An Answer to the Jews

Tertullian of Carthage · c. 198 AD

Ante-Nicene Fathers (Roberts–Donaldson), Roberts, Donaldson, and Coxe (eds.), Ante-Nicene Fathers, Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885–1887; digitized by CCEL.

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; the first great Latin Christian writer. A North African of Carthage, trained in rhetoric and law; coined much of the Latin theological vocabulary the West later inherited (Trinitas, persona, substantia). His pre-Montanist works are widely cited and respected; his later embrace of the New Prophecy (Montanism) places him outside the catalogue of formally venerated saints, though he is treated honourably as a witness and theologian.

Contents

1. Occasion of Writing. Relative Position of Jews and Gentiles Illustrated.
2. The Law Anterior to Moses.
3. Of Circumcision and the Supercession of the Old Law.
4. Of the Observance of the Sabbath.
5. Of Sacrifices.
6. Of the Abolition and the Abolisher of the Old Law.
7. The Question Whether Christ Be Come Taken Up.
8. Of the Times of Christ's Birth and Passion, and of Jerusalem's Destruction.
9. Of the Prophecies of the Birth and Achievements of Christ.
10. Concerning the Passion of Christ, and Its Old Testament Predictions and Adumbrations.
11. Further Proofs, from Ezekiel. Summary of the Prophetic Argument Thus Far.
12. Further Proofs from the Calling of the Gentiles.
13. Argument from the Destruction of Jerusalem and Desolation of Judea.
14. Conclusion. Clue to the Error of the Jews.