Tertullian, Father of Western Christianity’s “Answer to the Jews”

Tertullian (ca. 155–ca. 220) is considered one of the founders of western Christianity. Living in Carthage (modern day Tunisia), Tertullian was a prolific author who produced, among other writings, many treatises of Christian apologetics, i.e., the defense of Christianity against critical claims, and the first to write Christian theology in Latin.

The fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people from its land, convinced Christian leaders that Christians had replaced Jews in God’s plans.^[1] And yet, in late Antiquity, Judaism was still around and showed no signs of disappearing or of complete merging with the new Christian faith. This left Christian theologians with little choice but to construct a new role for the Jews in their narrative. One way Christian authors did this was by addressing Jews—real or imagined—polemicizing with them in their writings.

The first treatise of this type was the Dialogue with Trypho, written in Greek by Justin Martyr (ca. 100–ca. 165), which presents an exchange between Christian Justin and Jewish Trypho when they cross paths in Ephesus (in modern day western Turkey).^[2] Tertullian’s Adversus Iudaeos, “An Answer to the Jews,”^[3] which stages an encounter between a Jewish proselyte and a Christian about an interfaith debate is the first Latin example of the genre:

^{An Answer to the Jews 1.1} It happened very recently that a debate was held between a Christian and a proselyte Jew. Through the tug-of-war exchange between them, they dragged the day into evening. Also, through the clamouring from some supporters of both individuals, the truth was being obscured as if by a cloud. Therefore, as a full explanation was impossible on account of everyone speaking at once, it was decided to settle the questions that have been reconsidered in writing, after a more careful examination of the texts.^[4]

Tertullian’s Encounters with Jews

Generations of scholars have debated whether the Jews in Tertullian’s work—and in Christian texts in general—represented real Jews who lived contemporarily with Tertullian or were mere literary constructions and rhetorical tools without any kind of authenticity. Indeed, many scholars have gone so far as to argue that Tertullian did not actually know real Jews,^[5] though some details call this viewpoint into question:

Menorahs—Archaeological remains point to what may be a synagogue on the seashore of northern Carthage, Tertullian’s hometown, where numerous worn lamps adorned with menorah candlesticks were found.^[6] This fact supports a conjecture according to which he could have seen Jews and their practices.

Fasting—Alongside his criticism of how Jews behave and dress while they fast,^[7] based on what was mentioned above concerning the remains of an outdoor place of cult, it seems likely that Tertullian describes the way Carthaginian Jews observed a fast day, probably Yom Kippur:

^{On Fasting 16.6} A Jewish fast, at all events, is universally celebrated; while, neglecting the temples, throughout all the shore, in every open place, they continue long to send prayer up to heaven. …and sigh for the arrival of the long-lingering evening star to sanction (their feeding).^[8]

Veiling Women—The Bible does not require women to be veiled, or have their head covered, though it does imply that married women, at least, had their hair covered or done up (Num 5:18). Tertullian’s stance is that Christian women, including virgins, should wear a veil, i.e. cover their heads.^[9] To support his position, he refers to the Bible, where Rebecca veils herself upon first seeing Isaac, her betrothed, and points to the fact that it is an established practice among Jews like in these instances:

^{On the Soldier’s Crown 4.2} Among the Jews, so usual is it for their women to have the head veiled, that they may thereby be recognized.

^{On prayer 22.8} From them, then, to whom is assigned one and the same law of the head (= long hair), one and the same discipline of the head is exacted (= veiling), — (which extends) even unto those virgins whom their childhood defends, for from the first a virgin was named “female.” This custom, in short, even Israel observes; but if Israel did not observe it, our Law, amplified and supplemented, would vindicate the addition for itself; let it be excused for imposing the veil on virgins also.^[10]

These remarks make again the impression that Tertullian describes a Jewish reality he encounters in his daily life.^[11]

Nazarenes—Tertullian is also aware that Jews of his day call Christians “Nazarenes”:

^{Against Marcion IV.8} The Christ of the Creator had to be called a Nazarene according to prophecy (Matt 2:23)^[12]; whence the Jews also designate us, on that very account, Nazarenes after him.^[13]

Idolatry—In his treatise “On Idolatry,” Tertullian also addresses problems surrounding idolatry in ways that echo the rabbis’ discussions in Mishnah Avodah Zarah.^[14] For example they both focus on the problem of mystery religions, are especially bothered by the festivals of Saturnalia and the January Calends (i.e. New Year’s Day), do not allow their followers to receive gifts on pagan holidays, and consider the placing of wreaths on doors a sign of idolatrous practice.^[15]

“Biblical Jews” in Tertullian’s Disputes

All over the Diaspora in Tertullian’s time, Jews commonly celebrated their Jewish festivals and observed their unique laws, including circumcision, Shabbat, and dietary restrictions, although we can sometimes identify slight differences in the way Jews practiced these customs.^[16] It is not surprising, therefore, that Tertullian would have been familiar with Jewish culture.

Yet, despite the examples mentioned above which point to an acquaintance with contemporary Jewish customs, some argued that the Jewish protagonists starring in Tertullian’s disputes are “biblical Jews” in the sense that they reflect customs and behaviors noted in the Bible, and the prooftexts and depictions are limited to biblical verses, rather than drawing on the Judaism of his time.

Circumcision

The question of whether God requires physical circumcision goes back to Paul’s letters in the New Testament.^[17] For example, Paul writes to one of the nascent congregations to ignore pressure from Jews to circumcise:

^{Galatians 6:13} Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. ^6:14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. ^6:15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation is everything!

Tertullian’s extensive discussions of whether God requires circumcision focus on biblical figures who underwent the ceremony. For example, Tertullian notes that while God does command Abraham to circumcise (Gen 17), he chose Abraham as His beloved follower much earlier (Gen 12):

^{An Answer to the Jews 3.1} “But Abraham,” you will say, “was circumcised.” But he was pleasing to God before he was circumcised.

He then turns to Moses, noting that he only circumcised his son at the compulsion of an angel:

^{An Answer to the Jews 3.1} “But also the son of Moses,” you say, “would have been suffocated by an angel at that time if Zipporah, his mother, had not circumcised the infant’s foreskin with a pebble.” It is on the basis of this that all the circumcised say, “There is the greatest danger if anyone will not circumcise the foreskin of the flesh.” whence, “there is the greatest peril if any fail to circumcise the foreskin of his flesh.”

^3.2 However, if circumcision were to impart salvation in every case, even Moses himself, in the case of his son, would not have omitted circumcising him on the eighth day. It is agreed that Zipporah did it on the journey when forced by an angel.

Tertullian then cites the book of Jeremiah to support his contention that the need for physical circumcision is over, arguing that Christian circumcision is of another kind—spiritual and not physical:

^{An Answer to the Jews 3.7} In fact, just as circumcision of the flesh, which was temporary, was initiated as a sign for a stubborn people, so one of the spirit was given as salvation for an obedient people, as Jeremiah says (Jer 4:3–4), “Renew yourselves and do not plant among thorns. Be circumcised for God and circumcise the foreskin of your heart.”

One should not forget that circumcision was forbidden to non-Jews under Roman law.

Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and Festivals

Like circumcision, Christian belief was that the Jewish Shabbat, observed on the seventh day of the week and a key feature of Jewish practice, was to end with Christ’s coming. Tertullian supports this belief by drawing on the creation and Sinai accounts:

^{An Answer to the Jews 4.1} And so it follows that insofar as the abolition of circumcision of the flesh and of the old law is shown to have been cancelled in its own times, so the observation of the Sabbath is also shown to have been temporary. For the Jews say that from the beginning God sanctified the seventh day by resting on it from all the worlds that [God] made (Gen 1:2–3), and this was the reason Moses also said to the people “Remember to sanctify the Sabbath day. You shall not do any servile work on it, except so far as life is concerned” (Exod 20:10).

^4.2 From this we (Christians) understand that we ought always to observe a sabbath from all servile work, not only on every seventh day but also for all time. And on account of this we ought to ask which sabbath God wishes us to keep, for the Scriptures describe an eternal Sabbath and a temporal Sabbath…

Tertullian then argues that the coming of Christ, which was foretold in the prophets, initiated this time of eternal sabbath:

^4.5 So, therefore, before there was a temporal Shabbat, an eternal Sabbath had been both foreshown and foretold, just as even before there was a circumcision of the flesh, a spiritual circumcision had been foreshown.^[18]

Similarly, in his On Idolatry, Tertullian castigates fellow Christians for celebrating pagan holidays such as Saturnalia. In so doing, he argues that if Christians understand that they should no longer celebrate the Jewish festivals, which were once God’s will, certainly they shouldn’t celebrate pagan ones, which have always been blasphemous:

^{On Idolatry 14} But if we have no right of communion in matters of this kind with strangers, how far more wicked to celebrate them among brethren! Who can maintain or defend this? The Holy Spirit upbraids the Jews with their holy-days (Isa 1:14) “Your Sabbaths, and new moons, and ceremonies,” says He, “My soul hates.” By us, to whom Sabbaths are strange, and the new moons and festivals formerly beloved by God, the Saturnalia and New-year’s and Midwinter’s festivals and Matronalia are frequented—presents come and go—New-year’s gifts—games join their noise—banquets join their din!

In all of these cases, when Tertullian is speaking about how Jewish practice has been superseded by Christian practice, he discusses the former in terms of biblical verses, without mentioning contemporary Jewish practice, as if scripture was all to which he had access. Also, when he attacks Jewish habits, he generally refers to Hebrews (or Israelites, rather than “Jews”—a term he uses in other contexts), as if he were talking only about the protagonists in the scriptures and not his contemporaries.^[19]

While part of this might have been to preserve harmony with Jewish neighbors, whom he did not want to give the impression that he was attacking,^[20] his main audience was, in any event, constituted of Christians he wished to provide with tools to prove that their choice of Christianity was good and that they had access to the true interpretation of divine texts. Also, Tertullian did not want to provoke a strong Jewish opposition since he still hoped Christians would eventually manage to make Jews convert to Christianity.

Christianity is Linked to Judaism

In dismissing laws found in the Old Testament as no longer applicable, Tertullian wished to emphasize to his Christian audience that it was they, not the Jews, who were following the Old Testament properly understood. This was doubly important among Roman Christians, since new religions were forbidden in the Roman Empire, and Christianity’s legitimacy depended on maintaining a connection between its doctrine and Judaism, an established and thus legal religion.^[21] Therefore, Tertullian stressed the links between Christianity, Judaism, and their common text—the Tanakh or Old Testament—every time a heretic dared to suggest a lack of continuity between Old and New Testaments.^[22]

For example, Tertullian’s five volumes against Marcion of Sinope (c. 85–c. 160), who rejected any connection between the God of the Jewish Bible and the God of the New Testament and endeavored to establish his own canon of Christian texts that excluded the Pentateuch and Judaizing Christian writings, focus on showing that both Bibles are linked:

^{Against Marcion IV.34.5} In very deed His [Christ’s] teaching is not contrary to Moses, whose precept He partially defends, I will not say confirms.^[23]

He then attempts to prove, through biblical interpretation, that everything that happened to the Christians—as well as the catastrophes impacting the Jews—was already announced step by step in the Jewish Bible. But his main point remains that it is Christianity, not Judaism, that carries the torch of divine revelation, and thus it supersedes the older tradition, a concept found already in some of Paul’s epistles and especially in the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews, though not in the gospels.

Supersessionism

Tertullian’s primary focus in his dealing with Jewish scriptures is to prove that Jews who refuse Christ are unable to grasp the true sense of their own scripture.^[24] Often, he promotes a supersessionist approach, attempting to establish that Christians replaced Jews as God’s people. He accounts for this substitution in two ways. First, the Jews sinned:

^{Apology 21.4} In former times the Jews enjoyed much of God’s favor.... ^21.5 But how deeply they have sinned, puffed up to their fall with a false trust in their noble ancestors, turning from God’s way into a way of sheer impiety, though they themselves should refuse to admit it, their present national ruin would afford sufficient proof. Scattered abroad, a race of wanderers, exiles from their own land and clime, they roam over the whole world without either a human or a heavenly king, not possessing even the stranger’s right to set so much as a simple footstep in their native country.^[25]

Second, they do not recognize the Messiah:

^{An Answer to the Jews 13.24} Ever since we Gentiles, our hearts enlightened through the truth of Christ, have thrown away our idols, let the Jews also see that what follows has been accomplished. ^13.25 …As from then on, the grace of God has ceased among them… ^13.26 …Since they had committed those infamies and had not understood the Christ who came in the time of the own punishment (Isa 1.7) “Their land was made desolate and their cities burned with fire…”

Consequently:

^{Against Marcion V.8.5} After this time the Spirit of the Creator never breathed among them.

^{An Answer to the Jews 3.13} And because of this, we who were not formerly the people of God, have been made [God’s] people by accepting both the new law mentioned above and the new circumcision proclaimed earlier.

Rebecca’s twins

For Tertullian, Christianity is subordinate to Judaism only in the sense that it traces its roots to the younger or “later” of Rebecca’s twin sons Esau and Jacob. Now, however, the younger has superseded the elder in God’s favor:^[26]

^{An Answer to the Jews 1.5} Without doubt, according to the decree of the divine utterance, the first, the elder people, namely the Jewish, inevitably will serve the younger. The younger people, namely the Christian, will rise above the elder. ^1.6 For also, according to the records of divine scriptures, the Jewish people, that is the more ancient, were devoted to idols, as they had deserted God, and were addicted to images, as they had abandoned the divinity…

^1.7 In fact our people—that is the later—having forsaken the idols to which previously we used to be devoted, were converted to the same God from whom Israel departed, as we mentioned above. ^1.8 For thus the younger people—that is the later—rose above the older people, while it was obtaining the grace of divine honor from which Israel has been divorced.

Defense of the Jews

In Tertullian’s time, the differences between Jews and Christians were obvious to the elites on both sides, who knew exactly which beliefs and behaviors they wanted to be characteristic of their own members. Yet the distinction between the two religions was not very clear for either the masses of Jewish and Christian followers or for outsiders to both religions, as Jews and Christians shared the same scriptures, monotheism, and a host of other traits.

Thus, Tertullian assigned to himself the task of defining what made a Christian Christian, and showing Christians, neophytes, and catechumens the differences between Jews and Christians in order to make them choose one side. Moreover, Christians also needed to distinguish themselves from the Jewish nation that was despised by the Romans for its continual rebellion in its land against their authority.

Jews Do Not Worship an Ass!

At the same time, being aware that anything concerning the Jews might bleed over onto Christians, Tertullian also worked to refute accusations against Jews that were widespread. For example, the accusation that Jews worshipped a donkey, which originates in Hellenistic Egyptian literature dealing with Jewish customs:^[27]

^{Apology 16.1} For, like some others, you are under the delusion that our god is an ass’s head. Cornelius Tacitus... ^{[28] 16.2} states that having been delivered, or rather, in his opinion, expelled from Egypt, in crossing the vast plains of Arabia, where water is so scanty, they [the Jews] were in extremity from thirst. But taking the guidance of the wild asses, which it was thought might be seeking water after feeding, they discovered a fountain, and thereupon in their gratitude they consecrated a head of this species of animal.

This accusation is then extended to Christians:

^{Apology 16.3} And as Christianity is nearly allied to Judaism, from this, I suppose, it was taken for granted that we too are devoted to the worship of the same image.^[29]

In responding, Tertullian does not separate Jews from Christians, but rather defends the Jewish religion—and thus indirectly Christianity—by pointing out that no evidence of such an image was found in the Jerusalem Temple:

^{Apology 16.3} But the said Cornelius Tacitus (the very opposite of tacit in telling lies) informs us...that when Gnaeus Pompeius^[30] captured Jerusalem, he entered the temple to see the arcana of the Jewish religion, but found no image there.

Tertullian also explains why the dishes of gold and silver that the Jews took when they left Egypt were like a salary, or compensation, for their years in Egyptian bondage (inspired by early Jewish exegesis and not to be found in the texts of his Christian predecessors).^[31] He similarly serves as apologist for the Jews regarding criticism over their observance of the Shabbat, and charges of idolatry against biblical Israel arising from the incident of the bronze serpent in the wilderness.^[32]

Tertullian’s Relational Engagement with Jews?

Tertullian did not write in a vacuum: while the first Christian author who wrote in Latin, he engaged with issues that concerned his Greek-speaking Christian contemporaries and were addressed in various ways by other religious leaders. As a skilled rhetorician, he regularly adapted his language and arguments both to his topic and to his audience.

His treatises indeed address various audiences: they may encourage new converts to Christianity that they had made the right choice; convince potential converts from pagan religions to choose Christianity over Judaism or other options; try to convert pagans, or at least persuade them not to attack Christians; and rebuke Jews for not accepting that the Messiah came, in an attempt to change their minds.

As a consequence of his method, it is possible to find throughout his work almost every argument and its contrary, as long as it promotes his ultimate goal: proving the truth of Christianity.^[33] That is what made Tertullian’s nexus to actual Jews a much debated issue.

The few examples noted above display Tertullian’s reliance on Scripture and previous Christian exegesis to depict Judaism. However, clues show that he was indeed cognizant of details from Jewish contemporary daily life. In his harshest attacks against Jews, Tertullian disregards contemporary Jewish features and focuses on biblical ones, partly because his goal was more to strengthen Christians than to aggress Jews; partly to avoid discomfort with his Jewish neighbors; and partly no to deter Jews from Christianity in the hope that they might convert in the end.