Heterodox / condemned
c. 155–220 · 3rd c. · 32 works
Tertullian was a Christian writer of Carthage active around the turn of the third century. He is recognized as the first major Christian author to compose his works in Latin, and he became a formative influence on the vocabulary of Western theology — among his lasting contributions the language later used to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity and the concept of a divine “person.”
A North African born at Carthage around the middle of the second century, he was well educated in literature, rhetoric, and law. Raised in a pagan household, he converted to Christianity as an adult and became a vigorous and combative controversialist; in later life he was drawn to the rigorist Montanist movement and broke with the mainstream Church over its demanding moralism.
His writings span apologetic, doctrinal, and moral subjects: the Apology, a defense of Christians addressed to the Roman authorities; Against Marcion, a five-book refutation of the heretic Marcion; On the Prescription of Heretics; On Baptism; and a large body of further moral and polemical treatises.
Despite his immense influence on later Latin Christianity, Tertullian is not venerated as a saint, owing in large part to his adoption of Montanism and his break with the Church; later writers treated him unfavorably even while acknowledging the force of his intellect.
Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica — Tertullian · Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent) — Tertullian