Tertullian’s moral theology on women and the accusation of misogyny

Verbum et Ecclesia

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Tertullian’s moral theology on women and the accusation of misogyny
 
Creator Owusu-Gyamfi, Clifford Dei, Daniel
 
Subject Religion; Theology Tertullian; misogyny; Montanism; virtue; female gender; male gender; De cultu feminarum
Description Some modern scholars have linked the second century church father, Tertullian, to misogynism. This article wades into the debate over whether Tertullian should be considered a misogynist. Through the combined approaches of historical enquiry and interpretative theory, this article probes the validity of such connections. This article also argues that a consideration of Tertullian’s infamous De cultu feminarum and prevailing views of gender in the second and third centuries CE establish that he was not a misogynist per se. Rather, the offending comments should be understood as part of his broader moral and theological worldview of his time to call the Christian women to genuine Christian virtues, sobriety, sincerity, and continence.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article provides a reinterpretation of Tertullian’s attitude towards women for modern readers. While modern thinkers become shocked of some of his remarks about women, we have shown that a proper understanding of Tertullian’s moral theology will change the perception of modern readers, especially on the accusation of misogyny.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-04-22
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Historical inquiry
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ve.v43i1.2384
 
Source Verbum et Ecclesia; Vol 43, No 1 (2022); 8 pages 2074-7705 1609-9982
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2384/5638 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2384/5639 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2384/5640 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/2384/5641
 
Coverage — Early Church History Gender
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Clifford Owusu-Gyamfi, Daniel Dei https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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