Tertullian, the North African church father who wrote from the 190s to the 210s dominates this volume. He was the first church father to write in Latin, and his writings cover many topics. His Apology is the best place to start and from there move on to warnings against idolatry (The Shows, On Idola ...more
Thus far, the more interesting and insightful of the previous two volumes. In this third volume of the ante-nicene fathers of the early Christian Latin community, Tertullian handles the doctrines thoroughly and in minute details; there is much meat in Tertullian to chew on and digest and there seems ...more
Good LORD these volumes take forever to finish. I mean, theoretically I read 10 pages/day, and the whole thing should take me no more than 70-some odd days. But in the real world, 1) I get busy and don't always have time to knock out 10 pages/day; 2) each page is double-columned, so 10 pages is real ...more
My undergraduate thesis having been about the scholarly debates concerning the origins of gnosticism, I jumped at opportunities to pursue the study later on while at seminary in New York City. There, at UTS, I had two professors who were expert in the field: Cyril Richardson and Elaine Pagels.
Tertullian is a must read among the ante-Nicene Fathers. He's easy to understand, but a little too verbose, and perhaps even redundant in his apologetics. Recommended! ...more
Tertullian...the best of authors, the worst of authors. Terribly thorough in walking through every possible iteration of his argument, which makes for full defenses, but painstakingly LONG defenses. You never know where one of those Montanist dragons is going to pop up and wheeze its smokey sludge a ...more
Yet again I find it nearly impossible to review this book. The writing is awkward in English translation, as is unavoidable for works such as this. The theology is a little less convoluted and bogged down by gnostic gospel stuff. I have to admit that I skimmed the pages a lot more in this one than w ...more