Differences Between Tertullian And Justin Martyr

He is called ‘The Father of Latin Christianity’, because he was the link between Greek-speaking Christianity and Latin-speaking Christianity. His many treatises covered his beliefs on Christian practice, human salvation, the Trinity or trinitas, his high regard of martyrs in the church, Greek philosophy, and the place of women in the church. He coined his most famous quote, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”, in a piece about his opinion of Pagan philosophy (Weaver). Tertullian drew inspiration from earlier Church Apologists like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and writers like Miltiades and Melito of Sardis

At the center of the Christian faith is a mystery. This mystery has everything to do with the identity of God, the nature of Christian community, the salvation history and our understanding of Christology. This is the mystery of the Trinity – how is the Godhead fully three persons, and yet one nature? Theophilus was the first to name the ‘triad’ nature of God in his letter To Autolycus in 170 A.D. Tertullian was the first to offer terminology to describe this mystery in Against Praxeas claiming “the Trinity” involved three ‘persons’ of one substance. This theology emerged from the Biblical witness, even though scripture offers no doctrine of the Trinity itself. Even more so, the development of the doctrine of the Trinity grew from the early church’s worship, witness and corporate experience. When faced with a mystery, heresies can’t help but emerge. Docetism and Arianism, Adoptionism and Monarchianism, Nestorianism and Monophysitism are just a few of the heresies that emerged in attempts to explain away the mystery. And yet, theologians from the second century to the twenty-first century are faced with the challenge of witnessing to this mystery in both the theologia and the oikonomia of the Trinity. The church experiences the economic Trinity as new believers are drawn into Trinitarian community through an ongoing

The evidence that exists to prove the diversity of the early Christian community is the many other writings which have been discovered by historians from the same time period (Harris 2014). In addition, the writings reveal that each separate group of Christians from this era had their own understanding of what Jesus was teaching His followers. The “fifth gospel” of Thomas paints the picture of Jesus as a guide towards His disciples by enlightening them with the message that God’s Kingdom already rules, but many people would not believe him. The portrait that Thomas provokes is an example of the diversity of the early writers and several of his ideas are similar to Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Harris 2014).

Christian faith lies between the two extremes of fideism and rationalism, that is, between faith with no reason and reason with no faith. Scripture, the main source of Christian tradition, provides us with information about God and what it means to be Christian. An analysis of works and arguments by early church fathers offers tools to engage scripture, including levels of belief and defining faith in the context of society and moderation. Specifically, Augustine and McCabe present arguments concerning faith in the validity of scripture and proofs that a belief in Christianity is reasonable and true. Therefore, a valid assertion can be made that reason plays an important and necessary role in Christian faith.

The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity 203 is an account of Perpetua’s story, a story in which she rejected her Roman identity in order to further pledge her Christian faith. At the time, Romans feared the spread of Christianity due to the conflicting interest in the worship of Gods and the circulating rumors that Christians were cannibals. Not only did Romans think Christianity was odd for those factors but also that Christians feared their potential experiences in the afterlife more than their experiences in their current life. The history of the Roman Empire provides that emperors would put Christians through a test in order to confirm their devotion to Christianity. If they confessed to being Christian, then they would be persecuted. However, Christians had the opportunity of denying their faith and making a sacrifice to the empire so that they could avoid persecution. Yet, there were many Christians that remained faithful rather than opting for the denial of their faith and avoiding persecution. This paper will discuss Perpetua’s rejection of her Roman identity in passages six and twenty in order to show the differences between the devout Christians of the roman empire and the pagans of the roman empire.

In the question to do with the connection between Jerusalem and Athens, Tertullian and his contemporaries tend to uphold the view that Christian thinking and secular thinking are irreconcilable (Entwistle, 2015). Such people offer the reasoning that for one to be able to uphold Christian faith then he or she must denounce the secularity in his or her life. The big question one would

Placher presents the essay of Thomas de Vio, Cardinal Cajatan, a treatise that discusses the disagreement of the Catholic’s faith and the Lutheran’s faith concerning the issue of “Faith & Works”. Cajetan rejected the concept of Lutherans claimed that one could be justified while remaining a sinner. The treatise laid out Cajetan view of evidence against the Lutheran’s claim.

Against the backdrop of a dismissive reception history, Cody Strecker offers a constructive reading of Pseudo-Justin’s Cohortatio ad Graecos as a theologically and hermeneutically rich text. Making use of something like his own version of a Pseudo-Justin critique of the philosophers’ inconsistency, Strecker observes that the lack of agreement in two of the critics is indicative of an inadequate reading of Pseudo-Justin’s text. Where Marcovich foregrounds the theme of the mediation of truth by means of the Holy Spirit, and Riedweg emphasizes the theme of leaving false traditions in light of an imminent judgment, Strecker finds a more coherent center of gravity in Pseudo-Justin’s exhortation to read the prophets (Strecker, 2). Attending to the

On pages 22-23, Welborn explains the story about the martyrs in the church and expresses the point about faith. She brings up the point about the martyrs in relation to faith because she hopes to influence the readers to spread the “good news” and Jesus’s resurrection to neighbors around them. Welborn believes the readers should reveal Jesus’s life story and hope his story would influence others to join in on the mission to spread his “good news.” Followers of Jesus who have faith in his story disclose the authenticity and originality of his tale. The only reason why martyrs and followers cannot find another reason to spread his word is because his story is true. Welborn’s point on faith demonstrates what Jesus wants us to do. Jesus hopes his

The purpose of the paper is to differentiate between Christ of faith and Jesus of history. New Testament biblical scholars from the 19th Century have been preoccupied by the notion of Christ of faith versus Jesus of History. Jesus of history can be described as the quest for historical Jesus, while the Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief either through the Church or historically. Some traditions even went ahead to argue that the Jesus of History could never be found and therefore the Christ of faith is the only way forward for Christians. On the other hand, those who have been promoting the Jesus of History have often assumed that the historical Jesus is much superior as compared to the Christ of Faith. Despite the key differences between Christ of faith and the historical Jesus, both these aspect have an implication for Western Christianity.

It seems strange that so little is known biographically about one of the most important figures in Christian history, but this only serves to add to the mystery and grandeur surrounding the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Much, however, is known of the time after his conversion to Christ and what he did to contribute to Christianity in this period, and it is this that leaves a greater legacy than the simple facts of his life. The contributions that he made towards the cause of Christ and the spreading and formation of Christianity are what he is perennially remembered for.

Justin writing to the Emperor about how Christine teachings parallel similar to the pagan mythology, making it irrational for pagans to persecute Christians. (1 Apology, Ch. 21-22).

3. After the churches split into East and West, there were multiple differences and rules between them. In the Western churches, they were all about building relationships and approaching issues with an organized context in politics, theology, and leadership. According to Noll, “The Western churches urged to equalize relationships among the members of the Trinity short-circuited the full personality of the Spirit and so crippled understanding of what the Spirit was to do.” (pg. 128). The western church had the tendency to violate the spirit and words of Nicaea. The Western church had a powerful representative on their side known as Tertullian. Tertullian was a worthwhile representative for the Western churches because he took care of business and did it with a plan. Unlike the representative for the Eastern churches, Tertullian was a lawyer so he knew his boundaries and knew how to make a case. According to Noll, “Tertullian boldly challenged the pagan cultures of his days with the realities of the Cristian Faith and was eager to construct formulas of faith” (pg.126).

The individual works of Porphyry and Justin gives just a glimpse of the opposing views they held of Christianity. They both had ideas about the place of Christianity in the Roman world, based on the roots and origins of Christianity. Justin chose Christianity later on in life, where he found truths in the ideas of Christianity and pursued showing how there were faults in the views that were held about Christianity. Porphyry, who is said to be someone who left Christianity, found faults and issues with concepts of Christianity that they held as critical pieces of their origins. Porphyry held issues with the idea of Christians claiming Moses or the Apostles as actual major influences on Christianity. Justin Martyr’s work was an ‘Apology’ towards the Emperor Antonius Pious and his sons, members of the Roman senate. This was Justin’s response to the mistreatment he felt was being done

He had studied two great philosophers, Plato and Socrates. He wanted to reconcile faith and reason. According to the Bible, God does not ask man to abandon reason in order to accept its truth. “Come now,” says Isaiah, “and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). The Apostle Peter encourages Christians to present logical, compelling reasons for their hope in Christ. Faith precedes reason or, as Justin puts it, “Faith correctly viewed is that illumination by which true rationality begins.” In other words, every worldview begins with a basic assumption about the nature of reality that cannot be proven by using the scientific method or logical deduction. This becomes the starting point from which all men build a total view of life. Therefore, one is using philosophy to rationally think about the Bible. I believe that Justin’s view on philosophy is closest to the Bible’s