On Exhortation to Chastity

Tertullian of Carthage · c. 204 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. Introduction.  Virginity Classified Under Three Several Species.
2. The Blame of Our Misdeeds Not to Be Cast Upon God.  The One Power Which Rests with Man is the Power of Volition.
3. Of Indulgence and Pure Volition.  The Question Illustrated.
4. Further Remarks Upon the Apostle's Language.
5. Unity of Marriage Taught by Its First Institution, and by the Apostle's Application of that Primal Type to Christ and the Church.
6. The Objection from the Polygamy of the Patriarchs Answered.
7. Even the Old Discipline Was Not Without Precedents to Enforce Monogamy.  But in This as in Other Respects, the New Has Brought in a Higher Perfection.
8. If It Be Granted that Second Marriage is Lawful, Yet All Things Lawful are Not Expedient.
9. Second Marriage a Species of Adultery, Marriage Itself Impugned, as Akin to Adultery.
10. Application of the Subject.  Advantages of Widowhood.
11. The More the Wives, the Greater the Distraction of the Spirit.
12. Excuses Commonly Urged in Defence of Second Marriage.  Their Futility, Especially in the Case of Christians, Pointed Out.
13. Examples from Among the Heathen, as Well as from the Church, to Enforce the Foregoing Exhortation.
14. Elucidation.