Editing Tertullian (section)

=== Chronology and contents ===
The chronology of his writings is difficult to fix with certainty. In his work against [[Marcion]], which he calls his third composition on the Marcionite heresy, he gives its date as the fifteenth year of the reign of Severus (''Adv. Marcionem'', i.1, 15) – which would be approximately 208.

The writings may be divided according to their subject matter, falling into two groups: Apologetic and polemic writings, like ''[[Apologeticus]]'', ''De testimonio animae'', the [[anti-Judaism|anti-Jewish]] ''[[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Apologetic/An Answer to the Jews|Adversus Iudaeos]]'', ''Adv. Marcionem'', ''Adv. Praxeam'', ''Adv. Hermogenem'', ''De praescriptione hereticorum'', and ''Scorpiace'' were written to counteract [[Gnosticism]] and other religious or philosophical doctrines. The other group consists of practical and disciplinary writings, e.g., ''De monogamia'', ''Ad uxorem'', ''De virginibus velandis'', ''De cultu feminarum'', ''De patientia'', ''De pudicitia'', ''De oratione'', and ''Ad martyras''.

Among his apologetic writings, the ''Apologeticus'', addressed to the Roman magistrates, is a most pungent defense of Christianity and the Christians against the reproaches of the pagans, and an important legacy of the ancient Church, proclaiming the principle of [[freedom of religion]] as an inalienable human right and demanding a fair trial for Christians before they are condemned to death.

Tertullian was the first to disprove charges that Christians sacrificed infants at the [[Eucharist|celebration of the Lord's Supper]] and committed incest. He pointed to the commission of such crimes in the pagan world and then proved by the testimony of [[Pliny the Younger]] that Christians pledged themselves not to commit murder, adultery, or other crimes. He adduced the inhumanity of pagan customs such as feeding the flesh of gladiators to beasts. He argued that the gods have no existence and thus there is no pagan religion against which Christians may offend. Christians do not engage in the foolish worship of the emperors, that they do better: they pray for them, and that Christians can afford to be put to torture and to death, and the more they are cast down the more they grow; "the blood of the Christians is seed" (''Apologeticum'', 50). In the ''De Praescriptione'' he develops as its fundamental idea that, in a dispute between the Church and a separating party, the whole [[Legal burden of proof|burden of proof]] lies with the latter, as the Church, in possession of the unbroken tradition, is by its very existence a guarantee of its truth.

The five books against Marcion, written in 207 or 208, are the most comprehensive and elaborate of his polemical works, invaluable for gauging the early Christian view of Gnosticism. Tertullian has been identified by Jo Ann McNamara as the person who originally invested the consecrated virgin as the "bride of Christ", which helped to bring the independent virgin under patriarchal rule.{{sfn|Bitel|2008|p=17}}

Scholars in the past accepting the Montanist theory have also divided his work into earlier Catholic works and the later supposedly Montanist works (cf. Harnack, ii.262 sqq.), aiming to show the change of views Tertullian's mind underwent.