Bøger af Septimus Florens Tertullian

This volume contains seven works of the zealously ascetical Christian writer of third-century Carthage, Tertullian. The first five works, composed during his Catholic period, offer detailed, strict instruction on Christian conduct, demeanor, and dress, as well as exhortations to persevere. Participation in the pagan entertainments of Roman society is ruled out. The final two essays in the volume are products of Tertullian's Montanist years, that is, his final phase. In them he rejects absolutely any possibility of Christians in public service, whether military or civil, as well as any attempt to escape from persecutors.

The two authors featured in this volume composed defenses of the Christian faith in Latin around the turn of the third century. In Rome, Minucius Felix used the genre of dialogue to confront pagan opposition to Christianity, and in Carthage, Tertullian produced an apologetical treatise as well as an open letter to a Roman governor. Tertullian, who is known for his blanket rejection of pagan philosophy, nevertheless utilized Stoic concepts in his essay De anima, which describes the nature, capability, and ultimate destination of the soul.