Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Tertullian

Quote by Tertullian

“If we refuse our homage to statues and frigid images, the very counterpart of their dead originals, with which hawks, and mice, and spiders are so well acquainted, does it not merit praise instead of penalty [Christians were punished for not worshiping Roman gods] that we have rejected what we have come to see is error? We cannot surely be made out to injure those whom we are certain are nonentities. What does not exist is in its nonexistence secure from suffering.”

Quote by Tertullian

Create image

Author

Tertullian
Tertullian

Tertullian, born around 160 and died around 220, was a prominent Christian theologian, philosopher, and author during the Roman Empire. His works had a profound impact on the development of Christian theology, especially his writings such as 'Apology' and 'On the Resurrection', which are still widely studied today. more

You May Also Like

“Enoch predicted that "the demons and the spirits of the angelic apostates would turn into idolatry all the elements, all the adornment of the universe, and all things contained in the heaven, the sea, and the earth, that they might be consecrated as God in opposition to God." All things, therefore, does human error worship, except the Founder of all himself. The images of those things are idols; the consecration of the images is idolatry.”

HumansDoeMightEarthSpiritTurnsUniverseHeavenReligiousSeaElementsWorshipAll ThingsErrorsDemonOppositionIdolsFoundersIdolatryAngelicConsecrationAdornmentHuman Error
Author:Tertullian
Create image

“Offerings to propitiate the dead then were regarded as belonging to the class of funeral sacrifices, and these are idolatry. Idolatry, in fact, is a sort of homage to the departed, the one as well as the other is a service to dead men. Moreover, demons dwell in the images of the dead. ... this sort of exhibition has passed from honors of the dead to honors of the living; I mean, to quaestorships [financial overseers]and magistractes, to priestly offices of different kinds. Yet, since idolatry still cleaves to the dignity's name, whatever is done in its name partakes of its impurity.”

MenWellsKindMeanStillsDifferentDoneFactsNamesReligiousClassSacrificeHonorOfficeDignityFinancialDemonBelongingFuneralDifferent KindsOfferingIdolatryHomageDead ManExhibitionsDepartedImpurity
Author:Tertullian
Create image

“Among many other weighty objections to the Measure, it has been suggested, that it has a tendency to introduce religious disputes into the Army, which above all things should be avoided, and in many instances would compel men to a mode of Worship which they do not profess.”

MenShouldHas BeensReligiousAtheismWorshipAll ThingsArmyTendenciesInstanceIntroducingDisputesAvoidedObjections
Book:Official Letters to the Honorable American Congress,: Written, During the War Between the United Colonies and Great Britain, by His Excellency, George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Forces, Now President of the United States
Create image

“Government being, among other purposes, instituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the duty of Rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their stations, to prevent it in others.”

MenGovernmentPurposeAtheismDutyProtectConscienceOppressionStationsRulers
Book:The Writings of George Washington: Being His Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and Other Papers, Official and Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts; with a Life of the Author, Notes, and Illustrations
Create image