Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol III:
Tertullian: Part I: Part I

Title Page.
Introductory Note.
Apology.
Chapter I
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XI.
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV.
Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVIII.
Chapter XIX.
Chapter XX.
Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXII.
Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIV.
Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVIII.
Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXX.
Chapter XXXI.
Chapter XXXII.
Chapter XXXIII.
Chapter XXXIV.
Chapter XXXV.
Chapter XXXVI.
Chapter XXXVII.
Chapter XXXVIII.
Chapter XXXIX.
Chapter XL.
Chapter XLI.
Chapter XLII.
Chapter XLIII.
Chapter XLIV.
Chapter XLV.
Chapter XLVI.
Chapter XLVII.
Chapter XLVIII.
Chapter XLIX.
Chapter L.
Elucidations.
On Idolatry.
Chapter I
Idolatry in Its More Limited Sense. Its Copiousness.
Idolatry: Origin and Meaning of the Name.
Idols Not to Be Made, Much Less Worshipped. Idols and Idol-Makers in the Same Category.
Sundry Objections or Excuses Dealt with.
Idolatry Condemned by Baptism. To Make an Idol Is, in Fact, to Worship It.
Grief of the Faithful at the Admission of Idol-Makers into the Church; Nay, Even into the Ministry.
Other Arts Made Subservient to Idolatry. Lawful Means of Gaining a Livelihood Abundant.
Professions of Some Kinds Allied to Idolatry. Of Astrology in Particular.
Of Schoolmasters and Their Difficulties.
Connection Between Covetousness and Idolatry. Certain Trades, However Gainful, to Be Avoided.
Further Answers to the Plea, How Am I to Live?
Of the Observance of Days Connected with Idolatry.
Of Blasphemy. One of St. Paul's Sayings.
Concerning Festivals in Honour of Emperors, Victories, and the Like. Examples of the Three Children and Daniel.
Concerning Private Festivals.
The Cases of Servants and Other Officials. What Offices a Christian Man May Hold.
Dress as Connected with Idolatry.
Concerning Military Service.
Concerning Idolatry in Words.
Of Silent Acquiescence in Heathen Formularies.
Of Accepting Blessing in the Name of Idols.
Written Contracts in the Name of Idols. Tacit Consent.
General Conclusion.
Elucidations.
The Shows, or De Spectaculis.
Chapter I
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XI.
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV.
Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVIII.
Chapter XIX.
Chapter XX.
Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXII.
Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIV.
Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVIII.
Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXX.
The Chaplet, or De Corona.
Chapter I
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XI.
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV.
Elucidations.
To Scapula.
Chapter I
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Elucidations.
Ad Nationes.
Book I
Chapter I
The Heathen Perverted Judgment in the Trial of Christians. They Would Be More Consistent If They Dispensed with All Form of Trial. Tertullian Urges This with Much Indignation.
The Great Offence in the Christians Lies in Their Very Name. The Name Vindicated.
The Truth Hated in the Christians; So in Measure Was It, of Old, in Socrates. The Virtues of the Christians.
The Inconsistent Life of Any False Christian No More Condemns True Disciples of Christ, Than a Passing Cloud Obscures a Summer Sky.
The Innocence of the Christians Not Compromised by the Iniquitous Laws Which Were Made Against Them.
The Christians Defamed.  A Sarcastic Description of Fame; Its Deception and Atrocious Slanders of the Christians Lengthily Described.
The Calumny Against the Christians Illustrated in the Discovery of Psammetichus. Refutation of the Story.
The Christians are Not the Cause of Public Calamities: There Were Such Troubles Before Christianity.
The Christians are Not the Only Contemners of the Gods. Contempt of Them Often Displayed by Heathen Official Persons. Homer Made the Gods Contemptible.
The Absurd Cavil of the Ass's Head Disposed of.
The Charge of Worshipping a Cross. The Heathens Themselves Made Much of Crosses in Sacred Things; Nay, Their Very Idols Were Formed on a Crucial Frame.
The Charge of Worshipping the Sun Met by a Retort.
The Vile Calumny About Onocoetes Retorted on the Heathen by Tertullian.
The Charge of Infanticide Retorted on the Heathen.
Other Charges Repelled by the Same Method. The Story of the Noble Roman Youth and His Parents.
The Christian Refusal to Swear by the Genius of Cæsar. Flippancy and Irreverence Retorted on the Heathen.
Christians Charged with an Obstinate Contempt of Death. Instances of the Same are Found Amongst the Heathen.
If Christians and the Heathen Thus Resemble Each Other, There is Great Difference in the Grounds and Nature of Their Apparently Similar Conduct.
Truth and Reality Pertain to Christians Alone. The Heathen Counselled to Examine and Embrace It.
Book II
Chapter I
Philosophers Had Not Succeeded in Discovering God. The Uncertainty and Confusion of Their Speculations.
The Physical Philosophers Maintained the Divinity of the Elements; The Absurdity of the Tenet Exposed.
Wrong Derivation of the Word Qeός. The Name Indicative of the True Deity. God Without Shape and Immaterial. Anecdote of Thales.
The Physical Theory Continued. Further Reasons Advanced Against the Divinity of the Elements.
The Changes of the Heavenly Bodies, Proof that They are Not Divine. Transition from the Physical to the Mythic Class of Gods.
The Gods of the Mythic Class. The Poets a Very Poor Authority in Such Matters. Homer and the Mythic Poets. Why Irreligious.
The Gods of the Different Nations. Varro's Gentile Class. Their Inferiority. A Good Deal of This Perverse Theology Taken from Scripture. Serapis a Perversion of Joseph.
The Power of Rome.  Romanized Aspect of All the Heathen Mythology. Varro's Threefold Distribution Criticised. Roman Heroes (Æneas Included,) Unfavourably Reviewed.
A Disgraceful Feature of the Roman Mythology. It Honours Such Infamous Characters as Larentina.
The Romans Provided Gods for Birth, Nay, Even Before Birth, to Death. Much Indelicacy in This System.
The Original Deities Were Human--With Some Very Questionable Characteristics. Saturn or Time Was Human. Inconsistencies of Opinion About Him.
The Gods Human at First.  Who Had the Authority to Make Them Divine? Jupiter Not Only Human, But Immoral.
Gods, Those Which Were Confessedly Elevated to the Divine Condition, What Pre-Eminent Right Had They to Such Honour? Hercules an Inferior Character.
The Constellations and the Genii Very Indifferent Gods. The Roman Monopoly of Gods Unsatisfactory. Other Nations Require Deities Quite as Much.
Inventors of Useful Arts Unworthy of Deification. They Would Be the First to Acknowledge a Creator. The Arts Changeable from Time to Time, and Some Become Obsolete.
Conclusion, the Romans Owe Not Their Imperial Power to Their Gods. The Great God Alone Dispenses Kingdoms, He is the God of the Christians.
Appendix: A Fragment Concerning the Execrable Gods of the Heathen.
Elucidation.
An Answer to the Jews.
Chapter I
The Law Anterior to Moses.
Of Circumcision and the Supercession of the Old Law.
Of the Observance of the Sabbath.
Of Sacrifices.
Of the Abolition and the Abolisher of the Old Law.
The Question Whether Christ Be Come Taken Up.
Of the Times of Christ's Birth and Passion, and of Jerusalem's Destruction.
Of the Prophecies of the Birth and Achievements of Christ.
Concerning the Passion of Christ, and Its Old Testament Predictions and Adumbrations.
Further Proofs, from Ezekiel. Summary of the Prophetic Argument Thus Far.
Further Proofs from the Calling of the Gentiles.
Argument from the Destruction of Jerusalem and Desolation of Judea.
Conclusion. Clue to the Error of the Jews.
The Soul's Testimony.
Chapter I
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Elucidations.
A Treatise on the Soul.
Chapter I
The Christian Has Sure and Simple Knowledge Concerning the Subject Before Us.
The Soul's Origin Defined Out of the Simple Words of Scripture.
In Opposition to Plato, the Soul Was Created and Originated at Birth.
Probable View of the Stoics, that the Soul Has a Corporeal Nature.
The Arguments of the Platonists for the Soul's Incorporeality, Opposed, Perhaps Frivolously.
The Soul's Corporeality Demonstrated Out of the Gospels.
Other Platonist Arguments Considered.
Particulars of the Alleged Communication to a Montanist Sister.
The Simple Nature of the Soul is Asserted with Plato. The Identity of Spirit and Soul.
Spirit--A Term Expressive of an Operation of the Soul, Not of Its Nature. To Be Carefully Distinguished from the Spirit of God.
Difference Between the Mind and the Soul, and the Relation Between Them.
The Soul's Supremacy.
The Soul Variously Divided by the Philosophers; This Division is Not a Material Dissection.
The Soul's Vitality and Intelligence. Its Character and Seat in Man.
The Soul's Parts.  Elements of the Rational Soul.
The Fidelity of the Senses, Impugned by Plato, Vindicated by Christ Himself.
Plato Suggested Certain Errors to the Gnostics. Functions of the Soul.
The Intellect Coeval with the Soul in the Human Being. An Example from Aristotle Converted into Evidence Favourable to These Views.
The Soul, as to Its Nature Uniform, But Its Faculties Variously Developed. Varieties Only Accidental.
As Free-Will Actuates an Individual So May His Character Change.
Recapitulation.  Definition of the Soul.
The Opinions of Sundry Heretics Which Originate Ultimately with Plato.
Plato's Inconsistency.  He Supposes the Soul Self-Existent, Yet Capable of Forgetting What Passed in a Previous State.
Tertullian Refutes, Physiologically, the Notion that the Soul is Introduced After Birth.
Scripture Alone Offers Clear Knowledge on the Questions We Have Been Controverting.
Soul and Body Conceived, Formed and Perfected in Element Simultaneously.
The Pythagorean Doctrine of Transmigration Sketched and Censured.
The Pythagorean Doctrine Refuted by Its Own First Principle, that Living Men are Formed from the Dead.
Further Refutation of the Pythagorean Theory. The State of Contemporary Civilisation.
Further Exposure of Transmigration, Its Inextricable Embarrassment.
Empedocles Increased the Absurdity of Pythagoras by Developing the Posthumous Change of Men into Various Animals.
The Judicial Retribution of These Migrations Refuted with Raillery.
These Vagaries Stimulated Some Profane Corruptions of Christianity. The Profanity of Simon Magus Condemned.
The Opinions of Carpocrates, Another Offset from the Pythagorean Dogmas, Stated and Confuted.
The Main Points of Our Author's Subject. On the Sexes of the Human Race.
On the Formation and State of the Embryo. Its Relation with the Subject of This Treatise.
On the Growth of the Soul. Its Maturity Coincident with the Maturity of the Flesh in Man.
The Evil Spirit Has Marred the Purity of the Soul from the Very Birth.
The Body of Man Only Ancillary to the Soul in the Commission of Evil.
Notwithstanding the Depravity of Man's Soul by Original Sin, There is Yet Left a Basis Whereon Divine Grace Can Work for Its Recovery by Spiritual Regeneration.
Sleep, the Mirror of Death, as Introductory to the Consideration of Death.
Sleep a Natural Function as Shown by Other Considerations, and by the Testimony of Scripture.
The Story of Hermotimus, and the Sleeplessness of the Emperor Nero. No Separation of the Soul from the Body Until Death.
Dreams, an Incidental Effect of the Soul's Activity. Ecstasy.
Diversity of Dreams and Visions. Epicurus Thought Lightly of Them, Though Generally Most Highly Valued. Instances of Dreams.
Dreams Variously Classified. Some are God-Sent, as the Dreams of Nebuchadnezzar; Others Simply Products of Nature.
Causes and Circumstances of Dreams. What Best Contributes to Efficient Dreaming.
No Soul Naturally Exempt from Dreams.
The Absurd Opinion of Epicurus and the Profane Conceits of the Heretic Menander on Death, Even Enoch and Elijah Reserved for Death.
Death Entirely Separates the Soul from the Body.
All Kinds of Death a Violence to Nature, Arising from Sin.--Sin an Intrusion Upon Nature as God Created It.
The Entire Soul Being Indivisible Remains to the Last Act of Vitality; Never Partially or Fractionally Withdrawn from the Body.
Whither Does the Soul Retire When It Quits the Body? Opinions of Philosophers All More or Less Absurd. The Hades of Plato.
The Christian Idea of the Position of Hades; The Blessedness of Paradise Immediately After Death. The Privilege of the Martyrs.
Refutation of the Homeric View of the Soul's Detention from Hades Owing to the Body's Being Unburied.  That Souls Prematurely Separated from the Body Had to Wait for Admission into Hades Also Refuted.
Magic and Sorcery Only Apparent in Their Effects. God Alone Can Raise the Dead.
Conclusion. Points Postponed. All Souls are Kept in Hades Until the Resurrection, Anticipating Their Ultimate Misery or Bliss.