Tertullian, Presbyter of Carthage

The nature of the relationship of paganism and Judaism to Christianity, heresies and moral structure in Christian society, which determined the literary activity of church writers of the late 2nd and then 3rd centuries. Tertullian, as a literary active in the apologetic, polemical-dogmatic and moralizing directions. His significance as an apologist, polemical-dogmatist and moralist. Reviews about him by ancient and modern writers. – Division of essays. – Biography and characteristics of Tertullian as a person and literary figure. The third century and - even earlier - the end of the 2nd century represent a transitional time for the Church of Christ. Here one can discern the beginning of the change that later took place in the position of Christianity. It was a difficult time for the followers of the cross; but here also lies the beginning of the triumph of Christianity over outdated paganism. Previously small, the Church of Christ by this time had already become so strong that it could offer a strong rebuff to paganism 1, it had increased so much in the number of its members 2 that, one might say, it was no longer afraid of the onslaught from paganism, could deploy its forces and, as a divine institution based on truth, standing on an unshakable stone 3, boldly and decisively entered into the fight against the errors of paganism and - imprinted with divine character, she began to win victory after victory. In turn, paganism, apparently already falling, outdated, rotten at the very root, used its last efforts in this struggle - to defend its independence and predominant importance. Between the outdated pagan elements and the new Christian principles, the previously fierce struggle that had flared up, a struggle with far from equal forces on both sides, was now going on to life and death. The beneficialness of Christian teaching, obvious to everyone, its applicability to life and influence on life, could not be invisible to paganism: the pagans themselves were aware of the importance of Christianity for man 4, and - however, they rebelled against what, in principle, they considered a good thing. Paganism was so deeply rooted that it could not be suppressed immediately; The pagans were so accustomed to their time-honored religion, which had on its side the authority of antiquity, that it was not even possible for them to break their habit, and they armed themselves with fire and sword against Christians and Christianity. Next to paganism and hand in hand with it, Judaism also went against Christianity. Deprived of political independence and not having the opportunity to directly harm Christianity, which they hated, the Jews sided with the pagans and because of them acted against Christians and Christianity; they incited the pagans, incited them against Christians. Their goal was achieved: unfamiliar with Christianity, the pagans at first acted against Christians under the influence of the sons of Israel 5 - the first persecutions by the pagans, without a doubt, were due to Christians. Paganism and Judaism are the external enemies of the Church of Christ. Along with and in parallel with external enemies, strong opposition to Christianity appeared within Christianity itself. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Gnostic heresies especially intensified, which, under the shell of Christianity, hid pagan elements and, thanks to their appearance, could easily captivate and captivated believers into almost the same paganism, threatening, if not completely destroying true Christianity, then at least damaging the purity of the Gospel teaching. The remnants of paganism in the life of Christians and the movement of heresies had a depressing effect on the morality of church members, especially Africans. Growing up under the African sky and in luxurious surroundings reminiscent of Rome during its decline, the ardent population of Africa, already prone to passionate impulses, sensual pleasures, etc., under these strong influences - paganism and heresies - even more overstepped the boundaries of moderation and allowed themselves many such actions in life that were not reconciled with Christian consciousness, especially under the circumstances of that time. All this, taken together, caused the activity of energetic individuals who would victoriously repel attacks on Christians and Christianity and heal the moral wounds of their contemporaries. One of such personalities was Tertullian (in the Latin West), who appeared at a time when intense, unrelenting literary activity was most needed, and acted as a mighty fighter against pagans, Jews, heretics, and against modern moral shortcomings of Christian society 6 . His whole life after accepting Christianity was full of continuous struggle. Tertullian did everything that can be demanded of one person in difficult circumstances concerning the whole church - he responded to all the needs of the church sincerely, with conviction, feeling his recognition for this and realizing his direct responsibility in this. He took an active part in the fight against paganism. Christians generally opposed moral force to the material, physical force of paganism, which had become decrepit and already decaying in religious and moral terms, but nevertheless still very strong physically. Tertullian took advantage of this, and to the weapon of a strong word, the divine power of teaching and the power of the word, 7 before which every material force bowed, to this weapon previously obtained and tested before him, he added his own; he, in the words of Balzac 8, “forged an indestructible iron weapon and cruelly struck paganism with it, inflicting mortal blows on his enemy.” Thanks in part to Tertullian, paganism gradually died out, and if before the 4th century it still strongly declared its existence, then this was nothing more than the discovery of the last signs of its life, a last desperate attempt to return to its former life, former greatness and world domination. In other words, Tertullian contributed a lot to the external security of the church, bringing it peace and tranquility, in which only a complete, comprehensive disclosure of Christian ideas is possible. Tertullian, as a fighter against everything that harmed Christianity, had to come into contact with other, more or less powerful, enemies. In the era of Tertullian, as noted above, Gnostic heresies especially spread - Tertullian, and he did not ignore them. – As a polemical-dogmatist, Tertullian brought a lot of benefit to the church. Whatever weapon he used in the fight against heresies, whether the solidity of his arguments, or simply dialectical subtleties, he greatly defeated the heretics: the Marcionites, Valentinians, Praxeans, etc. are clear evidence of this. Some of the heresies, thanks to the victory of Tertullian, ended their existence along with their heresiarchs. In his treatises against heretics, Tertullian, along with the refutation of heresies, clarified the Christian doctrine. Here it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that before Tertullian, in the entire Latin West there was not a single polemical-dogmatist who wrote in Latin, with a Latin style and direction 9. Tertullian was the first to lay the cornerstone of church theological literature in Latin, the first to introduce Latin into the field of Christian religious and moral teaching and express the truths of Christianity with it. This alone is enough to see Tertullian’s merit, to understand what his significance as a dogmatist should be, what it cost him to express Christian truths in the then commonly used literary Latin language. The theological Latin language had not yet been developed; with the appearance of Tertullian in the church-literary field, church Latin was just emerging and was, as it were, in its cradle 10; it was completely unprepared for the expression and transmission of high Christian dogmas. Tertullian had to overcome many obstacles and difficulties in this direction. To his credit, it must be said that he overcame these difficulties, although with varying degrees of success. Tertullian completely subordinated the language to his will and made it a church language. Without borrowings from other languages, more developed in church literature (Greek, for example), without breaking the old language, things, of course, could not have happened. To express Christian truths, Tertullian often Latinized Greek words that were more or less established in Greek church literature 11 ; developed new Latin words that would accurately express Christian teaching on this or that subject 12; and sometimes he used words in a different meaning, which they did not have before 13; sometimes he introduced archaisms into his speech, words almost forgotten and no longer used in his time; from combining several words that were previously in use, he developed new ones, never before heard in the Latin West 14. He was the first of the Latin ecclesiastical writers to leave behind him a regula fidei 15; the first presented a complete 16 disclosure of Christian dogmas, touching not just one of them, but almost the entire Christian doctrine: he presented a clear doctrine of the Trinity, clarified this doctrine and, as far as possible, brought it closer to the understanding of believers; he clearly formulated the doctrine of the face of I. Christ, His divinity and humanity, the act of redemption and its meaning, etc. In a word, from the pen of Tertullian came, so to speak, a summa theologiæ, which for a long time remained as a regula fidei sui generis for subsequent writers, for example. for St. Cyprian. – Thanks to his writings, their content, character and tone, Tertullian was far ahead of other Western Christian writers, and for a long time remained a guiding star in the Latin firmament, the center around which the spiritual forces of the West were grouped, the starting point from which Western theological literature in Latin began. This can be traced through those ecclesiastical writers whom the Western Church brought forward in the wake of Tertullian; A strict analysis of ancient church literature shows a more or less strong influence of Tertullian on the writers who followed him. The original writer found imitators even among such Western celebrities as Cyprian and others. A student of Tertullian, 17 Cyprian remained faithful to the character and direction of his teacher as long as he was homo ecclesiae. In his literary activity in many places he even slavishly followed his teacher. "The last part of Cyprian's treatise de vanitate idolorim, purporting to prove the divinity of Christ, from Tertullian's Apologeticus, p. 21, for the most part copied literally" 18 - "that Cyprian in this last part was copied from Tertullian, there can be no doubt about it, especially if we take into account the passion with which he studied his highly respected compatriot" 19. Cyprian's treatise de oratione dominica was also written under the influence of the same treatise by Tertullian - the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bCyprian's work completely belongs to Tertullian. To be jealous of luxury in clothing in general was quite befitting of a diligent reader of Tertullian" 20 . Minucius Felix lived and acted in the literary field, it seems, later than Tertullian, as some researchers admit, 21 or was his contemporary, as others believe 22. Even if the latter is true, then the importance of Tertullian does not decrease. The similarities between the works of Tertullian and M. Felix is ​​so amazing that it is impossible not to notice the strong influence of one of them on the other. Mohler, who considers Tertullian to be the predecessor of M. Felix, resolves the issue of influence in Tertullian's interests. “Tertullian,” he says, “is original in his genius and language. M. Felix took it as a model and in his work included entire passages from Apologeticus, without directly indicating his source” 23. Author of an article about M. Felix, included in the appendix to the ed. works of St. fathers, agreeing with the view that M. Felix was a contemporary of Tertullian, writes: “his (M. Felix’s) style, close to Tertullian’s, indicates his familiarity with the latter’s works” 24. Another fighter against heresies after Tertullian is Bl. Augustine, in his fight against the Manichaeans, borrowed a lot from Tertullian’s arguments against Marcion, Hermogenes and other heretics of his time, with whom he entered into polemics 25 . Tertullian's influence on Bl. is also noticeable. Jerome. In general, Tertullian’s arguments in favor of monotheism, arguments based on the idea of ​​​​deity and the universal voice of conscience - they were all repeated and are still being repeated, only with slight variations. And other dogmatic arguments given by Tertullian did not disappear without a trace, they passed into the dogmatic systems of dogmatic writers who followed Tertullian, some of them are retained in the systems to this day. Many abnormalities have crept into the family life of Christians; Tertullian was also a modern denouncer of moral shortcomings. In the fight against modern moral shortcomings, he revealed in some detail many points of Christian morality, although, it is true, his morality in other places is closer to the Old Testament than the New Testament point of view. By revealing a view of the family and social relations of a Christian and substantiating it, furnishing it with a number of weighty arguments, Tertullian thereby laid the foundation for the scientific disclosure of Christian morality in the West. It should be noted that Tertullian’s arguments, based on divine revelation, were used earlier than him, for example. at St. Irenaeus, Justina and others - Tertullian transplanted them onto Latin soil, painted them with his own paint, illuminated them in his own way; hence, they need to be looked at not from the point of view of their novelty for the church in general, but from the point of view of their novelty for the Latin West itself and the nature of their revelation. True, Tertullian’s rigoristic moral principles did not become dominant in the Christian Church, but this in no way weakens Tertullian’s authority; for all of antiquity, Tertullian remained a high, remarkable personality, his name was some kind of sacred canopy, under which works tried to hide from the pens of other writers who had nothing in common with the name of Tertullian, works that obviously did not belong to him 26. After this, it is not surprising if ancient and modern writers who had occasion to talk about Tertullian spoke of him with respect, as a gifted, educated man, who through his activities greatly served the interests of the church. Tertullian's compatriot, St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, valued Tertullian to such an extent, considered his works so important in general education, religious and moral terms, that, according to the testimony of Bl. Jerome, made it a rule to read them every day. “Cyprian,” he says, “never spent a single day without reading Tertullian, and when he asked himself about his works, he usually said: give me a teacher 27 . Eusebius speaks with great praise of Tertullian, as a writer with a good reputation in all churches, a great expert on Roman laws, standing out from a number of other writers 28. Lactantius presents Tertullian as scientifically educated; however, he noticed two shortcomings in Tertullian: his speech has many difficulties for understanding and a lot of darkness 29. Speaking about Tertullian, Hilary notes that only errors reduce the authority of his writings; Apart from his misconceptions, his writings deserve approval 30 . According to Bl. Jerome, Tertullian is a man of a sharp and insightful mind 31, an educated man 32 and eloquent 33, with whom Jerome does not even consider it possible to compare himself 34 - his apologetic works embrace the entire discipline of his century 35. Ardent and knowledgeable 36, he was rich in thoughts, but at the same time heavy in language 37. The fact that people were interested in his writings and acquired the “Tertullian Code” 38 speaks for Tertullian’s authority; Jerome directly refers the reader to some of his treatises to become acquainted with this or that subject 39 , as works that fully reveal the matter. With such merits of Tertullian, for Bl. It seems even surprising to Jerome that he could be carried away by the heresy of Montanus and write against the church 40. Bl. Augustine praises Tertullian's style, but condemns his error 41. According to him, this insightful man foresaw the truth, but in his ardor and impetuosity he overstepped the boundaries of moderation. Vincent of Lerins (†450) composed a complete panegyric of Tertullian. According to him, Tertullian was of the same importance for the West as Origen was for the East, he was advanced and, in his way, the first person among the Latins. Educated, versed in ecclesiastical and secular sciences, combining in his extensive memory the knowledge of all philosophy with all its divisions into schools and the history of each of them, he was extremely persistent in the pursuit of once conceived goals and almost always overcame obstacles with the strength and solidity of his reasoning. “Who can praise the wonderful qualities of his speeches, which are so harmonious, coherent and consistent? He has as many words, as many thoughts, as many answers, as many victories, 42 as proven by the Marcions, Apelles, Praxei, Hermogenes, Jews, pagans, Gnostics, etc., whose blasphemies he destroyed with many different writings; his writings were like lightning that turned them into dust.” For all this, Tertullian, being more eloquent than faithful to the ancient universal faith, fell into error 43. Of the new writers, Balzac highly rated Tertullian. “Neither his rigidity in expressing his thoughts, nor the vices of his age” could tear him, Balzac, away from reading Tertullian. “I,” says Balzac, “in the writings of Tertullian found that gloomy light that was mentioned by one ancient poet, and I look at this gloom with the same pleasure as at the darkness of ebony, very pure and well-crafted.” Tertullian, in his opinion, stands above many imitators of Cicero. “It is true that his layer is iron, but from this iron excellent weapons were forged, with which he defended the honor and innocence of Christianity, persecuted the Valentinians to the extreme and pierced Marcion to the heart” 44. Malebranche, in his, as he puts it, faithful portrait of Tertullian, made on the basis of his writings, no longer speaks of Tertullian in the same way. While honoring Tertullian's education, Malebranche, at the same time, describes him with such features that do not seem to be reconciled with the concept of education. “Tertullian,” he says, “was undoubtedly a man of deep erudition, but he had more memory than judgment, more insight and vastness of imagination than intelligence. Respect for the visions of Montanus and his prophetesses is an indisputable evidence of the weakness of his ability to reason. This fire, this ardor, this enthusiasm for petty subjects clearly indicates the disorder of his mind. There are so many irregularities in hyperboles and figures! How many solemn and pompous arguments that prove only by their sensual brilliance and convince only by amazement and blindness of the spirit! 45 Bossuet 46 speaks completely differently about Tertullian - this admirer of Tertullian as an orator. Looking at the matter from a purely oratorical point of view, Bossuet finds Tertullian an indispensable example of eloquence. Whoever wants to develop the ability of church eloquence, Bossuet advises, first of all, to study Tertullian, to become imbued with his spirit, to have his works as his reference book, because Tertullian’s works will give the preacher both content and form - his external expression. Bossuet himself drew a lot and very often from the works of Tertullian, putting what he borrowed into a more elegant form that could have a pleasant effect on the French ear. The bibliographer Dupin hesitates to give his last word on Tertullian; he only notices that in Tertullian’s character there are many good sides, and many bad ones. After the contradictory reviews of ancient writers about Tertullian, Dupin refrains from praise, however, he is more inclined to praise in honor of Tertullian than to blame 47. At least, he directly points out Tertullian’s useful activities in the fight against the enemies of the church, and calls his morality excellent 48 . Abbot Freppel constantly admires Tertullian, considers him a deeply educated man, who with great skill and tact led the fight against paganism and heresies and in the fight against heretics developed church teaching; he calls him the church Demosthenes 49 and recognizes him as the father of Catholic dogmatics. In order to prove the last thought, Freppel sometimes sacrifices some truth. He tries to see in Tertullian, if not in full and developed, then - at least - in rudimentary form, those dogmas that were developed by Catholicism later than Tertullian; he sees in the writings of Tertullian Catholicism with many of its medieval scholastic inventions, for example, the doctrine of the primacy of the pope 50, about the sacraments 51, about the celibacy of the clergy 52, etc. A similar prejudice in favor of his religious differences, which is noticeable in Freppel, is also visible in Neander, who looks at Tertullian from a Protestant point of view. Correctly and accurately defining Tertullian in his activity as a moralist 53 , in a dogmatic sense he finds in Tertullian the doctrine of the invisible church and the idea of ​​a universal priesthood 54 . Press, without taking away from Tertullian the honor of an educated man, a brilliant writer and church leader, who left a deep mark on the church-historical literature of the West 55; considers him, however, a person who was carried away by modern “nonsense” regarding exorcism, nonsense of a frustrated imagination, accepted by Tertullian on faith, without critically checking them 56. According to Schlosser, Tertullian is almost a minimum value; it was not of particular importance for the church and church literature. Schlosser finds that the father of church literature in the West was not Tertullian, but Arnobius and Lactantius, who for the first time “paid attention to the people and began to transmit Christian teaching in Latin” 57. In Russian literature there are journal articles dedicated to Tertullian 58 , and there is also a separate study about him 59 . They express the views of Russian authors on Tertullian and his activities. Tertullian's literary activity seems to be an original, prolific and varied activity; Tertullian himself appears to be a man of broad erudition and a remarkable ability to use the wealth of his mental reserve 60. According to a fair review by K. Skvortsov, Tertullian at first glance seems to be a terrible enemy of philosophy, looks at it as a work of demons, the ancestor of heresies; in fact, by denying pagan philosophy, he himself philosophized and philosophized successfully (although he has shortcomings and extremes - for example, in the teaching about God and the human soul - refined materialism), and thereby rendered an important service to Christianity (for example. the doctrine of the sources of religious knowledge; proofs of the unity of God, the doctrine of the free will of man, which for him has not only theoretical significance, but mainly the greatest practical application to life). As a person and figure, Tertullian seems to be a restless, irritable, extremely distrustful person, a person with a gloomy view of things, strict to the extreme, giving no leniency or mercy to anyone or anything; in polemics he is decisive, does not like to stop halfway, but goes straight to the intended goal, crushing all obstacles and hitting the enemy on the head 61. In the Christian West, Tertullian is the first champion of thought and speech, the first both in time and in the influence produced by his creations on the generations of the West closest to him; it is often necessary to turn to it as the beginning from which much in the original direction of the Western Church and Latin Christian writing follows and explains. Tertullian is not a taxonomist, he also has contradictions; he had a lot of diverse knowledge, which, however, was not organized in his soul, did not have a scientific order: his depth of thought was devoid of logical clarity and harmony, his thoughts were dominated by the more ardent power of imagination. In morality, Tertullian is harsh, he lacks the beginning of love; looks at everything from a gloomy point of view; its morality is also unsatisfactory from the point of view of incentives to fulfill the law of the Gospel 62. All the reviews about Tertullian that have existed and exist in the literature - whether they are in favor of Tertullian or (some of them in particular) not - they all say, at least, that Tertullian stood out from the ranks of ordinary, average people of his time, was an outstanding personality, which it was impossible not to notice, to pass in silence, both in terms of its significance for that time, and for the further literary activity of the church. The writers who spoke about Tertullian, respecting one side of him, at the same time, and perhaps unnoticed by themselves, elevated him in other respects. This explains the interest in studying Tertullian’s literary works. If in order to study the life of the church of one or another period it is necessary to trace the written monuments of the entire period and from them to get acquainted with the internal and external state of church life, then in order to understand the nature of the church life of proconsular Africa at the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century, it is enough to study the works of Tertullian: they will completely satisfy both the historian and theologian. On the one hand, they will show the internal and external conditions of the existence of the church - the mutual relations between the church and the state, various obstacles to the success of the Gospel, the disciplinary system of the church; They will also solve other questions that arouse the historian’s interest. Christianity appeared in the writings of Tertullian in all the grandeur of its blossoming era. Paganism with its irregularities and absurdities is depicted here as clearly and energetically as it is true. On the other hand, Tertullian’s works are excellent monuments testifying to how the gospel teaching was revealed, instilled in the consciousness of believers, how it was put into practice, expressing the views of a private individual on certain points of dogmatic and moral teaching, when there were no precisely formulated complete symbols of faith. This essay, the task of which is to determine the literary activity of Tertullian, should naturally analyze all of his creations and from here clarify the nature and direction of his beliefs and authorship and then indicate the significance of Tertullian’s works for his own and subsequent times. – Tertullian’s literary activity developed in three directions, which can be defined in words: apology, polemics and morality. Accordingly, this work should be divided into three sections: I) Tertullian is an apologist, II) Tertullian is a polemical-dogmatist and III) Tertullian is a moralist. But since the last two directions are quite difficult to separate in the works of Tertullian, in the polemic-dogmatic works there are a lot of thoughts of moral content, and, conversely, in the moral ones there are many dogmatic positions, so that the above division of literary material would often lead to aimless repetitions; Therefore, instead of such a distinction, which is extremely inconvenient, it is best to divide all of Tertullian’s works into two unequal (in terms of volume) groups: works directed against the external enemies of the church - pagans and Jews, and works that had in mind internal enemies - heretics or the moral disorder of Christian society. Guided by this, we divide this work into two parts: I) external and II) internal activities of Tertullian. All of Tertullian’s activities were caused by the contemporary needs of the church, by the conditions in which the church was placed from within and without, and had in mind a certain demand of his time. Apologetics was caused by the clash of Christianity with paganism and Judaism, dogmatic teaching developed and was revealed in the fight against heresies, morality, as a conclusion from dogmatic provisions, was a consequence of counteracting moral disorder in Christian society. As a result, each section in the proposed essay will be preceded by preliminary essays, which should present the conditions for the emergence and tasks of Tertullian’s activity in one direction or another. All this must be preceded by a preliminary acquaintance with Tertullian’s personality and character. Tertullian's significance is great, his authority is undeniable. Despite this, antiquity has not preserved detailed biographical information about this remarkable personality for the past and present. The little information that has reached us is fragmentary, and there are many gaps between them. This is where a vast field opens up for all sorts of guesses and assumptions, some of which do not have any historical data for themselves, but represent only the fruits of idle imagination, wanting to present Tertullian’s personality in a greater light. The exact year Tertullian was born is unknown. Some 63 believe that he was born around 145–150, while others 64 push the year of his birth back to 160. Tertullian’s homeland was the capital of proconsular Africa - Carthage 65 . His father was a centurion of the proconsular troops of Africa, a pagan 66. They guess that he belonged to a patrician family 67. The centurion had enough money to give his son a good education 68. Under the influence of various favorable circumstances, Tertullian, gifted with rich abilities, developed mentally comprehensively - he studied everything that was included in the then educational course 69. Judging by the works of Tertullian, their character and tone, one can probably think that from the circle of sciences Tertullian was most engaged in the legal sciences 70; from the techniques and methods of evidence in the works of Tertullian, one can even glean such an assumption that he was a lawyer and teacher of eloquence 71; this assumption is very probable, because in his apologetic writings one can already see a quick pen, a thorough knowledge of Roman laws, as well as familiarity with all the intricacies of the then legal proceedings 72 . In addition, his father, a proconsular centurion, in all likelihood, prepared his son for some kind of government position, and this involuntarily forced Tertullian to become more familiar with Roman legislation and the method of applying it to business 73 . In addition to his familiarity with law, Tertullian had a good command of the Greek language, since in this language he left many works, the success of which was maintained for a long time, but which, unfortunately, have not reached us 74. – According to Tertullian himself, he was once a pagan, he absorbed paganism with his mother’s milk, paganism with all its superstitions, indulged in pagan entertainment, found great pleasure in the entertainment of the theater and circus, experienced all the delights of a riotous life 75. Thanks to this way of life and the emptiness of paganism, Tertullian felt the unsatisfactoriness of his position - paganism, empty in its content, could not fill the emptiness of his heart and mind. The philosophy of that time, with its endless search for truth, disputes and contradictions, did not arouse the sympathy of the young Carthaginian 76 . Thus, Tertullian internally recoiled from paganism, did not lean towards any philosophical school - and, therefore, found himself in a very uncertain position. At this time, Christianity, which at first seemed to him madness, 77 fixed his serious gaze on itself. Tertullian began to take a closer look at Christians. The heroism of the Christian martyrs, the strict life of the followers of the cross, their avoidance of pagan entertainment in the theater and circus aroused in him a keen interest in becoming acquainted with the teaching that they accepted and which instilled in them such courage and determination to defend their religious beliefs through physical and moral torture and even death 78 . He was also greatly influenced by exorcism, examples of which were apparently not uncommon 79 . An unbiased reading of the Christian holy books produced a reaction in him and disposed him to accept Christianity, and the Bishop of Carthage Agrippinus completed the work of Tertullian’s conversion 80 when the latter was 30 or a little more years old 81 . The time of Tertullian's conversion to Christianity is unknown with certainty; it is usually attributed to the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus, at the end of the 2nd century, because around the year 200 Tertullian already appeared with his apology as a strong defender of persecuted Christianity 82 The new religion also opened up a new arena of activity for Tertullian. The brilliant career that he had in mind - he, as an expert in Roman law, an educated man - Tertullian exchanged for the modest, but, nevertheless, very useful for the church, activity of an apologist. Sincerely attached to the Christian faith, devoted to it with all the strength of his soul, Tertullian now decided to apply his previous education to business, to join the ranks of the defenders of Christianity and its followers. During this period of Tertullian’s ecclesiastical and literary activity, apologetic works came from his pen, revealing his brilliant abilities, his original, however, in accordance with the circumstances, tactics to conduct the cause of defense. In addition to paganism, Tertullian also had to fight against the heresies that were dominant at that time, and Tertullian, with the same energy and steadfastness, raised his voice against the heretics and began a fight against them, although the success of this fight was not always the same. Tertullian's brilliant abilities, his strict lifestyle and zeal for the defense of Christianity and the moral correction of Christians earned him the rank of presbyter of Carthage 83. But, despite his intelligence, learning and priesthood, Tertullian did not remain faithful to the Catholic Church. Such an ardent personality as Tertullian, after converting to Christianity, could not be satisfied with the ordinary life and morality of Christians. It seemed to him that Christians were too weakening the moral ideal set forth in Christianity. In his quest for the realization of the highest ideal of Christian life, in his quest for the highest moral perfection, Tertullian went to the extreme. At this time, the rigoristic teaching of the Phrygian visionaries or Montanists was spreading, whose ideal virtue, apparent severity of life and vision strongly influenced the fiery imagination and dreamy spirit of Tertullian; he was carried away by this imaginary holiness of the Montanists, accepted their teaching and morality - he became a Montanist. Jerome tries to explain Tertullian's transition to Montanism as a matter of his personal accounts with the Roman clergy. According to him, Tertullian deviated into Montanism as a result of the envy and insults of the clergy of the Roman Church 84. Without disputing the reliability of Bl.'s testimony. Jerome and without attaching primary importance to him, one can imagine the matter in such a way that Tertullian’s gloomy mood, his natural inclination towards rigorism 85 and familiarization with Montanism 86 had already predisposed Tertullian in favor of the Phrygian dreamers; personal scores with the Roman clergy only served as a reason for the final break with the church and transition to the ranks of the Montanists 87. The year of its fall seems to coincide with 200-202. 88 and half the life of Tertullian 89. Tertullian liked Montanism for the first time, and he served it with unconditional devotion, as shown by his polemics with those whom he calls ψοχικоί 90; but he soon had to be bitterly disappointed in his mistake. Tertullian's close acquaintance with the Montanists showed a terrible discord between their word and deed, teaching and life. Apparently, the Montanists were strict adherents of the strict morality they preached, but in fact they allowed themselves to do things that were not consistent with their morality; greed, ambition, debauchery, etc., the vices of the 91 Montanists should have repelled every thinking person, and even more so a person with an ascetic mentality, such as Tertullian. Tertullian broke off all relations with the Montanists, still remaining the same rigorist, only his gloomy outlook on life intensified even more. A party formed around him, probably the same rigorists as himself - this is the so-called Tertullian sect, which existed before the time of St. Augustine 92. It is believed that Tertullian re-entered the church before his death, 93 but antiquity does not provide sufficient evidence in favor of this opinion. On the contrary, Jerome, without any restrictions, calls him a person who does not belong to the church 94. Tertullian died at a very old age 95, in the thirties of the third century 96. Already from this biographical sketch and mainly from the writings of Tertullian it is clear that Tertullian was a remarkable personality. His naturally rich nature quickly developed, and from his brilliant natural abilities the genius that rose on the horizon of Carthaginian society was formed. In paganism, this was a passionate, wild person who did not call and did not want to know any boundaries. And upon his transition to Christianity, Tertullian remained just as persistent and unyielding in his aspirations and actions, only the firmness of his character and his boundlessness went in the other direction, Tertullian the Christian went to the other extreme: instead of the previous revelry, he indulged in strict abstinence, an ascetic was formed from him in the full sense of the word - a stern, gloomy ascetic. Strict with himself and his actions, prone to melancholy as a result of the reactions of his previous life, Tertullian became indifferent to all the joys of life, the world of God lost its charm and charm for him 97. The emptiness of life in paganism, clashes with philosophical schools - on the one hand, dissatisfaction with the everyday life of Christians, which seemed to him too licentious, and the fanaticism of the Phrygian visionaries - on the other, united together and formed in Tertullian that unique character, the like of which is very rare. Mistrust, discontent and unconditional condemnation of everything that smacks of paganism, non-Christianity, fanatical steadfastness for one’s opinions and beliefs became his characteristic features. With amazing tirelessness, he pursued once established goals, tried to implement his convictions in the lives of others - enthusiasm and energy of spirit supported Tertullian, and nothing could stop him. This broad, impressionable nature did not like to encounter obstacles on her path; every obstacle and disagreement with him in his views brought him out of patience, every apparently insignificant circumstance, not to mention the more important, irritated him. Then Tertullian acted under the influence of his first impression - he became angry, scolded, got excited, pamphlets and insults even burst out from under his pen, an inexhaustible supply of irony and sarcasm fell here in its entirety; serious reasoning and arguments were mixed with jokes and witticisms; restraint left him. And in general, composure and calm activity were not in Tertullian’s character. In this respect, it was fully affected by the hot climate of Africa. Ardent and impetuous, he seemed to take on almost every task energetically, passionately, with a kind of feverish trembling; a flurry of activity ensued; His fiery imagination began to work extremely quickly, began to paint picture after picture, and was so strongly reflected in some of his works that in some places one can see predominantly the activity of a creative association. A vivid imagination and impulses of deep feeling often carried him beyond the limits of moderation. He belonged to those who are called people of extremes. Tertullian's rich mental abilities, together with his fiery imagination and strong will, formed him into an energetic figure, for whom struggle was an urgent need, the goal of life. As a writer, Tertullian was completely the son of the West. He did not like to dwell long on theoretical, abstract theses - the soil of theory seemed to him to be slippery, and he was in a hurry to move on to practical conclusions and was more willing to deal with them. Based on experience, Tertullian is invincible. His extensive education, legal dialectics, his passion made him a terrible fighter, with whom it is difficult for defenders of errors to fight. With amazing dexterity, he attacked his opponent and struck him with his “iron weapon.” A simple victory seemed to him not enough; As a determined man who did not like to stop halfway, he tried to completely destroy his opponent. To achieve this, he sometimes used not only weighty arguments, but also dialectical subtleties, resourcefulness and a caricature of the opponent’s opinions. Tertullian's passionate, impetuous and, one might say, selfish character was reflected in his language. His style is compressed, abrupt, uneven, although at the same time flowery and full of imagery. His speech is not always distinguished by careful processing; its forms are sometimes rough and rigid. Tertullian treats language arbitrarily, without sparing it: the already established language does not satisfy him, the lexical side of it seems insufficient to Tertullian and he appears, so to speak, with his own language 98. Tertullian's language is strong and expressive, in the works, especially those finished by Tertullian and with educated readers in mind, 99 - lively and fascinating, the course of the matter is natural, unextended, the classification of the material is correct, scientific, decisive consequences stand in close and close connection with unshakable principles. That is why he has almost no repetitions in these works, and when analyzing his works one does not have to move chapters from one place to another, as, for example, in Bl. Augustine 100. How necessary the strong activity of a famous personality at this time was for the church is easy to see from a series of works by Tertullian. He left behind an extremely large number of works with a wide variety of content. All his works are grouped as follows: works of a) apologetic nature. apologetics, ad natione 1. II, ad Scapulam, de testimonio animae adversus hudaeos; b) polemical - dogmatic: de praescriptionibus adversus haeretticuss, de baptismo, adversus gnosticos scorpiace, adverus Marcionem 1. V, de anima, adversus Valentinianos, adversus Hermogenem, adversus Praxeam, de resurrectione carnis, de carne Christi; c) moral content: de poenitentia, de oratione, de jejuniis, ad uxorem I. II, de cultu foeminarum, de habitumuherum, de virgimbus velandis, de patientia, ad martyres, de idolatria, de corona militis, exhortatio ad castitatem, de monogamia, de pudictia, de fuga in persecutione, de pallio. Church writers list a number of works that have not reached us: ad amicum philo-ophum de nuptiarum angustis (Hieron. ep. 28 ad Eustoch.; adv. Jovinian. 1), de tato (Tert. De anima, 20), de mundis et in mundis animalibus (Hier. ep. 125 ad Damascum). de circumcisione (Hieron ibid.), de vestibus Aaron (Hier. ep. 128 ad Fabiolam), de tumitate (Hieron. ep. calal. Script. Ecceles.), de censu animae (Tert. de anima 1. 3. 22. 24), ab. Apelletianos (de carne Christi 8), de paradiso (de anima 55), de spe fidelium (Hier. inc. 36 Eccles, de extasi 1. VI (Hier. de vir. illustr. 53; Nicephor. Hist, eccles IV, 22. 34), ads. ApoIIonium (Hier. de vir. illustr. 53). Vid. Curs. patrol., series latina, t. All these writings were prompted by the contemporary needs of the church, all had in mind a specific demand of their time. Lettres à M. Rigalt, 1V, lettre 2,–y Du-Pin'a Nouvelle bibliothèque des auteurs ecclésiastiques, t. I, p. 109, edit. 1698 an. It should be noted that at the end of the 2nd century. the center of gravity of Western literature is transferred to African soil, all the spiritual forces of the West are concentrated and revolve around the capital of Proconsular Africa - Carthage, and this predominant importance of African literary activity in front of the European West lasts for a long time - for a long time we do not see church-literary works in the European West. M. Felix, Arnobius, Lactantius, Augustine - all these writers are Africans and are more or less grouped around Tertullian - this father of Western church literature in Latin. Curs. compl. patrol, ser. Lat., t.I, praefatio, p. 12 Acacia = ακακία, baptisare = βαπτίζειν. The most successful words developed by Tertullian and remaining forever in dogmatics: trinitas = tria-unitas, laumlitas, etc. Eg. misericordia - in the sense of virtue, while even Seneca used this word to express the vice of the soul. Eg. angelificari, multinubentia, discordia, multivorantia, virginari… Three symbols in the writings of Tertullian: in de virnigibus velandis, c.1 - short, in de praescriptionibus, 13 - more extensive and in adversus Praxeam, c. 2. To what extent this was caused by circumstances and the demands of time. Da magistrum, said Cyprian about Tertullian (Hieron. de vir. illustr. 53) Rettberg. Kyprianus, S. 218. 226 Ibid. S.238. One can also notice the influence of Tertullian reflected on Cyprian, in his, Cyprian's, de zelo et livore, de opere et elecmosynis. Speaking about Cyprian and citing the already well-known phrase - da mihi ptraeceptorem meum, Lumper remarks: Revera enim cum inutatus est, ei ab eo non pauca desumpsit. Pleraque etiam suorum operum eo lem, quo Tertullianus metituto composuit, ut sumum de plolatria librum ad mstai Apologetici: libros de disciplina, et habitu muliebri, de zelo et hvore, de oratione domenica et de opere eleermosyms, ad mutationem Tertullian (Curs. compl. Patrol., I, 90) La patrologie par Moeler, ad par Cohen, t. 2, p. 402 N. Shcheglov. Apologetician of Tertullian - in Trud. Kyiv. D. Academician 1888 No. 3 Arr. to ed. creativity St. Ooh. 1938, XII, 298 – Article by Smirnov: M. Felix “Octavius”. La patrol. par Moeler, t. 2, p. 402. For the sample compare. apol. 9 – Octav. 34; apol. 15 – Octav. 28, etc. Parallels were drawn by N. Shcheglov in his work: Apologetician of Tertullian - in Trud. Kyiv. D. Academician 1888 No. 2 and 3 Arr. to ed. creativity St. Father 1853, XII, 298 Bergier (dictionnarie de theologie, V, 104) even says that Augustine did not say anything new in comparison with Tertullian, he repeated only what was expressed by the Carthaginian presbyter in his polemics. The following forged works are known in the name of Tertullian: carmina ad. Marcionem 1.V; carmina de judicio Domini; Genesis; Sodoma; ad senatorem; Carmen de Iona et Ninive; de ligno vitae; – they are all placed in curs. complete. patrol, t. II, p. 1050–1114. For their inauthenticity and forgery, see Curs. compl. patrol, t. II, p. 1049–1051; 1089–1090; Du-Pin'a biblioth. des auteurs ecclés. t. I, p. 92. 93 and notes to them on the countries. 108. Da mihi magistrum. Hieron. Devir. illustr. 53. – In another place Jerome says: Beatus Cyprianus Tertulliano magistro utitur, ut ejus scripea probant: cumque eruditi et ardentis viri delectetur ingenio, Montanum cum eo Maximillam que non sequitur. (Ep. 42). Ταῦτα Τερτυλλιανός, τούς ‘Ρωμαίων νόμους ἠκριβωκώς ἀνήρ, τά τε ἄλλα ἔνδοξος, καί τῶν μάλιστα ἐπί ‘Ρωμης λαμπρῶν ἐν τῇ γραφείτῃ μέν αὐτῷ τῇ Ρωμαίων φωνῇ, μεταβληθείσῃ δε καί ἐπί τήν Ἐλλάδα γλώσσαν ὑπέρ χριστιανών ἀπολογία. Translation of Rufinus: Haec Tertullianus vir et legume et institutionum Romanarum peritissimus, et inter nostros scriptores admodum clarus, in Apologetico suo, quem adversus gentes pro nostra fide scribit. (Euseb. Histor. Eccles. II, 2). Septimus Tertullianus fuit omni genere litterarum peritus, sed in eloquendo parum facilis, et minus comptus, et multum obscures fuit: ergo ne bic quidem satis celebritatis invenit (Lactant. instit. divin. V, 1) Hillar. Comment. in Matthaeum Hieron de Viris illustr. c. 53. Creber in sententis, sed difficilis in loquendo. Ep. 13 Lib. de bono viduitatis, p. 5 Cujns quot pene verba, tot senteninae, quot sensus, tot victoriae. Vincentiu Lirinensis. Commonitor. I, c. 18, – in curs, compl. patrolog., series latina, t. L, p. 664–665 Lettres à M. Rigalt, 1. V, lettre 2,–y Du-Pin’a Nouvelle bibliothèque des auteurs ecclésiastiques, t. I, p. 109, edit. 1603 an., and in Curs. compl. patrol, t. I, p. 91. 92. Malebranche. Recherche de la verité, 1. II, ch. 3,–y Du-Pin'a t. II, p. 109, and in Curs, compl. patrol, t I. p. 92. See Demonstrationes évangéliques, ed. par. l'abbé Migne, 1842, 1.1, p. 6 (préface). Du-Pin, bibl. des auteurs éccles. t. I, p. 109 Cours d'éloquence sacrée, par Freppel. Tertull. T. I, p. 103. 104. 187 Freppel, t.II, p. 138–141. Freppel is referring to those passages from the book de pudicitia where Tertullian ironically calls the pope bonus pastor et benedictus papa concionaris (p. 13), apostolicus (p. 21), etc. The doctrine of the power and efficacy of the sacraments ex opera oparato. Ibid. I, p. 429–435. ibid. t. II, p. 31 sq. How to look at such views of Freppel will be indicated below. Antignosticus, von Neander, S. 246–249. Histoire des premièrs trois siècles de l’église chrét., par E. de Pressensé, t. II, p. 427.428. ibid.t. II, pp.445–457. For more information on this, see below – in the presentation of Tertullian’s apology. Schlosser. Everyone, history, ed. Wolf, vol. II, p. 255. In this view of Tertullian, Schlosser is wrong. A number of church writers in Latin begin with Tertullian. Arnobius, and even more so Augustine, had to use the soil that had been fertilized and plowed by Tertullian. The chronology confirms this. It is also not true that only with Arnobius and Lactantius did Christian truths begin to be transmitted in Latin to the people. Some chapters from apologet., libr. ad nationes, some of Tertullian's polemical writings have the people in mind. “Tertullian and His Works”, an article representing a condensed bibliographic index of Tertullian’s works (Christ. Read. 1842). “Tertullian in his two books ad nationes” - N. Shcheglova (Trud. Kyiv. Dukh. Acad. 1876, vol. III); his “Apologetician of Tertullian” (Trud. Kyiv. Dukh. Acad. 1887, No. 8. 9. 11. 12 and 1888, No. 2 and 3); here, in addition to the biography and characteristics of Tertullian, there is a translation of the aforementioned works. “The Philosophy of Tertullian” - K. Skvortsova (Trud. Kyiv. Dukh. Acad. 1866, vol. II). He also owns translated articles from the above-mentioned work by Freppel (Cours d’éloq. sacr; these articles are placed in Trud. Kyiv. Dukh. Ak.). “The Moral Teaching of Tertullian” - V. Varezhanina (ibid., 1866, vol. II). “Tertullian, his theory of Christian knowledge and the main principles of his theology” - K. Popova. Kyiv. 1880. Spiritual Conversation, 1861, No. 31, p. 305. La Patrol, par Moeler, trad. par Cohen, t. II, p. 300, Freppel. Tertullien, t. I, p. 27, Nourry. Diss. in T. apol., – in curs. compl. patrol. t. I, p.732. Tertullianus... provinciae Africae, civitatis Carthaginensis (Hieron. Catal. Script.eccles. c.53); therefore, in the chronicles of Eusebius it is called Tertullianus Afer (Chron. Euseb. ad ann. Chr. 208), and in Ontat - Tertullianus Carthaginensis (Optat t. I, de schism. Donatist., p. 8). Tertullian himself places his fatherland in Africa (Apol. 8. de pall. 1). Euseb Hieron. Catal. script. eccles. c. 53; Euseb. Chron. ad ann. Chr. 208. Migne. Encyclop. Theol. T. XXIII, v.4, art. Tertullien. Aschbach. Allgem. Kirchen – Lexicon, Band 4, S. 1009 Patrol. par Cohen, t.II, 301; Curs. compl. patrol. t.I, p. 12; t. II, p. 1383–1390; N. Shcheglov. Apologetician of Tertullian, in Works. Kyiv. Spirit. Ak. 1888 No. 3 Patrol. par Cohen, t.II, 301; Euseb. H.E. II, 2; Tertullianus vir et legum et institutionum romanatum peritissimus. Vita Tert., – in Curs. compl. patrol. t.I, p. 51. Carthagine causarum fuisse advocatum Tertullianum verisimile est. Tertullian himself did not indicate his pre-Christian profession anywhere. Spirit. Conversation, 1861, No. 31, p. 306; Patrol par Cohen, 301; freppel. Tertull. t.I, p. 28 Patrol. par Cohen, t.II, 301 Patrol. par Cohen, t.II, 301. Passages from these writings, quoted by ecclesiastical writers, are given in Curs. compl. patrol. t. II. 1117–1122. ; de spect. 19; de resur. carnis 59; de poenit. 12. Apolog. 46; de anima 2. 3; de praescript. 7. Encycl. theol. par Migne. t. XXIII, v.4, art. Tertullien Patrol. par Cohen, II, 301; Eshevsky, I, 516. Patrol. par Cohen, II, 301 Hieron. De viris illustr. c. 53. Cum usque ad mediam aetatem presbyter ecclesite permansisser, ad montani dogma delapsus est. There is no other ancient evidence of Tertullian's priesthood; and in the writings of Tertullian himself there is not a single place from which it would be clear that he was a presbyter in the Catholic Church: the only place is from the book de anima, p. 9, from which it is clear that Tertullian preached in the church. Decisive evidence of presbyteral rank is found only in Bl. Jerome. (Curs. compl. patrol, t. I, p. 61. 62). Hieron. De viris illustr. c. 53. Du-Pin also cites the opinions of Baronius and Pamelius, as if Tertullian’s unsuccessful search for an episcopal Roman or Carthaginian see led to separation from the Church. (Du-Pin. Bibl. des auteurs. eccl. t. I, p. 90. See also Encycl. theol. t. XXIII, v.4, art. Tertullien). The only thing that can be pointed out against these opinions is that none of the ancients expresses this reason for the fall of Tertullian, a rigorist who would hardly have decided to separate from the church simply because others were preferred to him among the candidates for the bishopric. Neander also agrees with this view. Throughout his work Antignosticus he pursues this idea. After analyzing each book of Tertullian, Neander does not forget to conclude that rigorism is clearly visible in it - a sign of Montanism, and in this rigorism he believes the distinctive feature of Tertullian’s character (Geist des Tertullianus), as opposition to the morality of Gnosticism (Antign., Geist des Tertull., von Neander). Hence the expression is clear that if Tertullian was not always montanisya, he was always montanizans. Freppel and Mohler do not trust Jerome's testimony and say that Jerome transferred his personal feelings to Tertullian. Jerome was at odds with the Roman clergy and complained about him; in the fall of Tertullian, he took the opportunity to “shoot an evil arrow against the clergy,” realizing that perhaps the same reason had caused Tertullian’s apostasy (Freppel. Tertull. t. II, pp. 139–140; Patrol. Par Cohen, t. II, p. 303). If the Roman clergy rebelled against Tertullian, then at least not without reason - his opposition to Tertullian was probably caused by the latter’s Montanistic tendencies (Freppel. Tertull. t.I, p. 39; Patrolog. par Cohen, II, 303). Shcheglov. Apologeticist of Tertullian, - in Trud. Kyiv. Spirit. Academician 1887 No. 8, p. 514. Hieron. De viris illustribus, p. 53. Tertullian converted to Montanism, abandoned Orthodoxy and rejoices for this refusal: in Montanism he feels better, finds himself more perfect and more pure; The teaching of the church at some points directly or indirectly calls and considers it an error (for example, in the book de pudic., de jejun.). Fleury. Hist. eccl. IV, 5 Augustin. De haeres. 86. No information has been preserved about the doctrine of the Tertullianists. Their history conveys only the fact that Bl. Augustine, a fighter against the errors of his time, drew attention to them and, with the power of his word, convinced them to abandon their errors. Tertullianists realized the validity of Augustine's arguments and joined the Catholic Church. Migne. Encyclop. theolog. t. V, part 2, art. Tertullien Hieron. Adv. Helvid. De Tertulliano quidem nihil amplius dico, quam Ecclesiac hominen non fuisse. Based on this testimony of Jerome in Curs. compl. patrol., I, 12, it is directly stated that "Tertullian died the head of heresy, a man who did not belong to the church." Lived usque ad decrepitam aetalem. Hieron. Devir. illustr. 53. N. Shcheglov. Apologeticist of Tertullian, - in Trud. Kyiv. Spirit. Ak. 1887 No. 8, p. 515. Tertullian looks at it as a prison from which it is better to escape than to live in it and suffer from the suffocating pagan atmosphere (ad Martyr. 2; de idol. 23) Thanks to all this, Tertullian’s language is in many places obscure and incomprehensible, so that the publishers of his works consider it necessary to append to his works an index latinitaris tertullinae, or a lexicon of words, old and new, peculiarly used by Tertullian. Tertullian, it seems, paid a lot of attention to his writings, especially to which he attached great importance, and did not immediately publish them, but first edited and reworked them. Tertull. Advers. Marcion I, 1 M. Krasin, The Creation of the Blessed. Augustine's De civitate Dei as an apology for Christianity and its struggle against Roman paganism. Kazan. 1873.