Tertullian: Part Fourth.

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(English) · Translated by ANF/NPNF editors

Contents 152 sections

Title Page.Front matter
Time Changes Nations' Dresses--and Fortunes.
The Law of Change, or Mutation, Universal.
Beasts Similarly Subject to the Law of Mutation.
Change Not Always Improvement.
Virtues of the Mantle. It Pleads in Its Own Defence.
Further Distinctions, and Crowning Glory, of the Pallium.
Elucidations
Introduction. Modesty in Apparel Becoming to Women, in Memory of the Introduction of Sin into the World Through a Woman.
The Origin of Female Ornamentation, Traced Back to the Angels Who Had Fallen.
Concerning the Genuineness of “The Prophecy of Enoch.”
Waiving the Question of the Authors, Tertullian Proposes to Consider the Things on Their Own Merits.
Gold and Silver Not Superior in Origin or in Utility to Other Metals.
Of Precious Stones and Pearls.
Rarity the Only Cause Which Makes Such Things Valuable.
The Same Rule Holds with Regard to Colours. God's Creatures Generally Not to Be Used, Except for the Purposes to Which He Has Appointed Them.
God's Distribution Must Regulate Our Desires, Otherwise We Become the Prey of Ambition and Its Attendant Evils.
Introduction. Modesty to Be Observed Not Only in Its Essence, But in Its Accessories.
Perfect Modesty Will Abstain from Whatever Tends to Sin, as Well as from Sin Itself. Difference Between Trust and Presumption. If Secure Ourselves, We Must Not Put Temptation in the Way of Others. We Must Love Our Neighbour as Ourself.
Grant that Beauty Be Not to Be Feared: Still It is to Be Shunned as Unnecessary and Vainglorious.
Concerning the Plea of “Pleasing the Husband.”
Some Refinements in Dress and Personal Appearance Lawful, Some Unlawful. Pigments Come Under the Latter Head.
Of Dyeing the Hair.
Of Elaborate Dressing of the Hair in Other Ways, and Its Bearing Upon Salvation.
Men Not Excluded from These Remarks on Personal Adornment.
Excess in Dress, as Well as in Personal Culture, to Be Shunned. Arguments Drawn from I Cor. VII.
Tertullian Refers Again to the Question of the Origin of All These Ornaments and Embellishments.
Christian Women, Further, Have Not the Same Causes for Appearing in Public, and Hence for Dressing in Fine Array as Gentiles. On the Contrary, Their Appearance Should Always Distinguish Them from Such.
Such Outward Adornments Meretricious, and Therefore Unsuitable to Modest Women.
It is Not Enough that God Know Us to Be Chaste: We Must Seem So Before Men. Especially in These Times of Persecution We Must Inure Our Bodies to the Hardships Which They May Not Improbably Be Called to Suffer.
Elucidation.
Truth Rather to Be Appealed to Than Custom, and Truth Progressive in Its Developments.
Before Proceeding Farther, Let the Question of Custom Itself Be Sifted.
Gradual Development of Custom, and Its Results. Passionate Appeal to Truth.
Of the Argument Drawn from 1 Cor. XI. 5-16.
Of the Word Woman, Especially in Connection with Its Application to Eve.
The Parallel Case of Mary Considered.
Of the Reasons Assigned by the Apostle for Bidding Women to Be Veiled.
The Argument E Contrario.
Veiling Consistent with the Other Rules of Discipline Observed by Virgins and Women in General.
If the Female Virgins are to Be Thus Conspicuous, Why Not the Male as Well?
The Rule of Veiling Not Applicable to Children.
Womanhood Self-Evident, and Not to Be Concealed by Just Leaving the Head Bare.
If Unveiling Be Proper, Why Not Practise It Always, Out of the Church as Well as in It?
Perils to the Virgins Themselves Attendant Upon Not-Veiling.
Of Fascination.
Tertullian, Having Shown His Defence to Be Consistent with Scripture, Nature, and Discipline, Appeals to the Virgins Themselves.
An Appeal to the Married Women.
Elucidations.
Design of the Treatise. Disavowal of Personal Motives in Writing It.
Marriage Lawful, But Not Polygamy.
Marriage Good: Celibacy Preferable.
Of the Infirmity of the Flesh, and Similar Pleas.
Of the Love of Offspring as a Plea for Marriage.
Examples of Heathens Urged as Commendatory of Widowhood and Celibacy.
The Death of a Husband is God's Call to the Widow to Continence. Further Evidences from Scripture and from Heathenism.
Conclusion.
Reasons Which Led to the Writing of This Second Book.
Of the Apostle's Meaning in 1 Cor. VII. 12-14.
Remarks on Some of the “Dangers and Wounds” Referred to in the Preceding Chapter.
Of the Hindrances Which an Unbelieving Husband Puts in His Wife's Way.
Of Sin and Danger Incurred Even with a “Tolerant” Husband.
Danger of Having to Take Part in Heathenish Rites, and Revels.
The Case of a Heathen Whose Wife is Converted After Marriage with Him Very Different, and Much More Hopeful.
Arguments Drawn Even from Heathenish Laws to Discountenance Marriage with Unbelievers. The Happiness of Union Between Partners in the Faith Enlarged on in Conclusion.
Elucidation.
Introduction. Virginity Classified Under Three Several Species.
The Blame of Our Misdeeds Not to Be Cast Upon God. The One Power Which Rests with Man is the Power of Volition.
Of Indulgence and Pure Volition. The Question Illustrated.
Further Remarks Upon the Apostle's Language.
Unity of Marriage Taught by Its First Institution, and by the Apostle's Application of that Primal Type to Christ and the Church.
The Objection from the Polygamy of the Patriarchs Answered.
Even the Old Discipline Was Not Without Precedents to Enforce Monogamy. But in This as in Other Respects, the New Has Brought in a Higher Perfection.
If It Be Granted that Second Marriage is Lawful, Yet All Things Lawful are Not Expedient.
Second Marriage a Species of Adultery, Marriage Itself Impugned, as Akin to Adultery.
Application of the Subject. Advantages of Widowhood.
The More the Wives, the Greater the Distraction of the Spirit.
Excuses Commonly Urged in Defence of Second Marriage. Their Futility, Especially in the Case of Christians, Pointed Out.
Examples from Among the Heathen, as Well as from the Church, to Enforce the Foregoing Exhortation.
Elucidation.
Different Views in Regard to Marriage Held by Heretics, Psychic, and Spiritualists.
The Spiritualists Vindicated from the Charge of Novelty.
The Question of Novelty Further Considered in Connection with the Words of the Lord and His Apostles.
Waiving Allusion to the Paraclete, Tertullian Comes to the Consideration of the Ancient Scriptures, and Their Testimony on the Subject in Hand.
Connection of These Primeval Testimonies with Christ.
The Case of Abraham, and Its Bearing on the Present Question.
From Patriarchal, Tertullian Comes to Legal, Precedents.
From the Law Tertullian Comes to the Gospel. He Begins with Examples Before Proceeding to Dogmas.
From Examples Tertullian Passes to Direct Dogmatic Teachings. He Begins with the Lord's Teaching.
St. Paul's Teaching on the Subject.
Further Remarks Upon St. Paul's Teaching.
The Explanation of the Passage Offered by the Psychics Considered.
Further Objections from St. Paul Answered.
Even If the Permission Had Been Given by St. Paul in the Sense Which the Psychics Allege, It Was Merely Like the Mosaic Permission of Divorce--A Condescension to Human Hard-Heartedness.
Unfairness of Charging the Disciples of the New Prophecy with Harshness. The Charge Rather to Be Retorted Upon the Psychics.
Weakness of the Pleas Urged in Defence of Second Marriage.
Heathen Examples Cry Shame Upon This “Infirmity of the Flesh.”
Elucidations.
Chapter I
God Just as Well as Merciful; Accordingly, Mercy Must Not Be Indiscriminate.
An Objection Anticipated Before the Discussion Above Promised is Commenced.
Adultery and Fornication Synonymous.
Of the Prohibition of Adultery in the Decalogue.
Examples of Such Offences Under the Old Dispensation No Pattern for the Disciples of the New. But Even the Old Has Examples of Vengeance Upon Such Offences.
Of the Parables of the Lost Ewe and the Lost Drachma.
Of the Prodigal Son.
Certain General Principles of Parabolic Interpretation. These Applied to the Parables Now Under Consideration, Especially to that of the Prodigal Son.
Repentance More Competent to Heathens Than to Christians.
From Parables Tertullian Comes to Consider Definite Acts of the Lord.
Of the Verdict of the Apostles, Assembled in Council, Upon the Subject of Adultery.
Of St. Paul, and the Person Whom He Urges the Corinthians to Forgive.
Section 112 — The Same Subject Continued.
Section 113 — The Same Subject Continued.
General Consistency of the Apostle.
Consistency of the Apostle in His Other Epistles.
Answer to a Psychical Objection.
Objections from the Revelation and the First Epistle of St. John Refuted.
From Apostolic Teaching Tertullian Turns to that of Companions of the Apostles, and of the Law.
Of the Difference Between Discipline and Power, and of the Power of the Keys.
Of Martyrs, and Their Intercession on Behalf of Scandalous Offenders.
Elucidations.
Connection of Gluttony and Lust. Grounds of Psychical Objections Against the Montanists.
Arguments of the Psychics, Drawn from the Law, the Gospel, the Acts, the Epistles, and Heathenish Practices.
The Principle of Fasting Traced Back to Its Earliest Source.
The Objection is Raised, Why, Then, Was the Limit of Lawful Food Extended After the Flood? The Answer to It.
Proceeding to the History of Israel, Tertullian Shows that Appetite Was as Conspicuous Among Their Sins as in Adam's Case. Therefore the Restraints of the Levitical Law Were Imposed.
The Physical Tendencies of Fasting and Feeding Considered. The Cases of Moses and Elijah.
Further Examples from the Old Testament in Favour of Fasting.
Examples of a Similar Kind from the New.
From Fasts Absolute Tertullian Comes to Partial Ones and Xerophagies.
Of Stations, and of the Hours of Prayer.
Of the Respect Due to “Human Authority;” And of the Charges of “Heresy” And “Pseudo-Prophecy.”
Of the Need for Some Protest Against the Psychics and Their Self-Indulgence.
Of the Inconsistencies of the Psychics.
Reply to the Charge of “Galaticism.“
Of the Apostle's Language Concerning Food.
Instances from Scripture of Divine Judgments Upon the Self-Indulgent; And Appeals to the Practices of Heathens.
Conclusion.
Elucidations.
De Fuga in Persecutione.
Elucidations.
A Strain of Jonah the Prophet.
A Strain of Sodom.
Genesis.
A Strain of the Judgment of the Lord.
Of the Divine Unity, and the Resurrection of the Flesh.
Of the Harmony of the Old and New Laws.
Of the Harmony of the Fathers of the Old and New Testaments.
Of Marcion's Antitheses.
General Reply to Sundry of Marcion's Heresies.
Note.
Elucidations.

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