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1
Tertullian and Feminism
EI-JIZABETH CARNELLEY
Tertullian is often the subject of fierce criticism from present-day
feminists, and he is frequently cited as a misogynist. Elisabeth
Schussler Fiorenza accuses Tertullian of having 'a theology that
evidences a deep misogynist contempt and fear of women'. 1 A source
of disagreement is how Tertullian's association with the charismatic,
rigorist sect of Montanism affected him, especially since two of the
Montanists' three leaders were women. F. Forrester Church" has
attempted to rehabilitate Tertullian, arguing that Tertullian's main
concern was the salvation of women. 1-', D. Barnes,' meanwhile, feels
that the further Tertullian was influenced by Montanism, the rnore
repressive towards women he became, because the rigorism involved
repressed women. G. L. Bray and de Labriolle, furthermore, argue
that the role of women in Montanism was 'distasteful' to Tertullian
because women were so prominent." None of these views are correct.
One of the problems involved in studying Tertullian, whose Latin
works span two decades (AD 196 to 212), is the misapplication of
twentieth-century categories. Concepts such as sexism and femin-
ism, widely understood now, are alien to the first three centuries. It is
anachronistic to expect Tertullian to be feminist, and when he is not,
to call him a misogynist. In fact he did not hate, or fear, women.
Rather Tertullian's writings must be understood in the context of
the prejudices and concerns of his time.
It is generally accepted that the early church had a deep suspicion
of sexuality. Tertullian shared this suspicion. Following Paul, Ter-
tullian said that celibacy is always preferable to marriage, although
he taught that marriage is fundamentally good because God gave it
to humanity." Certain Gnostics" forbade marriage as evil, and
Tertullian opposed this, but nonetheless he saw marriage as a
concession to human weakness. lIe taught against the Gnostics that
the flesh is good, having been created by God, and redeemed by
Christ in his incarnation and death.' He also condemned Marciori's
Gnostic opposition to marriage, counting himself as one of those
'who, without condemning marital intercourse, recognize and seek
after chastity, giving it preference. , . we do not repudiate marital
intercourse, but give it lowly rank: nor do we demand chastity, but
advise it'." Like Paul, Tertullian agreed that 'it is better to marry
than to burn'," but he insisted that one marriage is enough, and that
we should aim at chastity. Therefore, Tertullian strongly opposed
the remarriage of widows and widowers in his treatises Ad Uxorem
('To My Wife") and De Exhortatione Castitatis ('An Exhortation to
Chastity'). He did not disapprove of marriage because the flesh was
evil or because he had a low view of women, and his advice on sexual
matters was given both to men and to W01l1en. His half-hearted
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2 Elizabeth Carnelley
attitude towards marriage, and his recommendation of chastity,
were mainly due to his eschatological concerns, brought to the
forefront by his association with the Montanists.
Montanus began prophesying in the latter half of the second
century. Montanism'? was extremely rigorist, encouraging fasting,
celibacy, and forbidding flight from persecution. It was an enthusi-
astic, spirit-led sect which expected the imminent Second Coming
and the descent of Jerusalem, the heavenly city, on Pepuza, in
Phrygia. Two women, Prisca and Maximilla, became famous
prophetesses leaving their husbands and joining Montanus as
leaders of the sect. Montanism seems to have been theologically
orthodox. Tertullian probably joined around 206 AD.
The Montanist emphasis on the impending end of the present
world order meant that the things of this world, such as marriage,
clothes and food, were of no importance. The desires of the flesh
were to be subdued by the spirit. In the last days of persecution and
tribulation, family ties of marriage and children would be burdens.
Thus Tertullian writes that children are a 'bitter, bitter pleasure' .11
Christians should not be enthusiastic to marry twice-this is excess-
ive, and without justification. 12 In any case, marriage, clothes and
food were not generally considered to be part of the heavenly life of
the saints, and ascetic Christians therefore neglected these things.
Tertullian's post-Montanist works such as De Monogamia ('On
Monogamy'), De Pudicitia ('On Modesty'), De ]ejunio ('On Fasting')
and the already referred to De Exhortatione Castitatis, reflect in their
rigorism the influence of Montanism.
Tertullian shared the belief that in the after-life there is no sexual
distinction," that we shall be 'as the angels'. He assured women, 'you
too have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the
self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of
judging, does [the Lord] promise you' .14 Women will not bemen, but
both women and men will share the same angelic nature. Thus,
there will be no sexual relations in heaven according to Tertullian. It
is for this reason that Tertullian is so reserved in his atti tudes towards
sexuality. It is not merely that marriage is not helpful in these last
days; rather it falls short of the holy, risen, celibate life which God
calls us to live, ultimately. Christians must live the eternal life of the
spirit in the present, and for Tertullian this includes the celibacy of
both sexes. Therefore, Tertullian devotes much space to condemn-
ing fornication in his treatise De Pudicitia.
Suzanne Heine, in her book Women andEarly Christianity, seems to
ignore Tertullian's ultimate rejection of sexuality as incompatible
with a fully holy life, saying merely that his hostility towards family
life was part of his rejection of contemporary society." Tertullian
occasionally betrays a deep hostility towards sexuality, as something
never free from association with sin, in comments such as 'the
virgin's is the principal sanctity, because it is free from affinity with
fornication.'!" Forrester Church," likewise, in his attempt to re-
Tertullian and Feminism
33
habilitate Tertullian, neglects this antithetical attitude towards
sexuality which Tertullian shares with the Montanists. The suspi-
cion of sexuality during this period was so strong that the practice of
a married couple living as brother and sister isyneisaktismi was not
unusual."
Tertullian's suspicion of sexuality, exacerbated by the influence of
Montanism, is expressed in his concern that all women, including
virgins, should be veiled. He argues in De Virginibus Velandis ('On the
Veiling of Virgins') that 'Every public exposure of a virgin is [to
her] a suffering of rape' .19 Also, in common with other Patristic
writers, Tertullian feels that men are threatened by the sight of
women because they might be sexually aroused. He nowhere
considers that women may be aroused by the sight of men-
although he does forbid men to pluck their beards or dye their
hair
2-and
thus he is rnuch more concerned with women's dress
than with men's. This is also true of other Patristic writers, including
Tertullian's milder contemporary, Clement of Alexandria." For
Tertullian, not only are women to dress modestly, but even natural
beauty 'must be obliterated by concealment and negligence'." This
is partly due to the fact that, like other Patristic writers, Tertullian
blamed the Fall recounted in Genesis 3 on the attractiveness of
women, and also the Fall of the Angels in Genesis 6.4. Thus, there is
his much-quoted, outrageous condemnation of women as the 'devil's
gateway'.23 This strand in Tertullian's writings cannot be over-
looked, but it has to be seen as being intertwined with other strands
such as the prominence of women in Montanism.
As we have seen, Tertullian does not ultimately reject sexuality
because he rejects women, but his distrust of sexuality is apparent in
his attitudes towards WOlTIen, that they should cover themselves and
neglect their appearance. However, those who live celibate lives,
obedient to the Holy Spirit, are exalted. Montanist prophetesses
were figures of authority for Tertullian, to be obeyed. In an early
treatise, De Praescriptione Haereticorum ('A Prescription Against Here-
sies'), Tertullian had criticised those wanton women amongst the
heretics, who 'are bold enough to teach, to dispute, to enact
exorcisms, to undertake cures-s-it may even be to baptize"." How-
ever, as a Montanist, he changed his opinion. The fitting behaviour
of a modest woman is that 'some brother who is sick is visited, or else
the sacrifice is offered, or else the word of God is dispensed' .25
Tertullian encourages women to exercise the gift of prophecy in
church services, boasting of 'a sister who has been granted gifts of
revelation, which she experiences in Church during the Sunday
services through ecstatic visions in the spirit."? He urges his readers
to note the prophecies of Prisca and Maximilla in his treatise De
]ejunio.
27
I t is also important to understand that being celibate at that time
was liberating to women rather than repressive. Leaving a husband
freed a wornan from the constraints of family life, (as Prisca and
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Elizabeth Carnelley
Maximilla had found), allowing her to be entirely independent. She
was no longer bound to obey her husband as her master, nor to be
constantly bearing children, which were the judgements on Eve
after the Fal1.
28
Living a single life set women free from many
restraints. Women were just as likely to be vehicles of the Holy
Spirit-perhaps more so, in fact, since all those whom Tertullian
commends for speaking the ecstatic utterances of God are women.
Women were expected by the Montanists and by Tertullian to be
strong, bold and to stand up against persecution, just as was
expected of men. However, it has to be remembered that Tertullian
insisted on the veiling of all women, on chaste and modest behaviour
in both sexes, and that women could not take a sacerdotal role or
baptize."
Tertullian's theology is fundamentally scriptural. The exaltation
of celibacy, the expectation of the Second Coming, the practice of
fasting, and insistence on standing firm under persecution, can all be
traced back to the Scriptures. The ambivalence of the Scriptures,
and the context of Montanist influence, heightening eschatological
awareness, make Tertullian's ambiguity towards women explicable.
He was not a misogynist, nor was his main concern specifically the
salvation of women. Rather it was a preoccupation with the next
life, which seemed immediate and imminent, which shaped his
theology. Eschatological values were breaking into, and transform-
ing, the present. His association with the Montanists increased his
rigorism and dislike of sexuality, which led to his insistence that
women should be veiled, and his criticism of women as the 'devil's
gateway', for example. However, the influence of Montanism also
meant that he insisted that there was no necessity for a woman to
have a husband or a family, and he encouraged women to utter the
words of God in prophecy. Women could be liberated from a life of
worldly concerns, from the constraints of family life, and live the
eternal life of the Spirit in the present. For Tertullian, both women
and men could participate in the holy, risen life of the Kingdom of
Jesus Christ.
Elizabeth Carnelley is in trainingfor the Anglican ministry at Ripon College,
Cuddesdon. This article derives from a M.Phil. thesis prepared at Cambridge
University.
Notes
1 E. Schussler Fiorenza, In MemoT)' of Her (SCM 1983), p. 55
2 F. Forrester Church, 'Sex and Salvation in Tertullian', Harvard Theological
Reviewvol. 68 (1975), pp. 83- 10 1.
3 'r. D. Barnes, Tertullian (OUP 197 1), pp. 137-8.
4 G. L. Bray, Holiness and the wut of God (John Knox Press, 1979), p. 62.
5 e.g. Tertullian, De Anima XXVIII, Ante-Ntcene Christian Library', vol. II, VII
cr. and T. Clark 1870).
6 Gnosticisrn was a complex movement, probably pre-Christian in origin, which
Letters to the Editors
35
taught that the body, and matter, were basically evil, and essentially different
from spirit, which was seen as good. See R. Grant, Gnosticism: .lInAnthology
(Collins 196I).
7 e.g. Tertullian Adversus Marcumcm Book I, cd. and tr. E. Evans (OUP 1972).
8 ibid.
9 'l'ertullian, Ad Uxorem L AJV'C'L vol. I, XI (1'. and 'I'. Clark 1869).
10 For further information on Montanism and Tertullian see Barnes, Ope cit., pp.
130--42. G. L. Bray's argument that Montanism did not affect Tertullian at all
is wholly unconvincing (op. cit., pp. 54-65).
I I Tcrtullian, Ad Uxorem V, A,NL'L vol. I, XI.
12 ibid.
13 Aquinas also shared this belief: Summa Theologiae III, supp. 39, art. I, on Matt,
22.29-31.
14 Tertullian, IJe Culta Feminarum I, II, A.;VCL vol. I, XII.
IS Suzanne Heine, J1!omen and Early Christianity (SCl\1 1987), pp. 16--32.
16 Tertullian, IJe Exhortatione Castitatis IX, A,NCL vol. III, I cr. and Clark
18
70 ) .
17 F. Forrester Church, op. cit.
18 D. S. Bailey, The Alan-J/Voman Relation in Christian Thought (Longman 1951),
P23
19 Tertullian, IJe Vtrginibus Velandis III, A.!'vI"CL vol. III, V.
20 Tertullian, IJe Cult.Fem. II, VIII, A,NL'L vol. I, XII.
2 I See B. P. Prusak, 'Woman: Seductive Siren and Source of Sin?' in R. R.
Ruether (cd.), Religion and Sexism (SilTIOn and Schuster, 1974), p. 101.
22 Tertullian, IJe. II, I .A,NCL vol. I, XII.
23 ibid., I, I, A)VCL vol. I, XII.
24 Tertullian, IJe Praescriptione Haerettcorum XLI, A./vCL vol. II, I.
25 Tertullian, De Cult.Fem. II, XI, A}lCL vol. I, XII.
26 Tertullian, De Anima IX, A]vCL vol. II, VII.
27 Tertullian, ])e ]ejunio I, A,NCL vol. III, 1\1.
28 Gen. 3. 16; see also Tertullian, Adv. Marcumem; Book III, XI, ed. and tr. E.
Evans.
29 e.g. Tertullian, IJe Virgo Vel. IX, /LVCL vol. III, V.
Letters to the Editors
CHURCII Pi\RTIES
Dear Editors,
I was interested by George Carey's article on parties in the
Church of England (July I g88), though on first reading I couldn't
help feeling that a major omission had been made, namely that there
was no specific mention of the Liberal/Radical wing of the Church
as such. On closer reading I noted the acknowledgement which
Carey made to Liberalism and the deepening of faith which, in his
experience, critical enquiry has offered. Even so, I felt that some
things had been left out of the reckoning.
The first is surely that there are a good many people who do not
feel themselves to be either Catholic or Evangelical, but are con-
sciously in the Liberal or Radical tradition. They may not actually
realize this until someone points it out to them, but that is equally
true of Catholics and Evangelicals; several ordinands have men-
tioned to me that it wasn't until they went to see their Director of