ANTIGNOSTIKUS;

OR

THE SPIRIT OF TERTULLIAN,

AND

An Introduction to his Writings:

A MONOGRAPH DESIGNED TO BE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND MORALS IN THE FIRST AGES.

BY

DR. AUGUSTUS NEANDER.

Veritas non in superficie est, sed in medulla et plerumque semula manifestis.-TERTULLIAN.

TRANSLATEd from the SECOND EDITION (Berlin 1849) OF THE ORIGINAL GERMAN.

DEDICATION.

To my dear Friend,

DR. JULIUS MÜLLER, OF HALLE

Ir gives me pleasure to dedicate my works, as they appear to those persons who are peculiarly dear to me; and openly to express, in times so strongly tending to isolate and divide, the consciousness of cordial fellowship in mind and heart with those whom I know to be one with myself, not merely on the ground of our common Christianity, but in their theological principles; and there is no one to whom I believe that I stand so near in this respect as yourself, my muchloved friend. May a gracious God enable us to maintain this unity, and by the purifying influences of his Spirit, may it become more decided and more refined. I thank Him with all my heart, that he has preserved you for ourselves and his militant church, amidst the ravages of that epidemic which has been so threatening in your city, a representative of the true via media, so much required in these difficult, distracted times. May He preserve you still by his guardian providence, and strengthen you in soul and body, that you may long act as a living pattern and a wise guide to our beloved youth, even after we who are more advanced in life

VOL. II.

are called away. May you, as hitherto, be enabled to exemplify, both by word of mouth and by your writings, the harmony and consistency of child-like, humble Christianity, with sound philosophy and true liberty of thought; to warn from the abyss of all-devouring unbelief, and from the bondage of human opinions, whether novel, or old ones revived; to contend for the preservation of that genuine freedom in heart and mind which Christ has gained for us; and to exemplify for our guidance the humility of faith and knowledge, combined with simplicity in disposition, thought, and language. I name those qualities in you which, in relation to the manifold errors of our times, I esteem most precious, and which appear to me peculiarly important and salutary for the education and guidance of our youth; although I am as sensible as you can be, that man is not to be the object of eulogy and homage, but that in know.... ledge and practice we all are, and ever shall be before God, beggars and poor sinners.

Most cordially yours,

BERLIN, 1st July, 1840.

A. NEANDER.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

As the diseased state of my eyesight continues to be such that I am obliged to make use of the eyes of others, and have thus been prevented from carrying on my Church History as vigorously as I could have wished, my attention has been turned to the progressive perfection of works that have long since appeared,-a labour which I could more easily accomplish by means of such aid. Taking into consideration the important place occupied by Tertullian in the development of the Western Church—and of Christianity as exhibited in that church; and generally, the rank this father holds among the original minds of all ages; and moreover, the peculiar interest I have always taken in the strongly marked peculiarities of this distinguished man;- -on all these accounts I have felt very desirous that a labour of love, which was undertaken four-and-twenty years ago, should not remain before the public with all its defects in substance and form, or, on account of them, sink into oblivion. Though some copies of the first edition remain still unsold, yet my publisher, zealous for the interest of literature, was equally ready to gratify my wish that this work should appear in a new and more complete form.

There was a time of darkness, self-called enlightenment, which, in the contraction and obscurity of unconscious mental poverty, looked down with an air of pity on the greatness of earlier ages; it could not understand so striking a phenomenon as that of the new world of Christianity revealing itself to this man of rugged, wayward spirit, and fancied that by taking some paradoxical expressions of this eminent father