Writings of Tertullian
Books in this Series (3)
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Writings of Tertullian, Volume One: Apologetic Writings
This volume gathers the principal apologetic writings of Tertullian as preserved in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, presented in clear, contemporary English. At its center stands The Apology, a work of remarkable forensic clarity that reframes the Christian condition before Roman law and public opinion. From that juridical foundation Tertullian moves outward into the life of the city: On Idolatry unmasks the compromises of everyday practice; The Shows exposes the moral cost of public spectacle; The Chaplet makes the smallest gesture—a crown—into a test of conscience and allegiance. The collection also includes appeals and arguments addressed to authority and culture. To Scapula speaks plainly to a governor with historical warning and moral urgency. To the Nations answers the intellectual and popular charges laid against Christians across the empire. An Answer to the Jews engages contested readings of Scripture at a time when the boundaries between synagogue and church were still being formed. Balancing public defense with inner inquiry, The Soul’s Testimony treats conscience itself as a witness to divine truth, while A Treatise on the Soul supplies one of the earliest Christian accounts of human origin, constitution, moral struggle, and destiny. Modernized for readers today, these texts preserve Tertullian’s severity and precision while removing the barriers of archaic English so that clergy, students, and serious readers may engage these foundational works directly.
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Writings of Tertullian, Volume Two: Anti-Heretical Writings
This volume gathers Tertullian’s major anti-heretical works from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, presented in clear, contemporary English for today’s reader. These writings arise from a period when Christian doctrine had not yet been formally codified and the church was forced to define its faith through sustained conflict with rival teachers operating from within its own ranks. Modernized for today’s reader, these writings preserve Tertullian’s polemical edge while removing the barriers of archaic English. Together they reveal a Christianity learning to define itself from within, under the pressure of doctrinal fracture, philosophical challenge, and the ever-present cost of public faith.
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Writings of Tertullian, Volume Three: Other Writings
The practical and devotional writings of Tertullian, modernized for today’s reader and focused on prayer, discipline, suffering, and daily Christian conduct. This volume gathers Tertullian’s most important writings on Christian life and discipline from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, presented in clear, contemporary English for today’s reader. Here theology moves from formal argument to lived obedience, tracing how early Christians learned to pray, repent, suffer, endure temptation, and bear public witness under constant social and political pressure.