'!• E R 



had before b?en made, for the greater perfettior. of Chriftians. 

 He approved of tlie longer, more ftrift, and more frequent 

 fafts of the Montanifts ; he condemned all fecond marriages ; 

 and denied that the church was authoiifcd to receive again 

 into communion any who were chargeable with fornication, 

 adultery, or any fuch offences, after baptifm. He often 

 arrogantly calls his own people fpiritual, and the Catholics, 

 as contemptuoufly, animal or carnal. We have already ob- 

 ferved that his knowledge w^as extenfive ; his fancy alfo was 

 Lvely ; and though his temper was fevere, and his mode of 

 expreffion vehement and pofitive, yet his writings frequently 

 manifeft unaffefted humility and modefty. Thecharafter given 

 of his ftyle bv Laftantius muft be univerfally allowed ; that it 

 is " rugged and unpolidied, and very obfcure ;" and yet, as 

 Cave oblerves, " it is lofty and mafcuhne, and carries a kind 

 of majeftic eloquence along with it, that gives a pleafant reljfh 

 to the judicious and inquifitive reader." His books ftill ex- 

 tant, though many are loft, are numerous, fome of which 

 were written before and others after he embraced the errors 

 of Montaiiifni. Of thefe, the Apology is reckoned his prin- 

 cipal work ; and has been highly commended both by ancient 

 and modern writers ; whilft his other performances are writ- 

 ten with wit and force, and are edifying and inftrudlive. 

 The time when his " Apology" was written has been differ- 

 ently ftated by various authors : fome refer it to the year 

 200, others to 203 and 205 ; but Moflieim, after laborious 

 examination, concludes that it was compofed in the year 198. 

 All allow that it was written before he joined the Montanifts. 

 Learned men generally agree, that it was not addrefled to the 

 fenate of Rome, but to the governors of provinces, or per- 

 haps to the proconful of Africa, and the chief magiftrates 

 fefiding at Carthage, where it was written, according to 

 Lardner ; though others are of opinion that it was written at 

 Rome. From this Apology, it appears that Chriftians un- 

 derwent a variety of grievous fuflerings ; they were, as he 

 fays, " crucified, hung upon ftakes, burnt alive, thrown to 

 wild beafts, condemned to the mines, and baniftied into de- 

 fert iflands." That this was the cafe, appears alfo from Ter- 

 tuUiaii's book to the proconful Scapula, not written before 

 the year 211 or 212. The " Apology" is written for the 

 purpofe of (hewing the injuftice of the perfecutions inflidled 

 upon Chriftians, and the falfehood of the charges brought 

 againft them ; and likewife to difplay the excellence of the 

 Chriftian religion, and the folly and abfurdity of that of the 

 Heathens. His two books " Ad Nationes" are connefted 

 with his Apology, and indicate his charafteriftic vehemence. 

 His addreft to Scapula, already mentioned, was written 

 under the emperor Caracalla, and contains an avowal of ad- 

 mirable principles. " It ought," lie fays, " to be left to the 

 free choice of men, to embrace that religion which feems to 

 them moft agreeable to truth. No one is injured or bene- 

 fited by another man's religion ; it is not an aft of religion 

 to force religion, which ought to be adopted fpontaneoufly, 

 not by compulfion." He proceeds to vindicate the condudt 

 of Chriftians, and to fhew that their rehgious princijjles in- 

 duced them to pay entire obedience to the emperors, and that 

 therefore they did not deferve to incur the penalties of trea- 

 fon. Another work of Tertullian has been often cited, iiiz. 

 " De Prasfcriptionibus adverfus Haereticos." In this work 

 he treats of herefy in general, and then difcuffes particular 

 herefies in his five books againft Marcion, in others againft 

 Praxeas, in defence of the Trinity, and againft Hermogcnes, 

 and the Valentinians. In his book " On the Soul," he in- 

 quires into the nature of the foul and its properties. In his 

 treatifc " On Baptifm," he abfurdly maintains that the moral 

 ftain of the foul is effaced by the external wafhing of the 

 body, and that punifliment is likewife remitted ; a doftiine 



T E R 



which fome late divines have zealoufly fuppoi ted. Baptifm . 

 by heretics he confidcrs as no baptiiiu, and contends that it 

 ought to be repeated. In cafes or nccelhty, he thinks infaiit- 

 baptifm to be allowable, but he recommends deferring rather 

 than haftening the adminiftration of this lacrament. His 

 book " On Penance", refutes the opinion advanced by the 

 Montanifts, that fins committed after baptifm cannot be ab- 

 folved by the church. In his trcatife " On Idolatry," lie 

 extends this crime to practices that are almoft unavoidable 

 in fociety ; fuch as bearing arms for the defence of the empire, 

 adorning houfes in honour of the prince, and ufing cuftomary 

 exprcftions that have any reference to Heathen mythology. 

 In his work " De Corona Militis," he applauds a Chriftian 

 foldier who rcfufed to place a crown or garland on his head. 

 In another w'ork he coniiders " flight in time of perfecution" 

 as prohibited, and alfo giving money to efcapc it. In hio 

 treatife"DeSpeftaculis," he diffuadcs Chriftians from attend- 

 ing public (hows. In his moral trafts is an exhortation to 

 " patience," in which, as well as in a difcourfe addrcffed to 

 martyrs or confefTors, he dwells in an eloquent ftrain on tlie 

 motives which ftiould bind a Chriftian to the praftice of that 

 virtue. After his union with the Montanifts, Tertidliau 

 wrote four books in oppofition to the difcipline of the Ca- 

 tholic church ; -viz. " On Modefty ;" " On Monogamy :" 

 " An Exhortation to Charity ;" and " A Treatife on Faith." 



Tertullian, in his various writings, has afforded plain tefti- 

 monies to all the books of the New Teftament, commonly 

 received by Chriftians at this time, except the Epiftk of 

 James, the 2d of Peter, the 2d and 3d of John. The Epiftlc 

 to the Hebrews he afcribes to Barnabas. This ancient father 

 has been much admired : Cyprian calls him " my mafter." 

 Some perfoiis, however, have doubted whether he has done 

 more good or hann in the Chriftian church. His character 

 is judicioufly appreciated by one of his biographers (Gen. 

 Biog.) in the following manner. Tertullian " was certainly 

 a man of lively parts and large acquirements, of copious 

 invention, and warm feehngs. In his reafonings, however, 

 he difplayed more fancy and fubtilty than found judgment ; 

 and the ardour of his temper inclines him to violence and 

 exaggeration, while a propenfity to fuperftition renders him 

 weakly credulous and gloomily auftere." His works have 

 been frequently printed both feparately and colleftively. Of 

 his whole works, the editions of Rigaltius, fol. Paris, 1641, 

 and of Semler, Hal. Magd. 6 vols. 1770 — 76, are moft 

 efteemed. Dupin. Lardner. Mofheim. 



TERVEERE, in Gfo^ra/i^j;. See Veere. 



TERUEL, a town of Spain, in the kingdom of Ara- 

 gon, at the conflux of the Guadalavir and the Alhambra ; 

 the fee of a bifhop, fuffragan of 'Saragofta : it is defended 

 by a citadel. This town v/as deftroyed by the Moors, and 

 lay a long time abandoned, but was rebuilt and repeopled 

 by Alphonfo II. in the year 1171. In the year 1365, on 

 the 25th of April, it was taken and pillaged by Peter, king 

 of Caftile ; in memorial of which, the inhabitants keep the 

 day a ftrid faft ; 72 miles S. of Saragoft'a. N. lat. 40° 32'. 

 W. long. 1°. 



TERVIS, a town of Iftria; 8 miles W. of Mit- 

 terburg. 



TERUM, a town of Arabia, in Yemen ; 35 miles 

 W.S.W. of Schibam. 



TERUNCIUS, in jintiqutty, a very fmall brafs coin in 

 ufe among the Romans. 



The inconvenience of fuch very fmall pieces being foon 

 found, the teruncius "became difufed, but its name is ftill 

 retained in reckoning, and thus it became a money of 

 account. 



The teruncius at firft was a quarter of the as, or libra ; 



hence, 



