“O noble testimony of the soul by nature Christian!”
O noble testimony of the soul by nature Christian!
Tertullian · The Apology (Apologeticus) · ANF III, Apology, Chapter XVII
Tertullian has just argued that an ordinary person, startled, says "God" and not "the gods" — the exclamation is his conclusion, not his premise. The phrase outlived the argument and is usually quoted as though it settled something it was only offered as evidence for.
How this is known
These words were matched, word for word, against this project’s own copy of the volume cited.
Read in Thelwall, ANF vol. 3 (1885) · S. Thelwall
Also by
- Tertullian every saying recorded of this person, and their page