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This is the final article in a seven-part series based on a paper the author submitted for a Masters of Religion (MRel) programme in Middle East and North Africa Studies with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut entitled “Analysis of and Applications from the Writings of Tertullian about Persecution for Today.” 

The writings of Tertullian of Carthage continue to exert a striking resonance across the centuries. Though composed in the crucible of the second and third centuries, amidst accusations, legal injustices, mob violence, and state hostility, his apologetic and polemical texts offer both theological foundations and practical strategies for Christian responses to persecution. The parallels between the sufferings endured by Christians in many parts of the world today, and the applicability, and familiarity of many of Tertullian’s responses means that these texts retain sharp relevance today for persecuted communities, the wider Church internationally, organisations seeking to support persecuted Christians, and campaigners fighting for religious freedom. Even U.S. vice presidents can find rationales in Tertullian’s writings for virtuous, rights-advancing foreign policies!

In the Apology and the Address to Scapula, we find a number of enduring principles that can be applied in the modern context. These include the concept that freedom of conscience is inherent to human nature. Perhaps Tertullian’s most enduring contribution is his articulation of religious liberty as a matter of justice rooted in human dignity. His insistence that belief cannot be coerced, but must arise freely from conviction, anticipates later formulations of human rights. In this sense, Tertullian grounds religious freedom not in cultural tolerance or state expediency, but in the very nature of humanity. This provides a robust foundation for defending religious freedom for all peoples, regardless of creed.

Tertullian’s insistence on legal consistency – a fair trial, the right to defence, and opposition to scapegoating – remains a compelling model for modern advocacy. His critiques expose the dangers of arbitrary state power and mob-driven violence, both of which remain threats in many contexts today. By appealing to law and reason, he demonstrates that Christian advocacy is not an anarchic rejection of political order but an appeal to its better self.

Tertullian endeavours to capture the paradox of Christian martyrdom: Christians do not seek suffering, yet they embrace it when it comes, seeing in it a testimony to Truth and a privileged opportunity to share in Christ’s sufferings. By refusing both cowardly denial and reckless provocation (thereby landing in the virtuous domain of courageous witness), Tertullian (together with contemporaries such as Clement and Cyprian) outlines a balanced and godly attitude. In modern terms, this cautions against either glorifying persecution or avoiding it at all costs.

Tertullian’s assertion that Christians pray for rulers and bless persecutors aligns closely with the radical ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. This principle remains foundational for Christian engagement in hostile contexts: not antagonism, but intercession; not enmity, but love. Such a posture defuses narratives of rebellion and provides a distinctive contribution to the moral imagination of plural societies.

The Early Church’s care for prisoners, captives, and the dispossessed, recorded by Tertullian and Cyprian alike, exemplifies the familial concern and social witness of Christianity. In modern times, this finds continuity in organisations dedicated to humanitarian support for persecuted communities. Religious freedom is not merely a principle to be defended in courts and legislatures, but a lived reality expressed in solidarity and practical compassion.

Not every element of Tertullian’s polemic can or should be translated directly into the modern era. Tertullian seems to have flirted with intimations of Christian numerical strength as a latent threat to the state. Yet the broader sweep of his writing emphasises precisely the opposite: that Christians contribute to civic welfare through prayer, peace, and moral integrity. This reminder is especially important in a world where minority religious groups are still falsely accused of subversion or disloyalty. The Christian apologetic must consistently emphasise peaceableness, service, and non-retaliation.

Tertullian’s famed aphorism about the “seed” of Christian blood should be read contextually: based on an observation in that historic moment of conversions resulting from the witness of Christian suffering and subsequent inquiry, and a rhetorical assertion of God’s ultimate power to grow His Church in the face of violent opposition. It should not be interpreted as a universal maxim. The Tertullian Fallacy, that persecution and Christian bloodshed in all circumstances have a causal correlation with church growth needs to be addressed and rejected as proven false through an assessment of historic fact, as well as being Biblically specious.

The underlying distinction that seems to mark those principles and responses that can be applied today involves the application of Scripture in their foundation and justification. Where Tertullian and his near contemporaries reference principles drawn from Biblical teachings, we tend to see the endurance of the applicability of the attitudes, ethics, and actions transmitted through the centuries and millennia up until the current period. Tertullian himself rarely cites Scripture in the two primary texts we have been investigating because his audience for these was not Christian and likely had no knowledge of the Christian canon and little interest in it. One of the only references to Scripture was in relation to Christian intercession for their enemies and for those in leadership, in which instance he was also exhorting the reader to investigate the Christian texts for themselves.[1] It could be assumed that in that case he did so because it seems so completely counterintuitive, unbelievable, for Christians to act in such a way. Therefore, only the investigation of the claim would prove the truth of his assertion. We know, however, that the Bible served as his foundation insofar as so much of what he asserts aligns with Christian teaching, and because we can note that where the intended audience of his works are Christian (e.g. De Idololatria, and Concerning the Resurrection of the Flesh) we see him make regular reference to Scripture as the basis for his arguments. We find Biblical justifications for many of the same points that Tertullian is asserting in the writings of Bishop Cyprian and Clement of Alexandria, addressing Christians, or indeed from contemporary organisations justifying their missions and activities with Bible verses.

Where Tertullian’s arguments and approaches do not stand the test of time or do not bear scrutiny, they are assertions which seem to contradict Christian Biblical teaching. Whilst the Tertullian Fallacy might be explained by a lack of contextual appreciation in its interpretation in the modern era, we can turn to Scripture to critique the claim that the blood of martyred Christians is “seed.” This might most clearly be achieved through the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) which Christ makes clear to His disciples by a thorough explanation of its meaning. The seed is not persecution but, Jesus says, the Gospel. He goes on to clarify what He was describing by the seed that fell on rocky ground. Jesus say that this is about the person who “receives the word with joy” but “when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” (Matthew 13: 20-21). This directly contradicts the suggestion that persecution and martyrdom have an inevitably positive outcome in relation to salvation and church growth but, rather, can result in the dissolution of faith for the individual who experiences such suffering.

Putting to one side the occasional polemical diversion from Scriptural principles, Tertullian’s writings demonstrate that the Christian response to persecution is neither despairing retreat, nor violent revolt, but a bold and resolute insistence on Truth underpinned by love, justice, and peace. This balanced, Scripturally-grounded approach offers a model not only for Christian endurance but also for broader civic coexistence in pluralistic societies. His vision points beyond sectarian advantage to a universal principle: that the dignity of conscience belongs to all, and that societies flourish when coercion is replaced by freedom, suspicion by trust, and hostility by mutual respect.

As such, Tertullian’s voice remains not merely a historical source for academic interest but a living resource. His insights encourage us to defend religious freedom not as a partisan demand, but as a universal good. His example inspires us to bear witness to Truth, including through the proclamation of the universal Truth claims of Christianity and vehement objection to religious beliefs and societal values which run contrary to the Gospel. He is an early witness of a Church that embraces the paradox of strength through weakness, and which embodies, in prayer and practical care, the love that Christ commanded for both our Spiritual kinfolk and our mortal enemy.

In applying these principles today, the campaign for religious freedom and peaceful coexistence can draw from one of the earliest Christian apologists both inspiration and strategy: to appeal to conscience and justice, to resist coercion with love, and to build societies where diverse faiths can not only exist but flourish together, not because religious truth does not exist, but because it does.

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[1] Tertullian, The Apology, 55.

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Miles Windsor serves as Director of Strategic Campaigns, International Strategies, at the Religious Freedom Institute. The article series is based on a paper that Windsor submitted for his Masters of Religion (MRel) programme in Middle East and North Africa Studies, with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS Lebanon) in Beirut entitled “Analysis of and Applications from the Writings of Tertullian about Persecution for Today.” The original paper focused on the writings of Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus (Tertullian of Carthage), identifying parallels between historic and contemporary persecution experiences and responses, with analysis.