Rick Tomsick: Not Just a Clanging Cymbal: Tertullian’s Credibility by Association with Paul.

In examining the works of Tertullian, the question of his innovative use of language and rhetoric aside, it is intriguing to explore the enduring influence he had on early church doctrine albeit his apparent lack of formal (i.e., ordained) authority in the church. The intrigue is greater considering that his persistent influence on early church doctrine remains despite the later ban on his writings. This short communication proposes a basis for Tertullian’s auctoritas in the church at Carthage, founded on his emulation of Pauline epistles. In the pre-Montanist works at least, there is a similarity in style of Tertullian’s writing, particularly in the disciplinary works and in the anti-heretical treatises aimed at his theological opponents (both living and dead), with the style of Paul himself. I will argue that this was not merely an accidental appropriation (coincidental to his frequent citations to and exegesis of Pauline scriptural references), but to some extent the deliberate attempt to assume for himself an important role in the church, writing with the authority of an apostle to establish his status and credibility. In this way, Tertullian became not only an important interpreter of Paul, but an inventor of de novo arguments in his own right.