Tertullian (person)

The life of Tertullian is a hard thing to pin down exactly, and even harder to pin down correctly. According to Jerome’s accounts of him, Tertullian was the son of a Roman Centurion, was converted to Christianity in mid life, became a Presbyter and died late in life. However, Jerome’s accounts of this are called into question. According to some scholars, Tertullian must have been converted earlier in life due to evidence in some of his writings, and he died much earlier in his life. As a side note, there is a Jurisconsult in Rome around this time by the name of Tertullian that may or may not be our man. What is not disputed is that he came from and wrote generally in Carthage. He was probably married, due to a document he wrote addressed to his wife, and due to his knowledge of Latin and Greek was probably relatively well educated.