Tertullian Quotes
Tertullian of Carthage was a prolific early Christian author and the first major Christian writer to compose his works in Latin, for which he is sometimes called the father of Western theology. He coined a great deal of the technical vocabulary of Latin Christianity, including the formulations of trinity and of three persons in one substance. The quotes below are attributed to Tertullian, organized by topic.
Browse Tertullian by topic
Tertullian on Death
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“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Plures efficimur, quoties metimur a vobis; semen est sanguis christianorum.
Tertullian on God
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Attributed to Tertullian:
“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What has the Academy to do with the Church?”
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“Man is one name belonging to every nation upon earth . In them all is one soul though many tongues. Every country has its own language, yet the subjects of which the untutored soul speaks are the same everywhere. De Testimonio Animae (The Testimony of the Soul), 6.3”
Omnium gentium unus homo, uarium nomen est, una anima, uaria uox, unus spiritus, uarius sonus, propria cuique genti loquella, sed loquellae materia communis.
Tertullian on Knowledge
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“Omnium gentium unus homo, uarium nomen est, una anima, uaria uox, unus spiritus, uarius sonus, propria cuique genti loquella, sed loquellae materia communis.”
Man is one name belonging to every nation upon earth . In them all is one soul though many tongues. Every country has its own language, yet the subjects of which the untutored soul speaks are the same everywhere. De Testimonio Animae (The Testimony of the Soul), 6.3 -
“Veritas autem docendo persuadet non suadendo docet.”
Truth persuades by teaching , but does not teach by persuading. Adversus Valentinianos (Against the Valentinians), 1.4 -
“Nihil veritas erubescit”
Truth does not blush. Adversus Valentinianos , 3.2 -
“Prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est.”
It is to be believed because it is absurd. | Variant translations It is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. It is is entirely credible, because it is inept. De Carne Christi 5.4 -
“It is to be believed because it is absurd.”
Prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est. -
“Variant translations It is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. It is is entirely credible, because it is inept. De Carne Christi 5.4”
Prorsus credibile est, quia ineptum est. -
“Certum est, quia impossibile.”
It is certain because it is impossible. De Carne Christi 5.4 | Often paraphrased or misquoted as " Credo quia absurdum . | Also paraphrased as "It is so extraordinary that it must be true." The above two lines from De Carne Christi have often become conflated into the statement: "Credo quia impossibile" (I believe it because it is impossible), which can be perceived as a distortion of the actual a
Tertullian on Truth
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“It is certain because it is impossible.”
Certum est, quia impossibile. -
Attributed to Tertullian:
“The first reaction to truth is hatred.”
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“Truth persuades by teaching , but does not teach by persuading. Adversus Valentinianos (Against the Valentinians), 1.4”
Veritas autem docendo persuadet non suadendo docet. -
“Truth does not blush. Adversus Valentinianos , 3.2”
Nihil veritas erubescit
Tertullian on Virtue
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“He who flees will fight again.”
Qui fugiebat, rursus sibi proeliabitur.
Things actually not said by Tertullian
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Tertullian but are in fact from someone else. Did Tertullian say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did Tertullian say this? No.
“We worship unity in trinity, and trinity in unity; neither confounding the person nor dividing the substance. There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: As quoted in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) edited by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 285 | Actually from the Athanasian Creed : Fides autem catholica haec est: ut unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur. Neque confundentes personas, neque substantiam separan