M

nem et tantum ex femine David natum, "non item et Dei filium, conftituit Jefum." He quotes Ifaiah, chap. Ixiii. "Non angelus neque legatus, fed ipfe Dominus falvos eos fecit :" and concludes his argument in these words; "Sic denique homo cum Deo, dum caro ho"minis cum fpiritu Dei, cum ipfe fit de fpi"ritu Dei, et fpiritus Deus eftf." Upon the reality of our Lord's incarnation, Tertullian eftablishes the certainty of the refurrection of our bodies; and in one tract defends the doctrine of the Trinity, in oppofition to Praxeas, who made no diftinction of perfons in the Godhead, and whofe followers were afterwards called Patri-paffians. The unity of fubftance and diftinction of perfons are thus plainly expreffed: "Duos Deos, et Do"minos Duos nunquam ex ore noftro pro

ferimus, non quafi non et pater Deus, et "filius Deus, et Spiritus fanctus Deus, et Deus unufquifque: fed quoniam retro et "duo Dei et duo Domini prædicabantur, ut ubi veniffet Chriftus, et Deus agnofceretur,

• De Carne Chrifti, cap. 14.

f Cap. 18. See also the Scorpiacum, or Antidote against the Gnoftics, whofe pernicious herefies the Author compares to the ftings of fcorpions: and the treatife De Anima, in which, contrary to the opinions of fome Heathen. 'philofophers and heretics, the immortality of the soul, the breath of God, is maintained: though by an unaccountable paradox, he states it to be corporeal.

"et Dominus vocaretur, quia filius Dei et "Dominig."

Our Author's disposition discovers itself in his tracts addreffed to Chriftians, which contain exhortations of great harshness and severity, inculcating ftrict rules of h penance and bodily aufterities. A rigid cenfor of female · manners and dress, he separated from his wife by mutual confent that they might lead lives of more holiness to God. At a public donative to the Roman army, a Christian soldier carried his laurel crown in his hand, instead of wearing it, as was the custom, on his head; and for this contempt he was fcourged and imprisoned, but found in Tertullian1 a ftrenuous defender of thofe fcruples, which however unneceffary, arofe from an abhorrence of idolatrous practices. None of these productions are more characteristic than that entitled De Spectaculis, which after violent invectives against a compliance with the licentious indulgences and profane cuftoms of the Heathen world, in pomp and ornamental dress and fecular amusements, concludes with this fervid defcription of the true pleasures of a Chriftian: "Jam nunc fi putas delectamentis exigere spa

g Adverfus Prax. cap. 13. De Patientia, cap. 13. De Coronâ Militis.

h De Pænitentia, cap. 9.

Ad Uxorem, lib. i.

"tium hoc, cur tam ingratus es, ut tot et tales voluptates a Deo contributas tibi fatis non “habeas, neque recognofcas? Quid enim ju"cundius quam Dei patris et Domini reconciliatio, quam veritatis revelatio, quam erro"rum recognitio, quam tantorum retro crimi"num venia? quæ major voluptas quam fafti"dium ipfius voluptatis, quam feculi totius

contemptus, quam vera libertas, quam con"fcientia integra, quam vita fufficiens, quam "mortis timor nullus? quod calcas Deos na❝tionum, quod dæmonia expellis, quod medi"cinas facis, quod revelationes petis, quod Deo "vivis? Hæ voluptates, hæc fpectacula Chrif"tianorum fancta, perpetua, gratuita. Si fce"nicæ doctrinæ delectant, fatis nobis literarum eft, fatis verfuum, non fabulæ fed veritatis,

66

non ftrophæ fed fimplicitates. Vis et pugillatus et luctatus? præfto funt, non parva "fed multa. Afpice impudicitiam dejectam a "caftitate, perfidiam cæfam a fide, fævitiam a

mifericordia contufam. Vis autem et fan"guinis aliquid? habes Chrifti. Quale autem "fpectaculum in proximo eft, adventus Domini jam indubitati, jam fuperbi, jam triumphantis? Quæ illa exultatio angelorum, quæ gloria refurgentium fanctorum?"

Tertullian's temper led him to join the fect

m De Spectaculis, cap. 29. The remainder of this defcription is a favage picture of horrid torments.

of Montanus, a Phrygian, who inculcated great austerities, and either from hypocrify or fanaticisin, claimed extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghoft; and, it has been fometimes thought, the exprefs office of the Paraclete or Comforter.

After this junction with the Montanifts, though our author exhibited no doctrinal errors, yet his ftern, ferocious, and dismal notions of difcipline were pushed to greater excefs. It seems that a sentence of excommunication was paffed upon him by the Catholic Church, and he now ftigmatizes the members of that body as Pfychicos or animal", by a phrase borrowed from the Gnoftics; becaufe their fafts were not fo rigid as those prescribed by Montanus. Sufferings and martyrdom in the cause of Chrift feem to have been always deemed by him a fubject of congratulation rather than pity: but Tertullian the Montanift condemns any attempt at escape or flight in time of perfecution. Monogamy, Virginity no longer fatisfy his fanctimonious superstition: nor can he find any place of repentance or pardon for the unchafte1.

Here are the beginnings of thofe errors, which introduced as Chriftian duties an abfti• Ad Martyras.

n De Jejuniis, cap. I.

P De Fuga in Perfecutione.

4 De Monogamia, Exhortatione Caftitatis, et Pudicitia.

nence from meats and marriage, and a renunciation of focial intercourse. From the afcetic inftitutions of the Solitudes of Egypt, the cradle of monks and hermits, adopted gradu ally by the western nations, these aufterities fpread over the Chriftian world; and being established in the public opinion, in little more than a century, as marks and criteria of true religion, unfortunately were confidered characteristics of the ecclefiaftical profeffion, and ftill retain an undeferved preeminence over active virtues in the Church of Rome.

St. Benedict, one of their models of fanctity, retires from human fociety into a wildernefs of woods and ftreams, to live among beafts, and fowl, and creeping things. In the defcription of Fleury', you may ftill behold him ftretched on the bare earth, fqualid and emaciated; he hardens himself against the feasons and the elements, and the calls of natural appetite and feeling. He is forrowing for his fins: but repentance is most truly manifefted by amendment of life and good actions, not by apathy and useless floth. He is atoning for them by a facrifice of his worldly affections: rafh, proud, profane thought! Can man, the thoughts of whose heart are impure continually; who, when he has performed his

Vol. vii. p. 296. A. D. 529.