Onward to Completion: History and the Future In Tertullian of Carthage

By Gordon W. Martin

Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus, better known as Tertullian, is the first theologian of the Latin West. Son of a pagan home, he became a Christian leader and thinker in a context of persecution by the Roman state and widespread distortion of the Christian message by 'fifth-columnists' in the churches. His various works defended the Faith to the civic authorities and addressed the argumentation that undermined it from within.

Gordon W. Martin, former Principal of the Scottish Baptist College, provides an authoritative overview of Tertullian's thinking on Eschatology, the doctrine of the Last Things. Working from his doctoral thesis, Rev. Dr. Martin clarifies Tertullian's ideas about the Soul, the course of history prior to Christ's glorious Return, the end of evil and many other themes. Tertullian sees history as the hope-filled journey to the ultimate end: the joyful completion of God's intentions for humanity and the entire cosmos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780244263003

Book preview

Gordon W. Martin, Onward to Completion, History and the Future in Tertullian of Carthage. The Roman Tertullian holds a scroll of his writings. Behind him is a vista of cosmic completion.

ONWARD TO COMPLETION

HISTORY AND THE FUTURE IN

TERTULLIAN OF CARTHAGE

Gordon W. Martin

Lulu logo

2020

Lulu.com

Copyright

Copyright © 2020 by Gordon W. Martin

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN 978-0-244-26300-3

Lulu.com

Dedication

Dedicated to my beloved wife Lilias

and to my brother Oliver,

who are both with the Lord.

Acknowledgements

This book is based on a Doctor of Philosophy thesis which I submitted to the Divinity Faculty of the University of Edinburgh in September 1970. It is a thesis on Eschatology of the Early Church, with special reference to the theses of C.H. Dodd and Martin Werner. This was duly approved by the University.

The present volume relates to chapter VIII of the thesis which dealt with Tertullian of Carthage. I would like to record my indebtedness to the wide scholarship and helpful mentoring that I received from the late Rev. Dr. R.A.S. Barbour, MC, then Secretary to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, and to the late Rev. Professor T.F. Torrance, who held the Chair of Dogmatics at that time.

I also wish to acknowledge the great help I have received in producing the present volume from Mr. Ian Smith, a former student of the Baptist Theological College of Scotland. He acted as a ‘ghost writer’ for me and showed considerable ability in reducing some of my dense prose to a more concise and readable form. He has also provided the artwork for the cover of this book and line drawings at the beginning of each chapter. His work is pleasing and is much appreciated. Our thanks are also due to John Wallace who gave Ian and myself some much needed help with I.T.

Preface

Tertullian is the most significant figure among the Early Fathers of the Western Church. His immediate sphere of influence was Carthage, in North Africa, and he lived from approximately 160 to 220 A.D.. Little is known with certainty about the external features of his life. For example, his written works betray a certain legalistic cast of mind, and it was once confidently assumed that he had received legal training. However, experts now think there is no proof of this. Also, he was thought to have been a priest of the Christian Church in Carthage, but this is also now considered doubtful.

Over thirty of Tertullian’s books have been preserved, for he was a voluminous writer. These works deal with a wide range of subjects and show that Tertullian obviously had received a good Classical education.

Broadly speaking, the books divide into these areas:

Apologies for the Christian faith, addressed to the Roman State authorities and other civic personnel.

Books that refute various heresies, notably five volumes against Marcion of Pontus, a pugnacious Gnostic heretic.

Books on Christian doctrines such as the resurrection of the body and those teachings that stress the real humanity of Jesus.

A notable treatise on the soul and its state between death and the resurrection.

Letters to his wife. Two touching works advising his wife about Christian discipleship, especially about the best course for her after his death.

Various other works.

Tertullian’s personality shines through all his writings. He writes with deep conviction and often with memorable language. He is thoughtful and thorough in dealing with any topic and has some memorable statements, such as ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’. Thoroughly at home in argument, his mind is capable of making some useful distinctions. For example, the later Councils of Nicea (325) and of Chalcedon (451) borrowed some of Tertullian’s categories of thought in their rejection of the idea of Modalism in the Trinity, while still avoiding Subordinationism. Tertullian’s terms of substantia (substance) and personae (persons) were used in indicating the common essence of the godhead and the participation therein of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For the last ten to fifteen years of his life Tertullian adopted the views of the Montanists, though it is not certain that he formally joined the movement. The Montanists stressed the gifts of the Holy Spirit and made much of the imminence of Christ’s Return in glory. This last point is particularly interesting as it impinges on the theme of this book, which is all about Tertullian’s thoughts on ‘the last things’ – eschatology.

Some people do not like certain attitudes of Tertullian. He has been accused, for example, of lacking family feeling. On another front he has been deemed to be vengeful in apparently taking pleasure in the prospect of the judgement of the wicked. Nor does he seem to like the Jewish people very much. Regarding all this, we ought to recall that the ancient world did not have our ideas about romance, although people were still capable of real affection for those closest to them. Again, Tertullian seems to have had a highly developed sense of justice generally. Probably, too, he did not like the fact that some Jews had put Jesus to death and harassed the first generation of Christians.

We invite you to read ahead and make up your own mind about Tertullian.

Introduction: The Dynamic Kingdom

Jesus demonstrates the Dynamic Kingdom by healing a crippled boy.

Tertullian is deeply aware of the consummation of all things. This affects all his thinking, with his eschatology generally in line with that of the Pre-Nicene Fathers. The main features are the Parousia of Christ, the bodily resurrection of the dead and the reality of the Judgement. He also notes the events prior to the Parousia: apostasy, Antichrist and persecution.

Tertullian’s sources are clearly Jesus’ eschatological discourse in Mark 13, Matthew 24 and Luke 21. This is filled out by references to Daniel and Revelation. He also makes use of certain Montanist prophetic utterances. He is sure of Christ’s Millennial Reign and refers to Christ’s Descent into Hades as well as the state of the dead prior to the Parousia. He agrees with Hippolytus (who wrote slightly later) that Rome is the fourth world empire of Daniel 2 & 7 and therefore that Christ will not appear until the Roman empire is replaced by the ‘ten kingdoms’ from which Antichrist will emerge. However, all this does not contain the outworking of Tertullian’s eschatological outlook. The idea that most unifies his thinking is the Kingdom of God. Not that the Kingdom is a static thing. Rather, it is a living force that operates in the world, actively opposing evil and pressing on towards the consummation. ‘The Kingdom’ in Tertullian is always to be understood in this dynamic sense, and as a result, his eschatology is ‘in the process of being realised’. Dynamic and futurist aspects of the Kingdom are well-balanced as they are held together.

The ‘Dynamic Kingdom’ is a strong emphasis, as are Christ’s present reign, demonstrated in the Spirit’s gifts; Christ’s victory, shown in successful, worldwide preaching; and God’s sovereignty shown in the succession of pagan powers. History is moving to its goal, subordinate to God’s purpose. This happens by means of covenants: the Old and New, those with the Patriarchs and so