1: . a So Pusey and others : see, however, Plummer, Church of the Early Fathers, p. 112.
2: . b Comp. Lightfoot, Philippians, pp. 26 ff.
3: . c Comp. Gore, Christian Ministry, pp. 30 f.
4: . d See Lightfoot, Supernatural Religion, p. 275, where for 'New Testament' we should, I think, rea[...]
- CHAPTER I. I. 1. The injustice of condemning the Christian Religion unheard and unknown.
5: . a Comp. ch. 37; Plin. Epist. x. 96.
- CHAPTER II. We are denied the rights of ordinary criminals, and the use of torture is most inconsistently employed in our case. The name alone of 'Christian' is made criminal.
6: . b See his letter to Trajan with the Emperor's reply translated in the Appendix.
7: . c Christo ut Deo. On the reading, see Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 57, ii. 533.
8: . d The allusion is to the tests to which in early days the Christians were subjected. The most usu[...]
- CHAPTER III. The blindness of your hatred over-reaches itself, and involuntarily eulogizes us.
9: . e Renan, Les Apôtres, p. 235, 'La pronunciation vulgaire, en effet, était chrestiani.' See Lightf[...]
- CHAPTER IV. 2. We propose to refute and retort every charge you bring against us; but first let us examine the nature of the laws under which we are condemned.
10: . f Suffundere maluit hominis sanguinem quam effundere.
- CHAPTER V. They are to be traced to an old decree, and to the rescripts of the worst emperors.
11: . g Cicero de legibus, ii. 8. 19, 'Let no one have gods apart, and let not men worship in private n[...]
12: . h This statement, for which Tertullian is the sole authority, is probably groundless.—See Merival[...]
13: . i See Lightfoot, Philippians, pp. 23 ff.
14: . j At the commencement of the next reign, A.D. 96.
15: . k Tertullian refers to the story of the "Thundering Legion" (Legio fulminata), of which the histo[...]
16: . l Tertullian was not acquainted with a persecution under this emperor referred to by Hilary of Po[...]
- CHAPTER VI. Your ancient decrees are perpetually being ignored by yourselves, both as regards personal and social questions, as well as religious restrictions.
17: . m On the luxury and extravagant living of the Romans, see Merivale, v. 85, 289 ff.
18: . n See Merivale, Hist. Rom., vi. 68.
19: . ° Chap. XIII.
- CHAPTER VII. II. i. We are accused of infamous secret atrocities,— infanticide, a feast of blood, and incest, although no proof has ever been forthcoming, and only rumour is responsible for the charge.
20: . p S. Matt. x. 36.
21: . q Vergil, Aen. iv. 174.
- CHAPTER IX. You yourselves are guilty of sacrificing children and adults in your worship of various deities, and of eating blood in several loathsome rites and horrible repasts. Your knowledge of our horror of eating blood is evidenced by the tests which you apply to us. Incest, too, is one of your commonest crimes.
22: . r Usque ad proconsulatum Tiberii. This Tiberius was probably a proconsul of Africa in the second [...]
23: . s Patriae nostrae : Codex Fuld. patris nostri, 'my father's own soldiers.'
24: . t Jupiter Latiari.
25: . u Herod, i. 74; iv. 70.
26: . x For the prohibition of blood under each dispensation, prae-Mosaic, Mosaic, and Christian, see G[...]
27: . y Levit. xxii. 8.
- CHAPTER X. II. i. We are accused of sacrilege and disloyalty. We shall prove that your gods are no gods; for they once were men.
28: . z The allusion is to the deification of the deceased emperors.
- CHAPTER XI. And no reasons exist for their subsequent deification, since their aid in Nature is, and always has been, unnecessary; while their gross immoralities would rather condemn them to Tartarus than exalt them to Heaven.
29: . a Cum multis. A better attested reading gives, cum vultis, 'when you like to admit the fact of fu[...]
- CHAPTER XII. Your gods are nothing but names of dead men, images made of the commonest materials, which you treat with the same indignities that you inflict upon us.
30: . b Lions and tigers. Caelestis, the national divinity of Africa, is represented on coins and gems [...]
- CHAPTER XIII. In fact, you act most sacrilegiously towards your deities, both private and public.
31: . c Chap. V.
32: . d Hastarium, perhaps 'auction-mart.' 'Hastarium est locus, ubi venditiones et locationes publicae[...]
33: . e Justin Martyr (Apol. i. 26, 56, pp. 19, 43, Lib. Fath., where see note) also mentions this stat[...]
- CHAPTER XIV. For you cheat them in your sacrifices, and mock them in your poetic and philosophic literature.
34: . f Homer.
- CHAPTER XV. You insult them in your burlesques and at your theatres.
35: . g Atys. Theocritus, x. 40; Arnob., iv. 35; v. 6.
36: . h Paris.
37: . i Catullus, Carm. lxiii.
- CHAPTER XVI. You hold grotesque views respecting our Deity. We neither worship an ass's head, nor the Cross, nor the sun, nor a biformed monstrosity, resembling some of your gods.
38: . k Tacit., Hist. v. 3, 4. See Merivale, Hist. Rom. vii. 216.
39: . l The irony of this passage will not be overlooked. A sarcastic tu quoque was quite sufficient to[...]
40: . m 'In every Roman camp there was a small chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues of t[...]
41: . n This custom was common to nearly all religions. Its natural symbolism, the east being the quart[...]
42: . o Saturn's day, which corresponded with the Jewish Sabbath, was considered by the superstitious R[...]
43: . p Read, in ista proxime civitate.
44: . q ONOKOITHS. Oehler prefers ONOKOIHTHS, asinarius sacerdos. But see Dict. Chr. Ant., i. 149; Lanc[...]
- CHAPTER XVII. We worship One God, the omnipotent and invisible Creator, to whom Nature and the human Soul bear witness.
45: . r i.e. 'order' or 'embellishment.'
46: . s In His gracious revelation of Himself through nature and the human conscience, and in His more [...]
47: . t This appeal to the instinct of humanity, evidenced by the innate voice of every man's conscienc[...]
- CHAPTER XVIII. And He hath given us a revelation of Himself through the Scriptures and the Prophets, whose writings are open to all.
48: . u Instrumentum : see Westcott, Canon of N. T., p. 253 (5th edit.).
49: . x Ptolemy II., B.C. 285—247.
50: . y The founder of the first public library at Athens. He flourished in the sixth century B.C. Aul.[...]
51: . z Josephus, Ant. Jud. xii. 2.
52: . a Six from each tribe. On this commencement of the LXX. version, which refers to the Law only, se[...]
53: . b i.e. with himself on the fundamental question of a Providence. Menedemus flourished in B.C. 350[...]
54: . c An officer of Philadelphia. The extant letter of his printed by Hody (Oxon. 1705) is not genuin[...]
55: . d Josephus, Bell. Jud. vii. 6. See Merivale, vii. 251.
- CHAPTER XIX. The antiquity of these writings ensures their trustworthiness, for they are more ancient than your oldest records.
56: . e This fragment has either been interpolated from the first draft or from a second edition of the[...]
57: . f Ps. xxxix. 5 f. Solon's interview with Croesus is narrated in Plutarch, Solon, 27; Herod., i. 3[...]
58: . g Read, omnia quae supersunt improbata, probata sunt nobis.
59: . h The text is very corrupt in this passage. Tertullian's meaning seems to be that the existence o[...]
- CHAPTER XXI. We worship the same God as the Jews, but, unlike them, we acknowledge Christ the Son of God to be God. He is the true Word, Who, begotten eternally by His Father, and being co-essential with Him, was made Flesh. The Jews misunderstood His Advent, His work, and His doctrine. They put Him to death, but He rose from the dead, as was predicted, and after forty days ascended into Heaven. Meanwhile His Gospel is spread throughout the world by His disciples.
60: . i i.e. circumcision.
61: . k Luke ix. 26; Rom. i. 16; 2 Tim. i. 8.
62: . l Tertullian states the difficulty as it would strike the heathen. 'You are not Jews,' a heathen [...]
63: . m Merivale, Hist. Rom., viii. 176 f; Just. Mart., Apol. i. 47 (Lib. Fath., p. 36).
64: . n John iv. 24.
65: . o Isaiah vii. 14.
66: . p Isaiah vi. 9 f.
67: . q Tertullian does not claim to have seen the record in the state papers : but, like Justin Mart.,[...]
- CHAPTER XXII. We with your philosophers assert the existence of demons, spiritual beings of malefic power, who falsely claim to be divine.
68: . r Not verbally, but implicitly, in the vulgar objurgation 'Malum!'
69: . s i.e. evil spirits, the agents of the Devil, as almost invariably in Tertullian : comp. de spect[...]
70: . t Gen. vi. 1 ff; where the expression 'Sons of God' was understood by many of the Fathers of the [...]
- CHAPTER XXIII. These daemons and your gods are identical, as their own confession when confronted by a Christian will prove. You may further learn from them Who is the True God. Our dominion over the daemons is derived from the power of Christ.
71: . u Deities specially worshipped at Carthage. Comp. ch. xii, xxiv.
- CHAPTER XXIV. Your charge of Sacrilege thus falls to the ground, for there can be no religious duties towards gods that have no existence. In any case, we claim the civil right of religious liberty, which you grant to every one but us.
72: . v There is some abruptness in the introduction of this simile, by which the relation of gods and [...]
73: . x Curitis.
- CHAPTER XXV. You claim that Roman prosperity is due to Roman piety. Yet your chief deities are foreigners, who once reigned on earth, and therefore must some time have worshipped your earliest deities. Besides, your elaborate piety is of later growth than your prosperity, which has in reality been advanced by your impieties.
74: . y Verg., Aen. i. 16.
75: . z Adolationes, probably a corruption of adorationes: adulationes, 'fawnings,' is the reading of s[...]
- CHAPTER XXVIII. 2. The same evil influence drives you to force us to sacrifice for the emperor's welfare. This we refuse to do, and therefore we are charged, secondly, with Disloyalty to Caesar.
76: . a See Merivale, Hist. Rom., vii. 375; Westcott, Epistles of S. John, 'The Two Empires.'
- CHAPTER XXIX. Yet the gods are Caesar's creatures, and cannot have his welfare in their keeping.
77: . b Religiosi, ironically. In these chapters which deal with the charge of Disloyalty, religiosus b[...]
- CHAPTER XXXI. And our prayers for him are no pretence, but part of our religious duty.
78: . c Matt. v. 44; i Cor. iv. 12; I Pet. iii. 9.
79: . d I Tim. ii. 2. Tertullian here, as often, cites loosely.
80: . e inquit: the ellipse may be Apostolus, as in de idol. 14; de coron. 13; or Dei vox (in litteris[...]
- CHAPTER XXXII. And rendered necessary by our belief that the continuance of the Roman Empire delays the end of the world.
81: . f S. Paul, in one of his earliest epistles (2 Thess. ii. 6), regarded the Roman Empire as the res[...]
82: . g Christians did not scruple to swear by Caesar's safety on necessary occasions, because that saf[...]
- CHAPTER XXXIII. We are much more truly loyal than you are; for we recognize the Divine will in the appointment of the Caesars, although we refuse to acknowledge the divinity of the Caesars themselves.
83: . h Comp. Isidor. Orig. xviii. 3. 6; Plin. H. N. xxviii. 4. 39; xxxiii. i. 11; Jerom., Ep. ad Paula[...]
- CHAPTER XXXIV. 'Lord' is no proper title of Caesar, but belongs to God.
84: . i Comp. ad Scap. 5; de idol. 18; de coron. 13. Personal freedom seemed to the Christian a natura[...]
85: . k adulatione : see ch. xxv.
86: . l religiosus : see ch. xxix.
- CHAPTER XXXV. We are called 'public enemies' because we refuse to join in your useless acts of worship and lewd festivities. The real traitors are always found amongst yourselves, whether of lower or higher rank.
87: . m Comp. Augustine, Conf. iii. 3; Inge, Social Life in Rome, p. 46.
88: . n The common people lived in the low-lying portion of the city, on the river banks.
89: . o i.e. the amphitheatre. For the expression comp. Min. Felix, 38, 'in gladiatoriis homicidii disc[...]
90: . p Comp. de spect. 25; Dion Cass. lxiii. 20; lxxii. 20; Aelian. Var. Hist. i. 32.
91: . q Avidius Cassius, a usurper in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 175. Merivale, Hist. Rom. viii[...]
92: . r Niger and Albinus, rivals of Severus, A.D. 193. Gibbon, i. 253 ff.
93: . s Popular sedition was excited against Commodus, A.D. 189, in consequence of the tyranny of Clean[...]
94: . t The strangulation of Commodus by the wrestler Narcissus. Gibbon, i. 234.
95: . u The assassination of Pertinax, A.D. 193, by the praetorian guards. — Gibbon, i. 239.
96: . v Parthenius and Sigerius were participators in the murder of Domitian, A.D. 69.—Merivale, vii. 4[...]
97: . x Partizans of Albinus in the West, A.D. 197; or of Niger in the East, a few years later.
- CHAPTER XXXVII. We are forbidden to retaliate, else we might easily take our revenge, either by secret means, or as of en enemies, or even by merely withdrawing from your midst, and leaving you defenceless against the attacks of the daemons.
98: . y Read, divina secta.
99: . z The Vindex of Christians is God, and their ultio is from Him; comp. ad Scap. 2; Lactant, de mor[...]
100: . a i.e. citizens who are really such, loyal subjects, contrasted with citizens who were really hos[...]
- CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Christian society ought to be recognized by the law, since it is a harmless and unambitious association.
101: . b See Gore, Christian Ministry, pp. 31 ff.
- CHAPTER XXXIX. III. i. The purposes of our assembly are pious, pure, and charitable. Our well-known love for each other is blamed, and our simple 'love-feast' denounced as extravagant.
102: . c Comp. Justin Mart., Apol. i. 65—67.
103: . d in compulsationibus : inculcationibus is a preferable reading.
104: . e See Dict. Chr. Ant., ii. 1586 ff. : Lib. Fath., Tert., pp. 377 ff.
105: . f In a treatise addressed to heathen, Tertullian naturally forbears to use the technical terms of[...]
106: . g 1 Cor. xii. 13.
107: . h convivatur : conviolatur is a better attested reading. 'If such was the action of your sages, w[...]
108: . i Matthew vii. 3.
109: . k The agape, then, was held in the evening; see note, p. 150.
- CHAPTER XL. 2. Our existence is supposed to provoke the anger of the gods and to be the cause of disaster to the empire. Yet such occurrences happened before the rise of Christianity. Your own gods, too, suffer in disasters which are supposed to come from them. The presence of the Christians in the world has tempered the violence of God's judgements.
110: . l Stetit: i.e. gives no rain.
- CHAPTER XLI. These judgements are attributable to your misdeeds.
111: . m Matt. xiii. 28—30, 49; xxv. 32.
112: . n Phil. i. 23. Cp. de Spect. 28, 'What other desire have we than the Apostle's, to depart from th[...]
- CHAPTER XLII. 3. We are accused of being worthless to trade, a charge sufficiently refuted by our habits of life.
113: . o The scrupulous honesty of the Christians in this particular, as in all others, is referred to b[...]
114: . p i.e. in the temple-revenues.
- CHAPTER XLIV. The real loss to the state involved in your injustice to us is overlooked.
115: . q i.e. of being Christians; the very name was criminal: see ch. 2.
116: . r Cp. ch. 46, 'they cease to be regarded as Christians among us:' i.e. they fall under the censur[...]
- CHAPTER XLV. Our ethical standard is far higher and more awe-inspiring than yours.
117: . s Ch. 19.
118: . t Diog. Laert. x. 140, 'Pain does not last continuously in the flesh, but the severest is present[...]
- CHAPTER XLVI. 4. Our sect is regarded as a school of philosophy, yet you refuse us the licence you grant to philosophers. In reality, we differ from the philosophers both in the extent and definiteness of our knowledge, and in our moral standard.
119: . u qua et illusores et contemptores. Mimice, &c. So most edd. The MSS. read Quam inlusores et corr[...]
120: . x i.e. while Christian knowledge is certain, philosophers only speculate; and while the Christian[...]
121: . y Plato, Tim. 9, to_n me\n ou]n poihth_n lai\ pate/ra tou~de tou~ panto_j eu9rei~n te e1rgon, kai[...]
122: . z rerum. Neander suggests deorum, which would preserve the parallelism (Antignosticus, Bohn, ii. [...]
- CHAPTER XLVII. Philosophers have derived their wisdom from our Scriptures, which they have distorted, and they have vainly speculated on subjects not revealed. Heretics similarly have corrupted the New Testament. Many of our doctrines have been anticipatorily counterfeited by the agency of evil spirits.
123: . a This was the belief of the Epicuraeans, not of the Stoics, whose tenets were pantheistic.
124: . b Tertullian parenthetically indicates here the true method of defence against the attacks of her[...]
- CHAPTER XLVIII. The philosophical speculation on the transmigration of souls is admitted, but our doctrine of the resurrection of the body scouted, and the mystery of our present existence forbids a hasty rejection of our belief respecting the future, though Nature illustrates it. On this subject revelation must suffice.
125: . c caestibus : So Rig. and Haverc. Oehler prefers coetibus, and explains, 'they will not even give[...]
126: . d Tertullian first shews that a human soul must return into a human (not an animal) body; and the[...]
127: . e The Delphic inscription, 'Know Thyself.' Plin. N. H. vii. 32. 119.
- CHAPTER L. Our sufferings are our triumph. Our endurance in your view redounds to our discredit; the fortitude of others to their honour. You may gain popularity by your injustice, but our sufferings and practical example continually attract new converts.
128: . f On these flagellations (diamasti/gwsij), see Plutarch, de Lac. Inst. 4. They were connected with[...]
129: . g ad lenonem potius quam ad leonem.
130: . h Semen est sanguis Christianorum. Comp, ch. 21.
131: . a See a full discussion of this correspondence in Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 50 ff. Comp. Merivale, [...]
132: . b Dating their apostasy, perhaps, from Domitian's persecution in A. D. 95.
133: . c Sunday. Comp. Justin Mart., Apol. i. 67, 'On the day called Sunday, there is an assembly in the[...]
134: . d secum invicem.
135: . e Sacramento : see Lighfoot's note.
136: . f See Plin. Epist. x. 35, 36. Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 19 f. It appears that the agape was alread[...]
137: . g Ministrae : see Lightfoot's note.
138: . h This witness to the innocence and purity of the lives of the early Christians,—borne, be it rem[...]
139: . i Passimque venire victimas. See Lightfoot, who reads, pastumque venire victimarum, 'there is a s[...]
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