Tertullian

The Argument

Tertullian is the first great writer of Latin Christianity — the man who gave the Western church much of its theological vocabulary — and he is also the most polemical, the most ironic, and the most difficult to categorize. His famous question — what has Athens to do with Jerusalem? — is often taken as a rejection of philosophy's relevance to Christian thought, but the question is rhetorical, and Tertullian himself was deeply formed by the rhetorical and philosophical education he is supposedly rejecting.

His significance for literary apologetics is complex. On one hand, he represents the tradition of Christian suspicion of pagan culture — the argument that the Gospel is self-sufficient and does not need the endorsement of Greek philosophy. On the other hand, his apologies for Christianity are written in the best tradition of Roman rhetorical argument and demonstrate a mind thoroughly at home in the culture it is critiquing.

Tertullian eventually joined the Montanist movement, a charismatic sect that the mainstream church considered heretical, which complicates his legacy. But his theological vocabulary — Trinity, sacrament, person, substance — became the language of orthodox Christianity. The tradition uses his words while sometimes disputing his conclusions. That is not unusual for a writer of genuine power.