It is widely assumed that Tertullian’s interest in dream-visions serves
as evidence of his Montanism, epitomizing his departure from orthodoxy.
This conviction persists in scholarship in spite of serious problems in
proving a direct connection between Tertullian’s taxonomy of
dream-visions (An. 42-57) and Montanist practices. The purpose of
this study, however, is not to deny the possible influence of Montanism
on Tertullian, but instead to account for his interest in dream-visions
by employing a more dynamic model for diversity in ancient
Christianity. The model used in this study attends to the rhetorical
context of Tertullian’s oneirology. Rather than focusing on Tertullian’s
so-called Montanism, I note the way dream-visions, as part of the
social relations of daily life, enabled ancient authors like Tertullian
to negotiate multiple identities. Just as Roman authors (e.g.,
Artemidorus of Daldis) assumed a range of identities distinct from an
expert dream interpreter (warrior, traveller, doctor, and researcher),
so did Christian authors like Tertullian. Adopting a variety of roles
enabled ancient authors to assert superiority over rivals as an
authority on dream interpretation. Tertullian’s taxonomy of
dream-visions thus offered the earliest surviving Christian account of
the phenomenon in antiquity. This study contributes, therefore, to
recent patristic studies that have rediscovered Tertullian’s
intellectual context of Roman culture.
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