About the Work
On the Testimony of the Soul is an apologetic treatise written by Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, commonly known as Tertullian, a Latin-speaking Christian author from Carthage in North Africa. Born of heathen parentage in the middle of the second century, Tertullian was educated as a lawyer and rhetorician in Carthage, which was described as a “nursery of advocates,” and he spent part of his life in Rome. His writings are marked by extensive legal phraseology, consistent with the statement of Eusebius that he was intimately versed in Roman Law. His conversion to Christianity is dated between 185 and 196, and he was ordained a presbyter. He wrote fluently in both Greek and Latin.
“A spurious interpretation injures the Truth quite as much as a tampered text.”
The treatise was composed while Tertullian was still a loyal member of the Church, before his later embrace of the stricter Montanist discipline around 202–203. It was written in 197, soon after his larger apologetic work, the Apology, to which it refers for proof of Scriptural antiquity. The work is brief and addresses a single, focused theme: the confirmation that the natural, untutored testimony of the human soul affords to Christian truth. The germ of this idea is found in Minucius Felix’s Octavius, chapter 18, whence Tertullian took it; Minucius refers to the poets Ennius, Homer, and Vergil, and to philosophers from Thales to Chrysippus.
The companion treatise, On the Prescription of Heretics, was written the following year, in 198. This second work is a longer and more systematic argument concerning the proper method for dealing with heretics. Tertullian’s central contention is that heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture at all; rather, the first question to be decided is who rightfully possesses the Scriptures. The work establishes a rule, or “prescription,” that appeal to Scripture is illegitimate when the very ownership of the Faith to which the Scriptures belong is in dispute. Together, these two treatises represent Tertullian’s early, pre-Montanist theological output, defending the Christian faith against both pagan misunderstanding and internal heresy.
Context
Tertullian wrote in a period of intense intellectual and spiritual ferment. The Christian Church was establishing its identity against a backdrop of pagan philosophy, imperial suspicion, and internal doctrinal disputes. Tertullian’s approach to pagan thought was one of stark opposition. He saw in pagan thought nothing but falsification of Divine Light, and in pagan mysteries the devil’s imitation of Christian Sacraments. His narrowness is expressed in his famous statement that Athens and Jerusalem, the Church and the Academy, had nothing in common. This contrasted sharply with the Alexandrian Apologists, such as Clement and Origen, who took a sympathetic attitude and saw in pagan thought a preparation for Christianity.
Tertullian’s identification of heathen gods with demons, an idea found also in Justin Martyr and Athanasius, is a recurring theme in his work. He held extraordinary views about the corporeality of the soul and the material nature of the resurrection body; to him, incorporeal meant non-existent, and even God must have some kind of body. His fervid African temperament, not guiltless of impatience, made him an enthusiastic champion of whatever cause he took up. Jealousy of the Roman clergy, provoked by his dislike of their laxity of discipline, later led him to embrace the stricter rule of the Montanists around 202–203, and finally to assail ordinary Churchmen as unspiritual in 207. He was never excommunicated, though his attacks became a severe trial to the faithful, per Vincent of Lerins, and cast discredit on his approved writings, per Hilary. He lived to a great age, with his death placed around 230–240.
The two treatises under consideration were written while Tertullian was a loyal Church member. In On the Testimony of the Soul, he seeks to demonstrate that even the common, uneducated soul of the pagan bears witness to the fundamental truths of Christianity: the existence of one God, the reality of demons, the survival of the soul after death, and the coming judgement. In On the Prescription of Heretics, he addresses the problem of doctrinal diversity and heresy within the Church. The context for this latter work is the proliferation of Gnostic and other heretical sects, such as those led by Marcion, Valentinus, Apelles, and Hermogenes, who claimed to possess a fuller or more accurate version of the Christian message. Tertullian’s response is to establish a procedural rule that would settle all such disputes before they could even begin.
Structure of the Book
The two treatises are distinct works with separate structures. On the Testimony of the Soul is a short work divided into six chapters. It opens with Tertullian declining to extract testimonies from pagan writings, since human obstinacy impairs faith even in one’s own teachers when they approach Christian truth. Instead, he calls a new witness: the Soul itself, whether divine and eternal, as many philosophers assert, or mortal, as Epicurus alone thinks. He addresses the soul in its simple, unskilled, untaught form, encountered in the lane, highway, or at the loom, noting that “a soul is wont to be made, not born Christian.”
The second chapter demonstrates that the Soul testifies to One God through its common expressions: “May GOD grant it,” “If GOD wills,” declaring that some One exists with all power. The soul calls other gods by their own names, affirming Him alone to be GOD whom it calls simply GOD. The third chapter affirms that daemons exist, which Christians alone prove by expelling them, and notes that even pagans confirm the fact of daemons’ existence through their own execrations. The fourth chapter affirms that the soul exists after the extinction of bodily life, awaits a day of judgement, and is destined according to deservings either to torture or refreshment, in either case eternally. The fifth and sixth chapters, though their detailed content is not fully preserved in the notes, continue the theme of the soul’s simple testimonies and urge the reader to believe these writings.
On the Prescription of Heretics is a much longer work, structured as a sustained argument with numerous chapters. It opens with a discussion of the present times and the character of the age, which calls for a response to heresy. The early chapters address the nature of heresy itself: the Lord’s statements and Apostolic Letters foretold heresies and enjoined avoidance. Heresies assail the Church through wilfulness of teachings, and they were necessary so that the approved might be manifest. The work then moves to a critique of philosophy, which Tertullian identifies as the equipment of heresies, citing the examples of Valentinus the Platonist, Marcion the Stoic, and others.
The middle chapters address the proper method for dealing with heretics. Tertullian argues that heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture; first must be decided who rightfully possesses the Scriptures. He establishes the rule of faith and the principle of Apostolic succession: doctrine agreeing with Apostolic Churches is Truth, received by Churches from Apostles, Apostles from Christ, Christ from God. He refutes heretical claims that the Apostles did not know all things or did not deliver all things, and he challenges heretics to prove themselves new Apostles or show miracles. The later chapters argue that heresies are of recent origin, that the heretics corrupted the Scriptures, and that their inventions are of “spiritual wickednesses.” The work concludes with a description of the heretics’ manner of life and their ministry of the word, which aims not to convert the heathen but to subvert the faithful.
Detailed Section-by-Section Summary
The Soul as Witness
Tertullian opens by declining to gather testimonies from pagan writings. Human obstinacy, he argues, impairs faith even in one’s own teachers when they approach Christian truth. Instead, he calls a new witness: the Soul itself. Whether the soul is divine and eternal, as many philosophers assert, or mortal, as Epicurus alone thinks, it will serve his purpose. He addresses the soul in its simple, unskilled, untaught form—found in the lane, the highway, the loom. His key assertion is that a soul is wont to be made, not born, Christian.
The Soul’s Confession of One God
The soul testifies to One God through its common speech. “May GOD grant it,” and “If GOD wills,” are phrases that declare some ONE exists with all power. The soul calls other gods by their own names—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Minerva—but affirms Him alone to be GOD whom it calls simply GOD. The saying “GOD is good” implies that man is evil. “GOD bless thee” runs off the tongue, and even in cursing, the soul confesses His supreme power.
The Fear of God as Judge
Tertullian then addresses those who do not deny God but refuse to regard Him as One who searches, beholds, and judges. This view differs markedly from Christians who cling to that doctrine in fear of the proclaimed Judgement. These persons attempt to honour God by freeing Him from the care of watching and the trouble of censuring, not even permitting Him to be angry. Their reasoning is that if God be angry, He is corruptible and passionate; what is corruptible and passionate is perishable; but God is not perishable.
Tertullian retorts that these same persons, by their own confession elsewhere that the soul is divine and God-given, run up against a testimony of the soul itself that can be retorted against their opinion. If the soul be either divine or bestowed by God, it knows its Giver; if it knows Him, it fears Him as its especial Endower. The soul fears Him Whom it would rather have propitious than wrathful. He poses a chain of questions: Whence comes natural fear of the soul for God if God knows not how to be angry? How can He be feared Who cannot be offended? What is to be feared save anger? Whence arises anger save from censure? Whence censure save from judgement? And whence judgement save from power? And who has the supreme power save God alone?
Hence the soul’s readiness to say from its own inmost knowledge, at all times and places, no one scoffing or objecting: “God seeth all things”; “I leave it to God”; “God will repay”; “God shall judge between us.” Tertullian asks: Whence hast thou this knowledge, not being Christian?
Moreover, often in the very temples themselves, wreathed with Ceres’ fillet, or scarleted with Saturn’s cloak, or white in Isis’ linen, the soul supplicates God as Judge. The worshipper stands under Æsculapius, decks out Juno in bronze, binds on Minerva a morion with dusky ornaments, yet does not adjure any of these deities present. In the forum one appeals to a Judge in another place; in the temples one suffers another God. Tertullian exclaims: “O Testimony of Truth, which among the very daemons makes these a witness for the Christians!”
The Soul’s Knowledge of Daemons
Tertullian affirms that daemons exist—Christians alone prove their existence, for they alone expel them. Some supporter of Chrysippus mocks this. Yet the pagans’ own execrations confirm the fact of daemons’ existence and abomination. One calls a man a daemon for filthiness, malice, insolence, or some stigma assigned to daemons, in sudden hastiness of hatred. One names Satan—whom Christians call the angel of evil, the contriver of error, the corrupter of the whole world—in every expression of vexation, scorn, and detestation. This is the being by whom man in the beginning was beguiled to transgress God’s command, and on that account was given over to death, and brought it about that the whole race, thus infected from his seed, became a sharer in and transmitter of his condemnation. The pagan is aware of his own destroyer; though Christians alone, including whatever sect is on God’s side—the Jews—know him, even the pagan recognizes him since he hates him.
The Soul’s Testimony to Judgement
Tertullian affirms that the soul exists after the extinction of bodily life, awaits a day of judgement, and is destined according to deservings either to torture or refreshment, in either case eternally. For perception, the original essence must necessarily return, together with the substance of the identical human being and memory; neither can one feel anything of good or bad without the faculty of sensitive flesh, nor is judgement possible without presentation of the actual person who deserved judgement.
This Christian opinion, though nobler than Pythagoras’—it doth not transmigrate thee into animals—fuller than Plato’s—it restores the dowry of body—more dignified than Epicurus’—it saves thee from perishing—is set down to vanity, stupidity, and “presumption” merely because it is Christian. But Tertullian blushes not if this “presumption” is found also with the pagan.
When one recalls a dead person, one calls him “wretched man”—not as cut off from happy life but as assigned to punishment and judgement. Another time one calls the dead free from care—implying the disadvantage of life and the boon of death. One calls the dead free from care when retiring outside the gate to tombs with viands and delicacies, or returning from tombs overcome with wine.
Tertullian demands sober opinion. One calls the dead “poor wretches” when speaking from one’s own mind away from them; one cannot denounce their lot at their feast when they are as it were present. One curses as one who does feel him whose memory one recalls with mordant dislike, praying the earth may lie heavy on him and his ashes tormented among the shades below. Out of good feeling for one to whom favours are owed, one implores refreshment on his bones and ashes, that he may rest happily among the shades. If there is no capability of suffering after death, why lie against thyself and imply suffering hereafter? Why fear death at all? Nothing after death is to be feared since nothing is to be felt. Even if death is feared not for threatening something beyond but for depriving one of life’s advantage, yet since the more numerous ills of life are known, the soul’s own testimony still points to a future reckoning.
The Rule of Faith and the Heretics’ Claim
Turning to the broader context of the Church’s teaching, Tertullian sets out the Rule of Faith, formable into familiar clauses: One God Almighty, Creator; His Son Jesus Christ, born of Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead, buried, rose again third day, ascended, sitteth at right hand of Father, shall come with glory to judge quick and dead; Holy Spirit; resurrection of flesh; life eternal. This is the creed of the North African Church, the standard against which all teaching must be measured.
The passage opens mid-argument concerning God: He “seeth and knoweth who are His,” rooteth up slips He has not set, and shows “there shall be last from those that are first,” carrying a fan to purge His threshing-floor. The chaff of fickle faith may fly with temptation, leaving purer grain for the Lord’s garner. Some disciples, offended, turned from the Lord Himself, but the rest stayed, knowing Him as the Word of Life from GOD, even after He asked if they too would go. Phygelus, Hermogenes, Philetus, and Hymenaeus deserted the Apostles; the very betrayer of Christ was of the Apostles. We should not wonder if Christ’s Churches are deserted; suffering after Christ’s example shows we are Christians. The Apostle says: “They went out from us, but they were not of us.”
Heresies Foretold and Their Avoidance
We should heed the Lord’s statements and Apostolic Letters foretelling heresies, enjoining avoidance. The Lord taught ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing—sheep’s clothing being the profession of the Christian name; wolves, crafty intentions molesting the flock. False prophets are false preachers; false Apostles, spurious evangelizers; Antichrists, rebels against Christ. Heresies assail the Church through wilfulness of teachings; Antichrist attacks by persecution. Persecution makes martyrs; heresy makes apostates. Heresies were necessary so the approved might be manifest—those standing fast in persecution and not straying to heresy. The Apostle does not count approved those who change Faith into heresy, though they perversely cite “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good”—as if proving all things amiss could not fasten through error on evil.
Rebuking dissensions and schisms as evils, Paul adds “heresies,” confessing it a greater evil, since he believed dissensions easily because heresies must be. He forewarned not to marvel at worse temptations, which manifest the approved—those heresies could not pervert. Since the section savours of unity and restraint of divisions, heresies divorce from unity no less than schisms; Paul includes heresies in the same blame, exhorting men to turn away and to speak one thing, be minded the selfsame way—which heresy does not allow.
Paul classes heresies among carnal sins to the Galatians, warns Titus to avoid a heretic after the first admonition, as self-condemned. In nearly every Epistle he indicates heresies when enjoining flight from false doctrines. False doctrines are the production of heresies; “heresies” comes from a Greek word signifying “choice.” A heretic is self-condemned because he chose that wherein he is condemned. We may not introduce anything on our own authority, nor choose what another introduced. The Apostles are authorities, who faithfully handed on the rule received from Christ. If an angel from heaven preached otherwise, he would be anathema. The Holy Spirit perceived an angel of deceit in a virgin Philumena, transforming into an angel of light; by whose signs Apelles, led away, introduced a new heresy.
Philosophy as the Mother of Heresies
These are doctrines of men and daemons, generated for itching ears by worldly wisdom, which the Lord called foolishness, choosing the foolish things of the world to confound philosophy. Philosophy is worldly wisdom, rash interpreter of Divine Nature. Heresies are equipped by philosophy: Valentinus’ “aeons,” “ideas,” and “trinity of man”—he was a Platonist; Marcion’s “better GOD” from tranquillity—from the Stoics; the soul’s perishing—from Epicureans; denial of flesh’s restoration—from all philosophers; matter identified with GOD—Zeno’s doctrine; a fiery god—Heracleitus. Heretics and philosophers ponder the same themes: Whence came evil, and why? Whence came man, and how? Whence came GOD?—Valentinus’ question, answered: From Desire and an Abortion. Wretched Aristotle established the dialectic art—ingenious, crafty, forced, inflexible, laborious, damaging to itself, always reconsidering, never treating thoroughly. Hence fables, endless genealogies, profitless questions, words spreading like cancer. The Apostle warns against philosophy to the Colossians: “Take heed lest any one beguile you through philosophy or vain deceit, according to the tradition of men.” Paul had been at Athens, acquainted with human wisdom dividing into its own heresies. What hath Athens in common with Jerusalem? The Academy with the Church? Heretics with Christians? Our principles are from the “Porch” of Solomon, who taught seeking the Lord in simplicity of heart. Away with Stoic, Platonic, or dialectic Christianity. We need no speculative inquiry after knowing Christ Jesus, nor search for Truth after receiving the Gospel; we desire to believe nothing besides, for the first article of belief is that nothing else ought to be believed.
The Meaning of “Seek and Ye Shall Find”
The sentence “Seek and ye shall find” is urged by our members and heretics. Recall when the Lord uttered it: at the beginning of His teaching, when all doubted whether He were the Christ, before Peter pronounced Him Son of GOD, when even John was uncertain. Rightly then was the injunction given, when He had to be sought Who was not yet recognized. Besides, it was only for the Jews, who had Moses and Elias—the Law and Prophets—proclaiming Christ. “Search the Scriptures… they speak of Me.” “Knock and it shall be opened.”
Heretics Must Not Dispute Scripture
Tertullian argues that heretics who feign continued seeking to deceive believers must be refuted, showing Christians deny not Christ but the heretics themselves. Those still seeking have not yet believed and therefore are not yet Christians. When opponents claim believers must continue seeking to defend their faith, Tertullian counters that seeking itself confesses lack of belief. He questions what faith can be argued for by deceit, or truth introduced with a lie. He notes heretics do treat of Scripture, drawing their arguments from the literature of the Faith.
Tertullian announces his main point: opponents make Scripture the ground of their plea, wearying the strong, capturing the weak, and sending the undecided away anxious. He maintains heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture at all; first must be decided who rightfully possesses the Scriptures. He cites the Apostle forbidding questionings, novel sayings, and association with a heretic after one admonition—not after discussion. Admonition, not debate, is prescribed. Argumentative contests about Scripture profit nothing but upsetting the stomach or brain.
Heresies reject certain Scriptures and pervert those they receive by additions, excisions, and fabricated heterodox interpretations. A spurious interpretation injures Truth as much as a tampered text. Baseless presumptions refuse to acknowledge their own refutation. A skilled disputant gains nothing if what he maintains is rejected and what he rejects is maintained. A wavering man, seeing both sides possess equal vantage-ground in denial and assertion, goes away more uncertain, not knowing which to adjudge heresy. Heretics naturally retort that falsification and lying interpretations come from Tertullian’s side.
Appeal must not be made to Scripture where victory is impossible or uncertain. The order of things demands first deciding: Who holds the Faith to which the Scriptures belong? From whom, through whom, when, and to whom was the doctrinal teaching delivered? Wherever true Christian religion and faith appear, there will be found true Scriptures, interpretations, and traditions.
The Apostolic Churches as the Test of Truth
Christ Jesus declared what He was, His Father’s will, and man’s duty, openly to the people or privately to His disciples. He chose twelve special ones; after one was struck off, He bade the eleven teach all nations, baptizing into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Apostles added Matthias by lot in Judas’s place, per a Psalm of David’s prophecy. Having obtained the Holy Spirit’s power, they bore witness in Judaea, founded Churches, then spread the same doctrine to the nations. Churches in every city derived the transmission of faith from these; all are reckoned Apostolic as offspring of Apostolic Churches, forming one Primitive Church in one Unity, proved by fellowship of peace, brotherhood, and common pledge of amity, governed by one tradition of the selfsame Bond of Faith.
Since Christ sent the Apostles to preach, no others should be received as preachers save those Christ appointed. What Christ revealed to the Apostles ought to be proved through the Churches the Apostles founded, by viva voce preaching and Epistles. Doctrine agreeing with Apostolic Churches and original founts of Faith is Truth—received by Churches from Apostles, Apostles from Christ, Christ from God. Contrary doctrine is condemned as originating in falsehood. Tertullian asserts communion with Apostolic Churches as evidence of Truth.
The Apostles Knew and Delivered All
Heretics say either the Apostles did not know all things, or knew all but did not deliver all to all persons—both exposing Christ to blame. Tertullian asks who can believe the Apostles ignorant, whom the Lord kept in companionship and to whom He explained privately what was obscure. Peter was called the Rock, received the keys, and power of loosing and binding. John lay on the Lord’s breast, was shown Judas the traitor, and was commended to Mary. The Lord manifested His glory with Moses and Elijah and the Father’s voice, for “by three witnesses every word shall be established.” After the Resurrection He expounded all the Scriptures. Though He said “I have yet many things to say,” He promised the Spirit of Truth would lead them into all Truth. The Acts of the Apostles prove the Spirit’s descent; those rejecting this Scripture cannot prove when or with what origin the Church was founded.
Heretics cite Peter being blamed by Paul to suggest fuller knowledge came later. Tertullian demands they show who Paul was and how he became an Apostle. Paul, changed from persecutor to preacher, was led to brethren by brethren, went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and received the right hand of concord—a distribution of office, not division of Gospel: Peter to the Circumcision, Paul to the Gentiles. Peter’s blame concerned behavior, not preaching—no question of another God, Christ, or hope was involved.
Tertullian refuses to pit Apostle against Apostle. Paul made himself all things to all men; Peter might have blamed Paul for circumcising Timothy while forbidding circumcision. Peter is made equal to Paul in martyrdom. Paul’s being caught up to the third heaven revealed things not communicable to any human being; if a heresy claims that revelation, either Paul betrayed his secret or someone else must be shown subsequently caught up.
Heretics claim the Apostles committed some things secretly to a few, citing “guard the deposit.” Tertullian argues the deposit was part of the charge and commandment, not a hidden doctrine—commanded not to admit anything beyond what was received, a charge against those who would add or subtract from the faith once delivered.
The Argument from the Unity of Faith
Tertullian presses his case by turning the heretics’ own logic against them. Even if one were to grant the impossible premise that all the churches had erred, he argues, it would defy all reason to suppose that so many important churches, scattered across the world and independent of one another, could have stumbled into the very same error. Error, by its nature, is fertile and produces a bewildering variety of conflicting opinions, not a single, uniform belief. The fact that one identical tenet is found among so many diverse communities is itself the strongest possible evidence that this tenet is not the product of mistake but the inheritance of a common tradition. He challenges anyone to step forward and affirm that the very authors of this universal tradition were themselves mistaken, for such a claim would be an affront to the collective witness of the apostolic age.
The Irony of Error’s Long Reign
Tertullian then employs a sharp irony to expose the absurdity of the heretical position. If error had indeed reigned supreme before the appearance of heresies, then it would follow that Truth herself had to wait for the arrival of the Marcionites and Valentinians to set her free. This would mean that countless thousands of believers had been baptized in vain, that martyrs had received their crowns for a false faith, and that Christians had existed for generations before Christ was truly found. He asserts the fundamental principle that truth always precedes its copy; the counterfeit always comes afterward. The earlier teaching itself, the very Gospel preached by the Apostles, foretold that heresies would come, and Tertullian cites the Apostle Paul’s stern warning to the Galatians: “Though an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel than that we have preached, let him be anathema.” This prophecy, delivered at the very beginning, proves that the true faith was established long before any deviation arose.
The Recent Origin of the Heresiarchs
To give this principle a concrete face, Tertullian asks a pointed question: where was Marcion the Pontic shipmaster and student of Stoic philosophy, and where was Valentinus the disciple of Platonism? They were nowhere to be found in the apostolic age. Both men lived in the reign of Antoninus, and both were, at first, believers in the Catholic Church in Rome during the episcopate of Eleutherus. They were not founders of a purer faith but restless speculators who were expelled from the Church’s communion. Marcion, expelled more than once for his turbulent ideas, was banished along with the two hundred sesterces he had brought with him. He later professed penitence and agreed to restore those he had corrupted, but he died before he could be reconciled. Tertullian acknowledges that heresies must needs be, but this necessity does not make them good; even the betrayal of Christ was needful for the salvation of the world, yet woe to the traitor by whom it came.
The fate of Marcion’s own disciple, Apelles, further illustrates the instability of these teachers. Apelles deserted the strict chastity of the Marcionites, withdrew to Alexandria, and returned no longer a Marcionite. He attached himself to a virgin named Philumena and wrote his “Revelations” under her influence. The living disciples of these men confirm their later date, for they cannot claim any antiquity. Marcion is condemned by his very act of separating the New Testament from the Old, for he must necessarily be later than the text he sought to divide. Valentinus’s emendations prove that what he corrected belonged to an earlier age. Others, like Nigidius and Hermogenes, still pervert the ways of the Lord. Tertullian demands that these heretics prove themselves to be new Apostles or show the miracles that accompanied the original ones. He notes their inverted rivalry: the Apostles made the dead alive, but these men make the living dead by killing their souls with false doctrine.
The Parable of Wheat and Wild Oats
Returning to the theme of truth’s priority, Tertullian invokes the parable of the wheat and the tares. The good wheat seed is sown first by the Lord, and only afterward does the Devil sow his wild oats among it. The Word of God is likened to this seed. What was first delivered to the churches is from the Lord and is therefore true; what was later introduced is strange and false. The order of time itself is the judge. The heretics, by their own late arrival, condemn themselves, for they are the wild oats that appeared only after the good seed had already taken root and begun to bear fruit.
The Test of Apostolic Succession
Tertullian then offers a practical test for any heresy that dares to claim an apostolic origin. Such a heresy must set forth the roll of its bishops descending from the beginning, with its first bishop ordained by an Apostle or by an apostolic man who had known the Apostles. The Smyrnaeans, for instance, record that Polycarp was placed in his see by John; the Roman Church records that Clement was ordained by Peter. Even if heretics were to invent such a succession, their doctrine’s diversity from the apostolic teaching proves that they had no Apostle as their author, for the Apostles taught one and the same faith everywhere. Churches of later foundation, however, that agree in this faith are accounted apostolical by their kinship in doctrine, even if they cannot trace their bishops to an Apostle by name.
Doctrines Censured by the Apostles
The Apostles themselves, Tertullian argues, foresaw and censured the very errors that the heretics now promote. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, rebuked those who denied the resurrection, an opinion that was the Sadducees’ error and which Marcion, Apelles, and Valentinus each adopted in part. In Galatians, he rebuked those who observed circumcision, which is the heresy of Ebion. In Timothy, he reproached those who forbade marriage, which is the teaching of Marcion and Apelles. Those who said “the resurrection is past already” are the Valentinians. The “endless genealogies” Paul warned against point directly to Valentinus’s elaborate system of Aeons—Sense and Truth from Grace, Word and Life, Man and Church, forming the ogdoad, and then the ten and twelve Aeons totaling thirty. The “bondage to elements” Paul mentions points to Hermogenes, who introduces an unoriginated Matter that is equal to God. John’s Apocalypse chastises those who eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication, which is the Nicolaitan heresy, now continued in the Gaian heresy. John’s Epistle calls those Antichrists who deny that Christ came in the flesh, which is Marcion’s error, and those who deny that Jesus is the Son of God, which is Ebion’s error. Even Simonian sorcery was condemned by Peter in Simon himself. The Apostles, therefore, named and refuted these heresies in their own day, proving that the true faith was fully established before any of these errors arose.
No Second God Before Marcion
Tertullian makes a striking observation: among the heresies of the apostolic era, none occasioned controversy about God as Creator. No one dared to conjecture a second God. Doubt was felt more readily about the Son than about the Father, until Marcion introduced another God of goodness only. Apelles fashioned a glorious Angel of the Higher God as the Creator, affirming that this angel was of fire. Valentinus scattered his Aeons and elaborated the fault of one Aeon into the generation of the Creator. These men alone received their truth from the Devil’s greater grace, making disciples above their Master. Heresies that did not exist in the apostolic days cannot have existed then; if they had, they would have been named and repressed by the Apostles. Modern heresies, whether they are the same as the ancient ones or derived from them, share the same condemnation; even those that are unnamed are prejudged by their age alone, for they are all later than the truth.
The Priority of Our System
Tertullian concludes this line of argument by asserting that his own system is not later but earlier than all others. This priority is itself evidence of its truth, for truth holds first place. It is nowhere condemned by the Apostles but is maintained by them; they refuse to condemn it while condemning every foreign doctrine that arose in their day. The faith of the Church is the ancient faith, and the ancient faith is the true faith.
The Apostolic Churches as Witnesses
The reader, Tertullian urges, should visit the Apostolic Churches to see this truth for himself. He should go to Corinth in Achaia, to Philippi in Macedonia, to Ephesus in Asia, and to Rome near Italy. Rome is a happy Church, for it was founded by the Apostles Peter and Paul, and its faith is proclaimed throughout the world. These churches hold the doctrine that they received from the Apostles, and they preserve it without alteration. They are the living witnesses to the original faith, and their agreement with one another is the proof that the heretics, who disagree with them, have departed from the truth.
The Heretics’ Corruption of the Scriptures
Tertullian then addresses the heretics’ claim to use the Scriptures. It is far more plausible, he argues, that the heretics corrupted the Scriptures than that the Christians did, since Christians existed from the beginning and are first in order of time, while heretics are later and opposed to the Scriptures. One man falsifies the Scriptures with his hand; another by his interpretation. Valentinus appears to use the whole volume, but he laid violent hands on the Truth with a cunning bent of mind, twisting the meaning of every passage to suit his system. Marcion openly used the knife, not the pen, cutting the Scriptures to suit his argument. Valentinus spared the Scriptures, not inventing Scriptures to suit his argument but argument to suit the Scriptures; yet he took away more and added more by taking away the proper meaning of words and adding arrangements of systems which have no existence. The heretics, therefore, cannot claim the Scriptures as their authority, for they have corrupted them to fit their own inventions.
The Devil’s Craft in Heresy
These inventions, Tertullian explains, are the work of “spiritual wickednesses,” which are necessary to faith so that the elect may be made manifest and the reprobate detected. Their power in constructing errors is not to be wondered at, for a like example exists in secular writings. A totally different story can be composed out of Vergil, the matter adapted to the verses and the verses to the matter. Hosidius Geta extracted from Vergil the tragedy of Medea. A relative of Tertullian’s arranged the “Table” of Cebes from the same poet. “Homerocentones” is the common name for those who patch together works from Homer’s poems, quilt-like. The Divine writings are even more fruitful in affording resources for any subject. Tertullian does not hesitate to say that the Scriptures were arranged by the will of God to afford material for heretics, since he reads that there must be heresies, which cannot exist without the Scriptures.
The Devil’s Imitation of Divine Sacraments
The question follows: who interprets the passages that make for heresies? The Devil, unquestionably, for it is his character to overturn the Truth, emulously rivaling the realities of Divine sacraments in idol-mysteries. He baptizes his own believers; he promises a putting away of sins by the laver; Mithras seals his soldiers on their foreheads. He celebrates an oblation of bread, introduces a representation of the resurrection, and purchases a crown under the sword. He allows but a single marriage to the chief priest. He has his virgins and his continent ones. The religious enactments of Numa Pompilius—priestly duties, badges, privileges, sacrificial services, instruments, vessels, expiations, vows—show that the Devil imitated the scrupulous observances of the Jewish Law. He who set forth in idolatry the means whereby Christ’s sacraments are administered is the same being who adapted to a profane and hostile faith the documents written by Christian saints, adapting interpretations from interpretations, words from words, parables from parables. No one should doubt that “spiritual wickednesses,” whence come heresies, have been sent forth by the Devil, or that heresies are not far removed from idolatry, belonging to the same author and handiwork. They either fashion another God hostile to the Creator, or if they confess One only Creator, they treat of Him otherwise than as He truly is. Every falsehood about God is a kind of idolatry.
The Heretics’ Manner of Life
Tertullian then turns to the heretics’ manner of life, which he describes as foolish, earthly, and materialistic, without seriousness, authority, or discipline. It is uncertain who is a catechumen and who a baptized believer; they all alike reproach, hear, and pray—even heathens. They throw “that which is holy to dogs” and pearls, albeit false ones, “to swine.” They call their subversion of discipline simplicity and our care for discipline affectation. They unite in communion with everyone from every quarter, so long as they agree in attacking the One Truth. They are all puffed up; they all promise knowledge. Their catechumens are perfected before they are instructed. The women amongst the heretics presume to teach, dispute, practise exorcism, promise cures, and perchance also to baptize. Their ordinations are heedless, capricious, and fickle. They appoint novices, men hampered by worldly ties, or apostates from us, binding them by ambition since they cannot by truth. Preferment is readiest in the camp of rebels. One man is bishop to-day, another to-morrow; a deacon to-day, a reader to-morrow; a presbyter to-day, a laic to-morrow. Even on laics do they impose sacerdotal functions.
The Ministry of Subversion
Their ministry of the word aims not to convert the heathen but to subvert our people. Their glory is to effect the fall of those who stand, not the upraising of those thrown down. Their work consists not in building but in destroying the Truth; they undermine our defences to build up their own. Deprive them of the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and God the Creator, and they have not a complaint to utter. They more readily ruin standing edifices than reconstruct fallen ruins. Their behaviour is humble, bland, and respectful only to this end; otherwise, not even for their own leaders have they reverence. Schisms do not commonly exist among heretics, since when they do exist they are not visible—schism is their very unity. They depart from their own rules, each adapting what he receives according to his fancy, just as he who handed it down fabricated it. This is the nature of heresy: a restless, unstable, and self-destructive force that cannot stand against the ancient, unified, and apostolic faith of the Church, which alone holds the truth delivered once for all by Christ to His Apostles and by them to the churches they founded.
Main Arguments
The central argument of On the Testimony of the Soul is that the human soul, in its natural and uneducated state, bears spontaneous witness to the fundamental truths of Christian revelation. Tertullian argues that the soul, whether one believes it divine and eternal or mortal, instinctively confesses the existence of one supreme God. This is evident in common speech: “May GOD grant it,” “If GOD wills,” “GOD is good,” “GOD bless thee.” Even in cursing, the soul confesses His supreme power. The soul also testifies to God’s role as judge. Tertullian argues that the soul fears God, and this fear implies that God knows how to be angry, which in turn implies judgement, censure, and power. The soul’s readiness to say “God seeth all things,” “I leave it to God,” “God will repay,” “God shall judge between us” demonstrates this innate knowledge, even among those who are not Christians.
Tertullian further argues that the soul testifies to the existence of daemons. Christians alone prove their existence, for they alone expel them. Yet even pagans confirm the fact of daemons’ existence and abomination through their execrations, calling a man a daemon for filthiness or malice, and naming Satan in expressions of vexation and detestation. The soul also testifies to the afterlife and judgement. Tertullian argues that when one recalls a dead person, one calls him “wretched man,” not as cut off from happy life but as assigned to punishment and judgement. Conversely, one calls the dead free from care, implying the disadvantage of life and the boon of death. These common expressions, he argues, reveal an innate belief in the soul’s survival and its destiny according to deservings.
The main argument of On the Prescription of Heretics is procedural. Tertullian argues that heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture at all. The first question to be decided is who rightfully possesses the Scriptures. He maintains that the Scriptures belong to the Church, which received them from the Apostles, who received them from Christ, who received them from God. Therefore, doctrine agreeing with the Apostolic Churches is Truth, and contrary doctrine is condemned as originating in falsehood. He argues that appeal must not be made to Scripture where victory is impossible or uncertain; the order of things demands first deciding who holds the Faith to which the Scriptures belong.
Tertullian argues that the Apostles knew all things and delivered all things to the Churches they founded. He refutes the heretical claim that the Apostles committed some things secretly to a few, arguing that the “deposit” was part of the charge and commandment, not a hidden doctrine. He challenges heretics to set forth their bishops’ roll descending from the beginning, with their first bishop ordained by an Apostle or Apostolic man. Even if they invent such succession, their doctrine’s diversity from Apostolic teaching proves they had no Apostle as author. He argues that heresies are of recent origin, appearing only in the reign of Antoninus, and that Truth precedes its copy; the counterfeit comes afterward. He argues that it is more plausible that heretics corrupted the Scriptures than that Christians did, since Christians existed from the beginning and are first in order of time, while heretics are later and opposed to the Scriptures.
Key Concepts
A key concept in On the Testimony of the Soul is the “simple soul” as a witness. Tertullian addresses the soul in its simple, unskilled, untaught form, encountered in the lane, highway, or at the loom. This is the soul that is “wont to be made, not born Christian.” The concept is that the untutored, natural instincts of the soul, expressed in common speech and spontaneous reactions, provide a reliable testimony to divine truth, independent of philosophical learning or religious instruction.
Another key concept is the “testimony of the soul” itself, which Tertullian presents as a new kind of witness, distinct from the writings of poets and philosophers. He declines to extract testimonies from pagan writings, since human obstinacy impairs faith even in one’s own teachers when they approach Christian truth. Instead, he calls the soul itself to bear witness. This testimony is expressed in common phrases: “May GOD grant it,” “If GOD wills,” “God seeth all things,” “God will repay,” “God shall judge between us.” These phrases, Tertullian argues, reveal an innate knowledge of God’s existence, power, and role as judge.
In On the Prescription of Heretics, a central concept is the “Rule of Faith,” which is set out in Chapter XIII. The Rule is formable into familiar clauses: One God Almighty, Creator; His Son Jesus Christ, born of Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead, buried, rose again third day, ascended, sitteth at right hand of Father, shall come with glory to judge quick and dead; Holy Spirit; resurrection of flesh; life eternal. This Rule serves as the standard against which all doctrine is measured.
Another key concept is the “prescription” itself, a legal term drawn from Roman law. A prescription is a procedural bar to a claim, a rule that prevents a case from being heard on its merits because a preliminary question has not been settled. Tertullian’s prescription is that heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture at all; first must be decided who rightfully possesses the Scriptures. This procedural argument is designed to end all debate with heretics before it can begin.
The concept of “Apostolic succession” is also central. Tertullian argues that the Churches founded by the Apostles are the original founts of Faith, and that doctrine agreeing with these Churches is Truth. He challenges heretics to set forth their bishops’ roll descending from the beginning, with their first bishop ordained by an Apostle or Apostolic man. The Smyrnaeans record Polycarp placed by John; the Roman Church records Clement ordained by Peter. Churches of later foundation, agreeing in faith, are accounted Apostolical by kinship in doctrine.
The concept of “heresy” itself is defined. Tertullian notes that “heresies” comes from a Greek word signifying “choice.” A heretic is self-condemned because he chose that wherein he is condemned. We may not introduce anything on our own authority, nor choose what another introduced. The Apostles are authorities, who faithfully handed on the rule received from Christ. If an angel from heaven preached otherwise, he would be anathema.
Themes
A recurring theme in both treatises is the opposition between divine truth and human philosophy. Tertullian identifies philosophy as worldly wisdom, a rash interpreter of Divine Nature, and the equipment of heresies. He asks, “What hath Athens in common with Jerusalem? The Academy with the Church? Heretics with Christians?” He traces the doctrines of the heretics to their philosophical sources: Valentinus’ “aeons” and “ideas” from Platonism; Marcion’s “better GOD” from Stoicism; the soul’s perishing from Epicureans; the denial of flesh’s restoration from all philosophers; matter identified with GOD from Zeno; a fiery god from Heracleitus. He warns against philosophy to the Colossians: “Take heed lest any one beguile you through philosophy or vain deceit, according to the tradition of men.” He concludes that we need no speculative inquiry after knowing Christ Jesus, nor search for Truth after receiving the Gospel; we desire to believe nothing besides, for the first article of belief is that nothing else ought to be believed.
Another theme is the devil’s imitation of divine sacraments. Tertullian argues that the Devil emulously rivals the realities of Divine sacraments in idol-mysteries. He baptizes his own believers; he promises a putting away of sins by the laver; Mithras seals his soldiers on their foreheads; he celebrates an oblation of bread, introduces a representation of the resurrection, and purchases a crown under the sword. The religious enactments of Numa Pompilius—priestly duties, badges, privileges, sacrificial services, instruments, vessels, expiations, vows—show the Devil imitated the scrupulous observances of the Jewish Law. He who set forth in idolatry the means whereby Christ’s sacraments are administered is the same being who adapted to a profane and hostile faith the documents written by Christian saints. Every falsehood about God is a kind of idolatry.
A related theme is the corruption of Scripture. Tertullian argues that heretics reject certain Scriptures and pervert those they receive by additions, excisions, and fabricated heterodox interpretations. A spurious interpretation injures Truth as much as a tampered text. He contrasts Valentinus, who appears to use the whole volume but laid violent hands on the Truth with a cunning bent of mind, with Marcion, who openly used the knife, not the pen, cutting the Scriptures to suit his argument. Valentinus spared the Scriptures, not inventing Scriptures to suit his argument but argument to suit the Scriptures; yet he took away more and added more by taking away the proper meaning of words and adding arrangements of systems which have no existence.
The theme of the unity and priority of Truth is also prominent. Tertullian argues that his system is not later but earlier than all—evidence of truth, for truth holds first place. It is nowhere condemned by Apostles but maintained by them. He argues that even if all Churches erred, it would be impossible for so many important Churches to have “erred” into one and the same faith. Error naturally produces variety, not uniformity. Since one identical tenet is found among many, this indicates tradition rather than error. Truth precedes its copy; the counterfeit comes afterward.
A further theme is the moral character of heretics. Tertullian describes their manner of life as foolish, earthly, materialistic, without seriousness, authority, or discipline. It is uncertain who is a catechumen and who a baptized believer; they all alike reproach, hear, and pray—even heathens. They throw “that which is holy to dogs” and pearls “to swine.” They call their subversion of discipline simplicity and our care for discipline affectation. The women amongst the heretics presume to teach, dispute, practise exorcism, promise cures, perchance also to baptize. Their ordinations are heedless, capricious, fickle. One man is bishop to-day, another to-morrow; a deacon to-day, a reader to-morrow; a presbyter to-day, a laic to-morrow. Their ministry of the word aims not to convert the heathen but to subvert our people. Their glory is to effect the fall of those who stand, not the upraising of those thrown down.
The Author’s Conclusions
Tertullian concludes On the Testimony of the Soul by affirming that the testimonies of the soul are simple, true, and public. They are uttered by the common people, in common places, and in common occupations. They are the utterances of the soul that is “wont to be made, not born Christian.” He urges the reader to believe these writings, which are confirmed by the soul’s own natural testimony. The soul, even when it is not Christian, bears witness to the one God, to the existence of daemons, to the survival of the soul after death, and to the coming judgement. These testimonies, he argues, are all the more powerful because they come from the untaught soul, not from philosophical speculation or religious instruction.
In On the Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian concludes that all heresies have been challenged and refuted by the rule of faith and the principle of Apostolic succession. He argues that the heretics’ inventions are of “spiritual wickednesses,” sent forth by the Devil, and that heresies are not far removed from idolatry, belonging to the same author and handiwork. They either fashion another GOD hostile to the Creator, or if they confess One only Creator they treat of Him otherwise than as He truly is. Every falsehood about God is a kind of idolatry.
He concludes that the heretics’ manner of life and ministry of the word are aimed at subverting the faithful, not at converting the heathen. Their work consists not in building but in destroying the Truth; they undermine our defences to build up their own. Deprive them of the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and God the Creator, and they have not a complaint to utter. They more readily ruin standing edifices than reconstruct fallen ruins. Their behaviour is humble, bland, and respectful only to this end; otherwise not even for their own leaders have they reverence. Schisms do not commonly exist among heretics, since when they do exist they are not visible—schism is their very unity. They depart from their own rules, each adapting what he receives according to his fancy, as he who handed it down fabricated it. The nature of heresy is such that it is inherently divisive and self-condemned, and the faithful are urged to avoid it entirely, adhering instead to the rule of faith and the Apostolic Churches.
Significance
The significance of these two treatises lies in their early and forceful articulation of key principles that would shape Christian theology and ecclesiology for centuries. On the Testimony of the Soul is significant for its innovative apologetic strategy. Rather than relying solely on Scripture or philosophical argument, Tertullian appeals to the natural, untutored instincts of the human soul as a witness to divine truth. This approach acknowledges a universal human awareness of God, judgement, and the afterlife, which Christianity confirms and fulfils. The treatise is also significant for its vivid and memorable phrases, such as “a soul is wont to be made, not born Christian,” and “O Testimony of Truth, which among the very daemons makes these a witness for the Christians!”
On the Prescription of Heretics is significant for its procedural argument, which established a method for dealing with heresy that would become standard in Catholic theology. By arguing that heretics must not be admitted to any discussion of Scripture, Tertullian shifted the ground of debate from scriptural interpretation to the question of authority. He established the principle that the Scriptures belong to the Church, which received them from the Apostles, and that the Rule of Faith and Apostolic succession are the criteria for determining true doctrine. This argument effectively barred heretics from using Scripture to support their views, since they had no right to the Scriptures in the first place.
The treatises are also significant for their historical value. They provide a detailed picture of the theological controversies of the late second century, including the teachings of Marcion, Valentinus, Apelles, Hermogenes, and others. Tertullian’s descriptions of these heresies, though polemical, preserve information that would otherwise be lost. His identification of the philosophical sources of heresy—Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism—demonstrates the intellectual challenges facing the early Church. His account of the heretics’ manner of life, including the role of women and the instability of their ordinations, offers a glimpse into the social dynamics of the early Christian movement.
Finally, the treatises are significant for their literary and rhetorical qualities. Tertullian’s prose is marked by its legal precision, its rhetorical force, and its memorable aphorisms. His contrast between Athens and Jerusalem, his description of Marcion using the knife rather than the pen, and his account of the Devil imitating the divine sacraments in idol-mysteries are among the most famous passages in early Christian literature. These works established Tertullian as one of the foremost Latin Christian writers, and they continued to be read and cited throughout the history of the Church, influencing later theologians and apologists.
