On Idolatry

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, commonly referred to as Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 220 AD), was raised in Carthage. He was thought to be the son of a Roman centurion, a trained lawyer, and an ordained priest. These assertions rely on the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History,  and St. Jerome's De viris illustribus (On famous men).

Tertullian is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy. Tertullian has been called "the father of Latin Christianity"and "the founder of Western theology."Though conservative, he did originate and advance new theology to the early Church. He is perhaps most famous for being the oldest extant Latin writer to use the term Trinity (Latin trinitas),and giving the oldest extant formal exposition of a Trinitarian theology.[Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae, una Substantia" . He wrote his trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist; his ideas were at first rejected as heresy by the church at large, but later accepted as Christian orthodoxyScant reliable evidence exists to inform us about Tertullian's life. Most history about him comes from passing references in his own writings.

"De idololatria" or On Idolatry, explains that the making of idols is forbidden, and similarly astrology, selling of incense, etc. A schoolmaster cannot elude contamination. A Christian cannot be a soldier. To the question, "How am I then to live?", Tertullian replies that faith fears not famine; for the Faith we must give up our life, how much more our living? 

This edition of Tertullian’s On Idolatry is specially formatted with a Table of Contents.