35+ Tertullian Quotes To Inspire Your Faith

Moumita Dutta
Dec 12, 2023 By Moumita Dutta
Originally Published on Jan 31, 2021
Edited by Isobel Murphy
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Read time: 6.7 Min

Tertullian was an early Catholic preacher, author and teacher from Carthage, known as the Father of Latin Christianity.

Tertullian displayed a certain hostility towards philosophy. He thought that philosophy and Christianity were two different spheres.

Hailed as the first Christian author to have written corpus on Latin Christian books, his Christian teachings and preachings earned him the title of the Father of Latin Christianity. He was also called the founder of Western Theology.

Though a lot of his views were regressive and conservative in nature his theological ideas were very advanced, even in those times. This great Christian teacher and author, however wasn't given the title of Saint by either set of Western or Eastern Christian churches.

We have gathered some inspiring Tertullian quotes for you here, if you like these Tertullian quotes, please also check out these worship quotes and Tim Keller quotes.

The Best Tertullian Quotes

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Listed below are some of the best Tertullian quotes, along with Tertullian trinity quotes. The first quote in this list is a famous quote about martyrdom that is credited to Tertullian.

1."The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

- Tertullian.

2. "We worship unity in trinity, and trinity in unity; neither confounding the person nor dividing the substance."

- Tertullian.

3. "He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies."

- Tertullian.

4. "Two kinds of blindness are easily combined so that those who do not see really appear to see what is not."

- Tertullian.

5. "You can judge the quality of their faith from the way they behave. Discipline is an index to doctrine."

- Tertullian.

6. "See, they say, how they love one another, for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death."

- Tertullian.

7. "We multiply whenever we are mown down by you; the blood of Christians is seed."

- Tertullian.

8. "For it is really better for us not to know a thing, because [God] has not revealed it to us, than to know it according to man’s wisdom, because he has been bold enough to assume it."

- Tertullian.

9. "There is no agreement between the divine and the human sacrament, the standard of Christ and the standard of the devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness."

- Tertullian.

Inspiring Quotes From Tertullian

A lot of Tertullian quotes were inspiring and here is a small glimpse of that. Which of these Tertullian quotes inspires you the most?

10. "Men remain in ignorance as long as they hate, and they hate unjustly as long as they remain in ignorance."

- Tertullian.

11. "Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."

- Tertullian.

12. "You cannot parcel out freedom in pieces because freedom is all or nothing."

- Tertullian.

13. "Indeed it is better to postpone, lest either we complete too little by hurrying, or wander too long in completing it."

- Tertullian.

14. "We are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all the places that belong to you — cities, islands, forts, towns, exchanges; the military camps themselves, tribes, town councils, the palace, the senate, the market-place; we have left you nothing but your temples."

- Tertullian.

15. "He is a man, who is to be a man; the fruit is always present in the seed."

- Tertullian.

16. "Man is one name belonging to every nation upon earth. In them all is one soul though many tongues. Every country has its own language, yet the subjects of which the untutored soul speaks are the same everywhere."

- Tertullian.

17. "Truth engenders hatred of truth. As soon as it appears, it is the enemy."

- Tertullian.

18. "It is our care for the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of those who oppose us."

- Tertullian.

19. "A taint on our purity is considered among us something more terrible than any punishment and any death."

- Tertullian.

20. "Wide are men’s inquiries into uncertainties; wider still are their disputes about conjectures."

- Tertullian.

Tertullian Quotes On God

Tertullian was an avid preacher of the Christian faith, and here are his best quotes on God.

21. "If the Tiber rises, if the Nile does not rise, if the heavens give no rain, if there is an earthquake, famine, or pestilence, straightway the cry is 'The Christians to the lion!' So many to one?"

- Tertullian.

22. "God the Father's a deep root; the Son's the shoot that breaks into the world; the Spirit spreads the beauty & fragrance"

- Tertullian.

23. "There are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit that appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, perform many cures, and foresee certain events."

- Tertullian.

24. "The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause both of our ancient beginning, for lie was in God, and of our well-being. And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source of all our good things"

- Tertullian.

25. "The Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed because it is absurd. And he was buried and rose again; the fact is certain, because it is impossible."

- Tertullian.

26. "The Lord challenges us to suffer persecutions and to confess Him. He wants those who belong to him to be brave and fearless. He himself shows how weakness of the flesh is overcome by courage of the Spirit... A Christian is fearless."

- Tertullian.

27. "Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is unclean all the while that it remains without this regeneration; and because unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh with its own shame."

- Tertullian.

28. "Let the emperor make war on heaven; let him lead heaven captive in his triumph; let him put guards on heaven; let him impose taxes on heaven! He cannot... He gets his sceptre where he first got his humanity; his power where he got the breath of life."

- Tertullian.

29. "Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, brings travellers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, overrules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm."

- Tertullian.

30. "Why lean upon a blind guide, if you have eyes of your own? Why be clothed by one who is naked, if you have put on Christ? Why use the shield of another, when the apostle gives you armour of your own?"

- Tertullian.

31. "Illustrious confessors of Jesus Christ, a Christian finds in prison the same joys as the prophets tasted in the desert. Call it not a dungeon, but a solitude. When the soul is in heaven, the body feels not the weight of fetters; it carries the whole man along with it."

- Tertullian.

32. "Reason, in fact, is a thing of God, inasmuch as there is nothing which God the Maker of all has not provided, disposed, ordained by reason — nothing which He has not willed should be handled and understood by reason."

- Tertullian.

33. "The flesh feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ that the soul may be fattened on God."

- Tertullian.

34. "You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest."

- Tertullian.

35. "Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God."

- Tertullian.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Tertullian quotes from the first author named the Father of Latin Christianity, then why not take a look at these [Teilhard de Chardin quotes], or these trust God quotes for more Christian quotes?

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Written by Moumita Dutta

Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management

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Moumita DuttaBachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management

A content writer and editor with a passion for sports, Moumita has honed her skills in producing compelling match reports and stories about sporting heroes. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University, alongside a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management.

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