I have often heard that Tertullian was a great leader of the baptists, or true christians, if you will, against the heretics. However I was reading his own writing on baptism, and must conclude that he was a no baptist! It appears to me he believed in baptismal regeneration. Here's the link.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian21.html
Tertullian an ancient baptist?
Discussion in '2000-02 Archive' started by Zebedee, Aug 19, 2002.
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Here's a previous discussion:
http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=16&t=000025&p=
I think the greatest affinity to Baptists is his rejection of hierarchy and the belief in the priesthood of all believers.
From “The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History” by A. Kenneth Curtis, J. Stephen Lang and Randy Petersen.
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Tertullian was not converted to Montanist ideals until around 207 AD, so he wrote for about 11 years from one position, then changed that position when he converted. Care must be made in descerning between his earlier writings, and his later writings.
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Zebedee,
About a year ago I wrote a number of Church history professors in various Baptist Seminaries (SBC, GARBC, Reformed, etc.) and asked them if many of the church fathers from 150-500 AD (such as Tertullian) believed in baptismal regeneration. As you have noted, many of their writting make it seem so. Every one of these professors that responsed said they believed these early men speaking in a symbolic sense, much the same way Aninias said to Paul "Arise and wash away your sins". -
I understand that Tertullian was a Montanist leader and if you subscribe to the idea (as I do) that the Montanists, Paulicians and Donatists were early Baptists then I think he was a Baptist. If the Lord tarries another 1,000 years, I fear people will read the transcripts of this board and wonder if any of us were Baptists.