Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:57:58.136Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - The beginnings of Latin Christian literature

from A - LITERARY GUIDE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Ronald Heine
Edited by
Frances Young ,
Lewis Ayres  and
Andrew Louth
Assisted by
Augustine Casiday
Frances Young
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Lewis Ayres
Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
Andrew Louth
Affiliation:
University of Durham
Augustine Casiday
Affiliation:
University of Durham
Get access

Summary

The precise date and exact provenance of the emergence of Latin Christian literature are obscure. It seems to have appeared first in North Africa. Roman Christian literature is in Greek up to the time of Hippolytus in the mid-third century. Tertullian dominates the discussion because of the number of his extant treatises. He did not, however, like Athene, spring forth fully grown from the head of Zeus, armed and shouting his battle cry. There was a Latin Christian literature before him. Unfortunately, we cannot say how extensive this literature was, because its remains are so meagre.

The first Latin Christian literature appears to have been translations of portions of the Bible. These translations have not been preserved, but are posited from traces left in the biblical citations of Tertullian and Cyprian in North Africa, and Novatian in Rome. A distinction is made between ‘North African’ and ‘European’ translations on the basis of differences which appear in the authors from the respective locales. The earliest reference to such translations is in the Latin Acts of the martyrs of Scilli in North Africa (AD 180) where it is stated that the martyrs had copies of ‘books, and letters of Paul’. The former were probably copies of the Gospels. It is assumed that these books and letters would have been in Latin.

Keywords

CarthageChristianityBiblebaptismLatin Christian literatureTertullian
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature , pp. 131 - 141
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, K. M. ‘Commodian and His Verse’, in Classical Studies Presented to Ben Edwin Perry, Illinois Studies in Language and Literature 58 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1969).Google Scholar
Ann Rossi, Mary ‘Priesthood, Precedent and Prejudice’, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 7 (Spring 1991).Google Scholar
Bardy, G. Paulde Samosate, Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense études et documents, 4 (Louvain: Spicilegium sacrum bureaux, 1923).Google Scholar
Barnes, T. D. ‘Tertullian’s Scorpiace’, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 20 (1969).Google Scholar
Barnes, T. D. Tertullian. A Historical and Literary Study (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, 1985).
Beck, Alexander, Römisches Recht bei Tertullian und Cyprian (Halle: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1930).
Bray, G. L. Holiness and the Will of God: Perspectives on the Theology of Tertullian (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1979).
Brown, Peter Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992).
Burton, Philip, The Old Latin Gospels (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Burton, Philip The Old Latin Gospels (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000).
Carroll, S. T. ‘An Early Church Sermon Against Gambling’, Second Century 8 (1991).Google Scholar
Carroll, S. T. ‘Chronica Tertullianea’, an annual annotated bibliography appearing in Revue des Études Augustiniennes since 1976 (from 1986 entitled ‘Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea’).Google Scholar
Chadwick, H. ‘Philo and the Beginning of Christian Thought’, in Armstrong, A. H., ed., The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967).Google Scholar
Cooper, Kate The Virgin and the Bride (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).
Countryman, L. ‘Tertullian and the Regula Fidei’, Second Century 2 (1982).Google Scholar
Cox, P. Biography in Late Antiquity, Transformation of the Classical Heritage 5 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983).
Daly, C. B. Tertullian the Puritan and His Influence (Dublin, Blackrock: Four Courts Press, 1993).
Daniélou, J. ‘La littérature latine avant Tertullien’, Revue des Études Latines 48 (1970).Google Scholar
de Riedmatten, H. Les actes du procès de Paul de Samosate, Paradosis 6 (Fribourg: Éditions St-Paul, 1952).Google Scholar
Dixon, Suzanne The Roman Mother (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988).
Eisen, Ute E. Arztsträgerinnen im frühen Christentum (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996).
Evans, E. Tertullian’s Treatise Against Praxeas (London: SPCK, 1948).
Ferguson, E. ‘Canon Muratori: Date and Provenance,’ Studia Patristica 18 (1982).Google Scholar
Fredouille, J.-C. Tertullien et la conversion de la culture antique (Paris: Études augustiniennes, 1972).
Fredouille, J.-C. ed., Tertullien, Contre les Valentiniens, I, Sources chrétiennes 280 (1980).Google Scholar
Hadot, I. ‘Les introductions aux commentaires exégétiques chez les auteurs néoplatoniciens et les auteurs Chrétiens’, in Tardieu, M., ed., Les règles de l’interprétation (Paris: Cerf, 1987).Google Scholar
Hagemann, H. Die Römische Kirche (Freiburg: Herder, 1864).
Hahneman, G. M. The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).
Hallett, Judith Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984).
Havelock, E. Preface to Plato (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1963).
Heck, E., ‘Minucius Felix und der Röomische Staat’, VigChr 38 (1984),Google Scholar
Heine, R. E. The Montanist Oracles and Testimonia, Patristic Monograph Series 14 (Macon, GA: The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation Ltd, 1989).Google Scholar
Heine, R. E. ‘The Christology of Callistus’, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 49 (1998).Google Scholar
Herrmann, Elisabeth Ecclesia in Re Publica (Frankfurt: Peter D. Lang, 1980).
Jo Torjesen, Karen When Women Were Priests (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995).
Klauser, Theodore ‘Bischöfe als staatliche Prokuratoren im dritten Jahrhundert?’ Jahrbuch fur Antike und Christentum, Jahrgang 14 (1971).Google Scholar
Lamberton, R. Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the Growth of the Epic Tradition, Transformation of the Classical Heritage 9 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).
Loofs, F. Paulus von Samosata, Texte und Untersuchungen 44.5 (1924).
Lyman, J. R. Christology and Cosmology, Oxford Theological Monographs (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993).Google Scholar
McGowan, A. Ascetic Eucharists. Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999).
Micaelli, C. and Munider, C., eds, Tertullien, La Pudicité, Sources chrétiennes 394 (1993).
Millar, F. ‘Paul of Samosata, Zenobia and Aurelian: The Church, Local Culture and Political Allegiance in Third-Century Syria’, Journal of Roman Studies 61 (1971).Google Scholar
Moingt, J. Théologie trinitaire de Tertullien, Théologie 68–70, 75 (Paris: Aubier, 1966–9).Google Scholar
Nautin, P. Lettres et écrivains Chrétiens des IIe et IIIe siècles (Paris, 1961).
Nautin, P. Hippolyte, Contre les hérésies: fragment, étude, et édition critique (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1949).
Norris, F. W. ‘Paul of Samosata: Procurator Ducenarius’s, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 34 (1984).Google Scholar
O’Malley, T. P. Tertullian and the Bible (Nijmegen-Utrecht: Dekker & Van de Vegt, 1967).
Orbán, A. P. ‘Die Frage der ersten Zeugnisse des Christenlateins’, Vigiliae Christianae 30 (1976).Google Scholar
Osborn, E. Tertullian: First Theologian of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
Otranto, Giorgio ‘Note sul sacerdozio femminile nell’ antichità in margine a una testimonianze di Gelasio’, Vetera Christianorum 19 (1982).Google Scholar
Perkins, Judith The Suffering Self (New York: Routledge, 1995).
Pollard, T. E. Johannine Christology and the Early Church (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970).
Quispel, G. ‘African Christianity before Minucius Felix and Tertullian’, in Boeft, J. and Kessels, A. H. M., eds, Actus (Utrecht Instituut voor Klassieke Talen, 1982).Google Scholar
Rankin, D. Tertullian and the Church (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).
Richlin, Amy ‘Carrying Water in a Sieve: Class and Body in Roman Women’s Religion’, King, Karen, in ed., Women and Goddesses (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997).Google Scholar
Rives, J. B. Religion and Authority in Ancient Carthage (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
Sample, R. L. ‘The Messiah as Prophet: The Christology of Paul of Samosata’, Northwestern University, dissertation, 1977.Google Scholar
Sider, R. D. Ancient Rhetoric and the Art of Tertullian (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).
Sider, R. D. ‘On Symmetrical Composition in Tertullian’, Journal of Theological Studies n.s. 24 (1973).Google Scholar
Sider, R. D. ‘Approaches to Tertullian: A Study of Recent Scholarship’, Second Century 2 (1982).Google Scholar
Smith, A. Porphyry’s Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1974).
Steiner, H. Das Verhältnis Tertullians zur antiken Paideia EOS-Verlag, (St. Ottilien: 1989).
Sundberg, A. C. Jr, ‘Canon Muratori: A Fourth-Century List’, Harvard Theological Review 66 (1973).Google Scholar
Vogel, C. J., ‘Platonism and Christianity: A Mere Antagonism or a Profound Common Ground?’ VigChr 39 (1985),Google Scholar
Walzer, R. Galen on Jews and Christians (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949).
Waszink, J. C. ‘Observations on Tertullian’s Treatise against Hermogenes’, Vigiliae Christianae 9 (1955).Google Scholar
Waszink, J. C. ‘Tertullian’s Principles and Methods of Exegesis’, in Schoedel, W. R. and Wilken, R. L., eds, Early Christian Literature and the Classical Intellectual Tradition, Théologie Historique 54 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1979).Google Scholar
Widdicombe, P. The Fatherhood of God from Origen to Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).Google Scholar
Williams, R. ‘Does It Make Sense To Speak of Pre-Nicene Orthodoxy?’, Williams, R., ed., The Making of Orthodoxy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×