Tertullian’s literary activity, spanning roughly three decades between 190 and 220, was nothing short of extraordinary. Writing in both Greek and Latin—though his Greek works are now lost—he produced a body of literature that traversed nearly every domain of Christian thought and life. Most of his surviving works are brief in length but rich in substance, offering a vivid window into the faith, worship, discipline, and controversies of the early third-century church. While many of his most powerful anti-heretical treatises belong to his Montanist years, the rigorous moral severity that later aligned him with that sect is already present in his earliest Catholic writings.
Fourfold Classification of His Works
Tertullian’s extant writings may be broadly divided into four categories: apologetic works, polemical or anti-heretical treatises, ethical or practical instructions, and finally, explicitly Montanist tracts written against the Catholics.
1. Apologetic Works
In his apologetic writings, Tertullian became the advocate of the entire Christian cause, standing before the hostile Roman world as its legal defender. The crown jewel of this class is the Apologeticus (or Apologeticum), composed during the reign of Septimius Severus, between 197 and 200. This masterful plea—addressed to the magistrates of the empire—defends the church against slander, refutes the charges of treason and immorality, and demands for Christianity the same legal toleration granted to other sects. It is the earliest articulate demand for religious liberty as an inalienable right given by God to every human being, a right the state should not merely tolerate but actively protect.
In the Apologeticus, Tertullian claims no state favor, only justice. He portrays the church as a self-supporting, self-governing community—loyal to the emperor, contributing to the stability of the empire, and producing its most virtuous citizens. The work closes with words that breathe triumphant defiance: “We conquer in dying; we go forth victorious at the very time we are subdued… That very obstinacy you rail against is our teacher. Who, when he contemplates it, is not stirred to inquire what lies beneath it? Who, upon inquiry, does not embrace our doctrine? And who, when he has embraced it, does not long to suffer that he may be made partaker of the fullness of God’s grace?”
As a companion piece to the Apologeticus, his short treatise On the Testimony of the Soul calls the human soul itself to the witness stand. Tertullian argues that the soul, springing from God, instinctively longs for Him, and that its noblest instincts—when uncorrupted—are harmonized with the truths of Christianity. This testimony is universal, for “as God is everywhere, so the human soul is everywhere.” Yet this witness becomes its own accuser if it refuses the truth it confesses.
2. Polemical and Anti-Heretical Treatises
Tertullian’s polemical writings are dominated by his refutations of Gnostic teachers, especially Valentinus and Marcion. Of particular importance is his tract On the Prescription of Heretics, which, using forensic reasoning, denies heretics any right to appeal to Scripture, since the Bible belongs to the Catholic Church as its rightful heir and guardian. Though the logic of this argument would later recoil upon his own schismatic position, it remains a formidable statement of the early Church’s rule of faith.
His largest surviving work, Against Marcion (A.D. 208), defends the unity of the Creator God, the integrity of the Scriptures, and the harmony between the Old and New Testaments. In five books, Tertullian deploys the full arsenal of his wit, logic, sarcasm, and invective, even beginning with a mocking portrait of Marcion’s native Pontus and its people. He is harsher toward heretics than toward Jews or pagans, seeing in them a corruption from within.
Other significant polemical treatises include On Baptism, On the Soul, On the Flesh of Christ, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Against Hermogenes, and Against Praxeas, each contributing to doctrinal development in fields ranging from sacramental theology to Christology and eschatology.
3. Ethical and Practical Writings
Tertullian’s ascetic treatises offer invaluable insight into the moral discipline of the early African Church. Works such as On Prayer, On Penance, and On Patience (in which he confesses his own struggles with impatience) address personal holiness and communal worship. Ad Martyres comforts confessors in prison, while On the Shows warns against theatres, gladiatorial games, and other pagan entertainments as snares of the devil. On Idolatry extends this rigor to any indirect involvement with pagan worship, including certain trades and public offices.
4. Montanist and Anti-Catholic Works
In his explicitly Montanist period, Tertullian wrote with uncompromising rigor against what he saw as Catholic laxity. These tracts include On Modesty (denying reconciliation to the lapsed), On Flight in Persecution, On Monogamy, On the Veiling of Virgins, On the Apparel of Women, On Fasting, and On the Soldier’s Crown. In the last, he rebukes the wearing of victory wreaths, declaring it unworthy for followers of Christ—who wore a crown of thorns—to adorn themselves with laurel or jewels. His language toward Catholics, whom he dubs “Psychicals” in contrast to his own “Pneumatics,” could be as biting as that used against heretics.
Chronology and Periods
The dating of Tertullian’s works depends largely on internal references to imperial events and on their relation to his adoption of Montanism. Scholars generally distinguish:
- Catholic Period (before c. 200): Apologeticus, Ad Martyres, Ad Nationes, On the Testimony of the Soul, On Penance, On Prayer, On Baptism, To His Wife, On Patience, Against the Jews, On the Prescription of Heretics, On the Shows.
- Montanist Period (200–220): Against Marcion, On the Soul, On the Flesh of Christ, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Against Praxeas, On the Soldier’s Crown, On Monogamy, On Fasting, On Modesty, To Scapula, and lost works such as On Ecstasy.
- Uncertain Period (probably Montanist): Against the Valentinians, On the Apparel of Women, Against Hermogenes.
In all these works—whether Catholic or Montanist—Tertullian’s pen is as sharp as his mind, combining the energy of an advocate, the precision of a jurist, and the fervor of a prophet. His writings remain one of the richest sources for understanding the life, thought, and struggles of the ante-Nicene Church.
