glass is rated so highly, how much must the true pearl be worth? Who, therefore, does not most gladly spend as much for the true as others spend for the false? CHAPTER 5 (1) I omit here an account of the motive of glory. For inordinate ambition among men as well as a certain morbidity of mind have already set at naught all the cruel and torturing contests mentioned above. How many of the leisure class are urged by an excessive love of arms to become gladiators? Surely it is from vanity that they descend to the wild beasts in the very arena, and think themselves more handsome because of the bites and scars. Some have even hired themselves out to tests by fire, with the result that they ran a certain distance in a burning tunic. Others have pranced up and down amid the bullwhips of the animal-baiters, unflinchingly exposing their shoulders. (2) All this, O blessed, the Lord tolerates in the world for good reason, that is, for the sake of encouraging us in the present moment and of confounding us on that final day, if we have recoiled from suffering for the truth unto salvation what others have pursued out of vanity unto perdition. CHAPTER 6 (1) Let us, however, no longer talk about those examples of perseverance proceeding from inordinate ambition. Let us, rather, turn to a simple contemplation of man's ordinary lot so that, if we ever have to undergo such trials with fortitude, we may also learn from those misfortunes which sometimes even befall unwilling victims. For how often have people been burned to death in conflagrations! How often have wild beasts devoured men either in the forests or in the heart of cities after escaping from their cages! How many have been slain by the sword of robbers! How many have even suffered the death of the cross at the hands of enemies, after having been tortured first and, indeed, treated with every kind of insult! (2) Furthermore, many a man is able to suffer in the cause of a mere human being what he hesitates to suffer in the cause of God. To this fact, indeed, our present days may bear witness. How many prominent persons have met with death in the cause of a man, though such a fate seemed most unlikely in view of their birth and their rank, their physical condition and their age! Death came to them either from him, if they had opposed him, or from his enemies, if they had sided with him. Made available to the net by: Paul Halsall Halsall@murray.fordham.edu

59. (NOTE The Electronic Text Obtained From The Electronic Bible
The character doubles as an apostrophe, when necessary. tertullian AD NATIONES.(1) TRANSLATED BY DR. tertullian URGES THIS WITH MUCH INDIGNATION.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PATRISTC/ANF3-6.TXT

60. Tertullian
tertullian was an interesting theologian and writer who has been respected by history despite his flirtation with a dangerous heresy. tertullian Guide picks.
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Tertullian
Tertullian (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus) was was born a pagan in Carthage around A.D. 200. He became a Christian theologian and writer who has been respected by history despite his flirtation with a dangerous heresy.
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Recent Up a category 'Noddy" Guide to Tertullian A "read this first" biography for those unfamiliar with Tertullian. He was born a pagan in Carthage around A.D. 200. Tertullian has been called the first Protestant a Montanist. Tertullian From Ecole Initiative. Tertullian was one of the first Christian apologists to write in Latin. He had little use for Greek philosophy, and was first to use the term trinitas (trinity).

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