Tertullian (The Early Church Fathers)

This book is the first accessible introduction in English to Tertullian's works, providing translations of Adversus Iudaeos (Against the Jews), Scorpiace (Antidote for the Scorpion's Sting) and De Verginibus Velandis (On the Veiling of Virgins). Tertullian (c. AD 160 - 225) was one of the first theologians of the Western Church and ranks among the most prominent of the early Latin fathers. His literary output is wide-ranging, and provides an invaluable insight into the Christian Church in the crucial period when the Roman Empire was in decline. These crucial works studied, together with Geoffrey D. Dunn's comprehensive commentary, illuminate the early church's reaction to paganism, Judaism, Scripture, and its development of a distinctive Christian ethic.

History

Dunn, Geoffrey D.

Ancient Civilizations

Routledge

Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos (Against the Jews) is one of the most controversial works of early Christian literature for modern scholarship not only because of its subject matter, which denies the enduring validity of Judaism subsequent to the appearance of Christianity, but also because of the debate surrounding the authenticity of the second half of the work itself. Many believe that the parallels with the third book of Aduersus Marcionem indicate that someone other than Tertullian completed this work by taking material from the latter source. As a result, historical studies of the relationship between Jews and Christians have widely neglected this work.
Geoffrey D. Dunn is the first scholar to use classical rhetoric as the interpretative tool for analyzing the question of the authorship of Aduersus Iudaeos. He argues that Tertullian structured this work according to the rules of classical rhetoric and employed arguments familiar to anyone with training in oratory. This analysis demonstrates that the work's conceptual structure matches what is written, that there are parts of the pamphlet that remain an unrevised draft, and that it was Tertullian himself who later used the material from this work in Aduersus Marcionem. 
A rhetorical perspective suggests that this work was intended as an idealized Christian contribution to be employed in the debate between Christians and Jews. The intended readers of Aduersus Iudaeos were Tertullian's fellow Christians, and, by writing the work, he sought to provide them with better debating points to use in their own encounters with Jews.
This book presents valuable evidence of an ongoing, lively interaction between Jews and Christians in late second-century Carthage about the validity of both religions and their interpretations of the scriptures.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 
 Geoffrey D. Dunn is an Australian Research Council-funded Australian Research Fellow in the Centre for Early Christian Studies at the Australian Catholic University. He is author of Tertullian and Cyprian and the Bishops of Rome: Questions of Papal Primacy in the Early Church, and co-editor of Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church, Volume 3: Liturgy and Life. 
 "Dunn is to be thanked for drawing serious attention to this oft-neglected work, and for highlighting its significance not only for an understanding of Tertullian but also for that of Judaism and early Christianity." ― Judith Lieu, Ecclesiastical History 
 "Dunn's impressive learning and agile mind lend conviction to his thesis, which in turn has important implications for our understanding of Tertullian's theology, while his keen analysis establishes a context that enables the reader to become present in Tertullian's world." ― Robert Sider, Religious Studies Review 
 "Dunn is a logical and clear writer. . . . [T]his is a fine example of careful work. . . . It should find a home in research libraries and be read not just by students of theology but also by anyone interested in classical rhetoric." ― Maureen A. Tilley, Theological Studies 
 "Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos is the first lengthy treatment in English of a neglected work. . . . A lengthy, updated bibliography, a general index, and indexes of references to Tertullian's works and to the Bible complete the book, which will be useful to anyone who studies AI or Christianity and Judaism in second century Roman Africa." ―J. Kevin Coyle, Theoforum

Tertullian's Aduersus Iudaeos: A Rhetorical Analysis (Patristic Monograph Series)

World

The Catholic University of America Press

During the ten years that Cyprian was bishop of Carthage (A.D. 249-258) there were five bishops of Rome (Fabian, Cornelius, Lucius I, Stephen I and Sixtus II). Cyprian’s literary output deals with some of the most challenging issues faced by pre-Nicene Christianity: the Decian persecution and the problem of lapsed Christians, and the subsequent so-called rebaptism controversy. This book investigates the history of Cyprian's interactions with, and attitudes towards, each of those Roman bishops. Many previous attempts at explaining Cyprian's point of view with regard to the role and position of the church of Rome have concentrated on Cyprian's use of terms like cathedra Petri, primatus, and ecclesia principalis in De unitate. This book argues that Cyprian's understanding of these terms and of papal primacy in general is best determined from the wider context of his actual interactions with the bishops of Rome, as illustrated in his letters. 
After a thorough re-examination of Cyprian’s treatises and letters, it is concluded that Cyprian often regarded the support of the Roman church as crucial for him to manage the affairs of his own church in Carthage and the other churches of North Africa, because Rome was a large, prestigious and influential church. However, Cyprian's disagreement with a number of Rome’s positions reveals that he did not believe it had a jurisdictional primacy over churches outside its own prouincia. Cyprian's ecclesiology was a collegial one where frequent letter-writing and synodal gatherings were the means by which decisions could be reached and implemented.

Cyprian and the Bishops of Rome: Questions of Papal Primacy in the Early Church (Early Christian Studies)

Sydney College of Divinity

Tertullian

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