Page 21 - God's Church through the Ages - Student Textbook

Tertullian (cir. 155–230)

It is not known exactly when Tertullian was born, but he was born in Carthage, North Africa,
the son of a Roman centurion. He was trained in law and apparently served as a jurist in Rome
for a while. We do not know how he came to faith, but he does seem to indicate in some of
his writings that he was not always in the faith.

He is known only for his writings, which are many. Tertullian was a prolific writer and is the
first of the Latin Fathers – the first Christian writer to write in Latin. His biblical quotations come from a Latin
bible as well. He is a master of the written word and penned some works specifically for the general educated
public in defense of Christian faith. Some were written as open letters to the authorities arguing (as did Justin)
against the Roman persecution of Christians. His writings are terse, direct, and always attacking – as he probably
argued in courtrooms, his aim is always to win the battle of the argument.

He used the term ‘trinity’ to describe the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which went on to
become a classical Trinitarian formula.

Tertullian had a fiery temperament and that contributed to some very strong disagreements with others in
church leadership. The most serious issue is known “second repentance.” Basically the church believed that after
your initial repentance, baptism, and entrance into the family of faith you could not be formally allowed re-
admittance to the church if you commit a “sin unto death.” Typically three sins were considered mortal sins:
adultery, fornication, and apostasy (denouncing Christ during persecution).

Clement of Alexandria (cir. 150-215)

The final significant second century apologist is Clement of Alexandria. It is difficult to
overestimate the influence of Clement. Although his influence is not focused in the second
century, he certainly served as an apologist.

Clement's first major work is titled “Exhortation to the Greeks” and is basically a call to the
educated Greco-Roman society to hear the gospel of Jesus. Many scholars say this is Clement's
most graceful piece of writing. This “Exhortation” is filled with numerous citations from the most
popular Greek writers, each citation being used to prove Clement's underlying arguments. The
document reads like an anthology of Greek literature, and it is clear that Clement is not new to
this literature. He is an educated man and his use of Greek is of a high quality.
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Although Clement is clearly on the offensive against Gnosticism, it is also clear that some of his views are not
consistent with other early writers. This is something a problem with Clement of Alexandria. He represents a
time in the development of Egyptian Christianity when the church was recovering from what appears to have
been a 50-60-year period when Gnosticism was the dominant force. Nonetheless, Clement of Alexandria
certainly represents the development in early Christianity when highly educated Christian leaders presented a
reasoned defense of the faith.

Polycarp – bishop of Smyrna (cir. 89-168)

Polycarp was responsible for converting many from Gnosticism. He worked at settling the
dispute over when to celebrate Easter and confronted Marcion, calling him “the first born of
Satan.”

10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria
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