Contents
Table of Contents
Time Changes Nations' Dresses--and Fortunes.
The Law of Change, or Mutation, Universal.
Beasts Similarly Subject to the Law of Mutation.
Change Not Always Improvement.
Virtues of the Mantle. It Pleads in Its Own Defence.
The Origin of Female Ornamentation, Traced Back to the Angels Who Had Fallen.
Concerning the Genuineness of “The Prophecy of Enoch.”
Waiving the Question of the Authors, Tertullian Proposes to Consider the Things on Their Own Merits.
Gold and Silver Not Superior in Origin or in Utility to Other Metals.
Of Precious Stones and Pearls.
Introduction. Modesty to Be Observed Not Only in Its Essence, But in Its Accessories.
Grant that Beauty Be Not to Be Feared: Still It is to Be Shunned as Unnecessary and Vainglorious.
Concerning the Plea of “Pleasing the Husband.”
Of Elaborate Dressing of the Hair in Other Ways, and Its Bearing Upon Salvation.
Men Not Excluded from These Remarks on Personal Adornment.
Excess in Dress, as Well as in Personal Culture, to Be Shunned. Arguments Drawn from I Cor. VII.
Tertullian Refers Again to the Question of the Origin of All These Ornaments and Embellishments.
Such Outward Adornments Meretricious, and Therefore Unsuitable to Modest Women.
Truth Rather to Be Appealed to Than Custom, and Truth Progressive in Its Developments.
Before Proceeding Farther, Let the Question of Custom Itself Be Sifted.
Gradual Development of Custom, and Its Results. Passionate Appeal to Truth.
Of the Argument Drawn from 1 Cor. XI. 5-16.
Of the Word Woman, Especially in Connection with Its Application to Eve.
The Parallel Case of Mary Considered.
Of the Reasons Assigned by the Apostle for Bidding Women to Be Veiled.
Veiling Consistent with the Other Rules of Discipline Observed by Virgins and Women in General.
If the Female Virgins are to Be Thus Conspicuous, Why Not the Male as Well?
The Rule of Veiling Not Applicable to Children.
Womanhood Self-Evident, and Not to Be Concealed by Just Leaving the Head Bare.
If Unveiling Be Proper, Why Not Practise It Always, Out of the Church as Well as in It?
Perils to the Virgins Themselves Attendant Upon Not-Veiling.
Design of the Treatise. Disavowal of Personal Motives in Writing It.
Marriage Lawful, But Not Polygamy.
Marriage Good: Celibacy Preferable.
Of the Infirmity of the Flesh, and Similar Pleas.
Of the Love of Offspring as a Plea for Marriage.
Examples of Heathens Urged as Commendatory of Widowhood and Celibacy.
Reasons Which Led to the Writing of This Second Book.
Of the Apostle's Meaning in 1 Cor. VII. 12-14.
Remarks on Some of the “Dangers and Wounds” Referred to in the Preceding Chapter.
Of the Hindrances Which an Unbelieving Husband Puts in His Wife's Way.
Of Sin and Danger Incurred Even with a “Tolerant” Husband.
Danger of Having to Take Part in Heathenish Rites, and Revels.
Introduction. Virginity Classified Under Three Several Species.
Of Indulgence and Pure Volition. The Question Illustrated.
Further Remarks Upon the Apostle's Language.
The Objection from the Polygamy of the Patriarchs Answered.
If It Be Granted that Second Marriage is Lawful, Yet All Things Lawful are Not Expedient.
Second Marriage a Species of Adultery, Marriage Itself Impugned, as Akin to Adultery.
Application of the Subject. Advantages of Widowhood.
The More the Wives, the Greater the Distraction of the Spirit.
Examples from Among the Heathen, as Well as from the Church, to Enforce the Foregoing Exhortation.
Different Views in Regard to Marriage Held by Heretics, Psychic, and Spiritualists.
The Spiritualists Vindicated from the Charge of Novelty.
Connection of These Primeval Testimonies with Christ.
The Case of Abraham, and Its Bearing on the Present Question.
From Patriarchal, Tertullian Comes to Legal, Precedents.
From the Law Tertullian Comes to the Gospel. He Begins with Examples Before Proceeding to Dogmas.
From Examples Tertullian Passes to Direct Dogmatic Teachings. He Begins with the Lord's Teaching.
St. Paul's Teaching on the Subject.
Further Remarks Upon St. Paul's Teaching.
The Explanation of the Passage Offered by the Psychics Considered.
Further Objections from St. Paul Answered.
Weakness of the Pleas Urged in Defence of Second Marriage.
Heathen Examples Cry Shame Upon This “Infirmity of the Flesh.”
God Just as Well as Merciful; Accordingly, Mercy Must Not Be Indiscriminate.
An Objection Anticipated Before the Discussion Above Promised is Commenced.
Adultery and Fornication Synonymous.
Of the Prohibition of Adultery in the Decalogue.
Of the Parables of the Lost Ewe and the Lost Drachma.
Repentance More Competent to Heathens Than to Christians.
From Parables Tertullian Comes to Consider Definite Acts of the Lord.
Of the Verdict of the Apostles, Assembled in Council, Upon the Subject of Adultery.
Of St. Paul, and the Person Whom He Urges the Corinthians to Forgive.
General Consistency of the Apostle.
Consistency of the Apostle in His Other Epistles.
Answer to a Psychical Objection.
Objections from the Revelation and the First Epistle of St. John Refuted.
From Apostolic Teaching Tertullian Turns to that of Companions of the Apostles, and of the Law.
Of the Difference Between Discipline and Power, and of the Power of the Keys.
Of Martyrs, and Their Intercession on Behalf of Scandalous Offenders.
Connection of Gluttony and Lust. Grounds of Psychical Objections Against the Montanists.
The Principle of Fasting Traced Back to Its Earliest Source.
The Physical Tendencies of Fasting and Feeding Considered. The Cases of Moses and Elijah.
Further Examples from the Old Testament in Favour of Fasting.
Examples of a Similar Kind from the New.
From Fasts Absolute Tertullian Comes to Partial Ones and Xerophagies.
Of Stations, and of the Hours of Prayer.
Of the Respect Due to “Human Authority;” And of the Charges of “Heresy” And “Pseudo-Prophecy.”
Of the Need for Some Protest Against the Psychics and Their Self-Indulgence.
Of the Inconsistencies of the Psychics.
Reply to the Charge of “Galaticism.“
The Instructions of Commodianus.
Of the Same Jupiter's Thunderbolt.
Of the Septizonium and the Stars.
Apollo the Soothsaying and False.
Of Ammydates and the Great God.
Of Those Who are Everywhere Ready.
Of Those Who Live Between the Two.
They Who Fear and Will Not Believe.
To Those Who Resist the Law of Christ the Living God.
O Fool, Thou Dost Not Die to God.
To the Wicked and Unbelieving Rich Man.
Moreover, to Ignorant Gentiles.
Of the Tree of Life and Death.
Of the Foolishness of the Cross.
Of the Hidden and Holy People of the Almighty Christ, the Living God.
Who Have Apostatized from God.
That Worldly Things are Absolutely to Be Avoided.
That the Christian Should Be Such.
To the Matrons of the Church of the Living God.
In the Church to All the People of God.
To Him Who Wishes for Martyrdom.
That Sons are Not to Be Bewailed.
On Defection, or Falling Away.
On Incorporeal and Corporeal Beings.
On the Perpetuity of Bodily Nature.
On the Beginning of the World, and Its Causes.
The God of the Law and the Prophets, and the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Same God.
On the Resurrection, and the Judgment, the Fire of Hell, and Punishments.
Chapter I. translated from the Latin of Rufinus: On the Freedom of the Will.
A Letter to Origen from Africanus About the History of Susanna.
A Letter from Origen to Africanus.
A Letter from Origen to Gregory.