In my paper I will examine the regula fidei as it appeared at the end of the second century in Tertullian's book entitled De Praescriptione Haeriticorum.  I will first examine the text of the creed itself looking at certain fundamental elements of Christian belief that have there source in the Church's apostolic kerygma.  Then I will look at the liturgical aspects underlying the creed of Tertullian, and how the Church in connection with Jewish tradition saw the ritual recitation of the events of Sacred History as a reliving of those events through a liturgical act of remembrance.  Seen in this light the regula fidei is much more than a simple test used to expose heretics; instead, it is a vital element within the living tradition of the Church, which enables the Church in her Divine Liturgy to transcend time and thus participate in the saving action of Christ.

          In his creed Tertullian lists in the traditional order the events of Salvation History.  The creeds of the early Church always begin with a monotheistic declaration of faith in God, "the maker of the world, who produced the universe out of nothing, through His Word." [Text B]  This statement clearly expresses the belief that God is the source of all that exists and that there was no pre-existing material from which God forms the universe.  Tertullian next affirms the pre-existence of the Word, for he declares that the Word, who is also called the Son, "was seen in the name of God in various ways by the patriarchs, and always heard in the prophets." [Text B]  In saying this he affirms that a continuity exists between the Old and New Testaments, and it should be noted that this is a perennial teaching of the Church, for she has always affirmed that, "God, the inspirer and author of both Testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New." [Dei Verbum, chap. 4, no.16; see St. Augustine, Quaestiones in Heptateuchum, 2,73: PL 34, 623]  In this way Tertullian is also clearly rejecting the Marcionite heresy.

          The next article of faith which Tertullian puts forward concerns the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, the same Word spoken of earlier as the agent of creation, who in the fullness of time assumed human nature and became man in order the suffer and redeem fallen humanity by being "fastened to the cross." [Text B]  After His sacrificial offering the Eternal Word is raised from the dead and is "caught up into the heavens" [Text B], taking His place "at the right hand of the Father." [Text B]  Once Christ has ascended into heaven and has been glorified by His Father, "He [sends] in His place the power of the Holy Ghost, to lead the believers" [Text B], and in this way Christ empowers the Church to continue His work of salvation throughout history.  Finally, Tertullian professes a belief in Christ's second coming, at which time the general resurrection of the dead will occur, and following that the Lord will "take the saints into the enjoyment of eternal life and the celestial promises." [Text B]

          All the early Christian creeds have there origin in the Church's baptismal liturgy, for it is in this particular liturgical celebration that the catechumen renounces the world and is born again in the likeness of Christ.  Once the catechumen is configured to the image of Christ in baptism, he becomes a son of God, in the only begotten Son of God, and thus he begins the process of his divinization by grace.  Through the recitation the events of Sacred History in the baptismal liturgy the Church relives the saving events of Christ's life, thus rendering them present and bringing the worshipper into contact with them sacramentally.   A. S. Herbert in his study of ancient Jewish worship pointed out that the recitation of the events of Sacred History in the Psalms reminds one "of early Christian baptismal creeds." [Herbert, 25]  This is a consequence of the fact that both Judaism and Christianity see God as the Lord of History, and in fact in the biblical period events were considered to be history only when they were "recognized as integral parts of a God-planned and God-directed working, extending from creation to the eschaton." [Wright, 82] Therefore, history is not a random chain of events; instead, it is directed by God with a specific purpose, and it is recorded in order that man may confess "his faith by reciting the formative events of his history as the redemptive handiwork of God. [Wright, 38]  Thus any view that would promote the idea of history "as a secular, naturalistic, cause-and-effect process in which events are to be explained solely by the interplay of environment and geography on individual and social organisms" [Wright, 82], would be inconceivable to the ancient Jews and the early Christians.

          The theology of liturgical remembrance is an integral part of the Christian creedal tradition, and so by reciting the events of Sacred History in a liturgical celebration the Christian faithful are able to render present those acts of God which provide them with His grace and the power of redemption.  Brevard S. Childs in his book, Memory and Tradition in Israel, stated that, "... the act of remembrance is not a simple inner reflection, but involves an action, an encounter with historical events.  Each successive generation in Israel witnessed in faith to a reality which it encountered when remembering the tradition.  The biblical events have the dynamic characteristic of refusing to be relegated to the past." [Childs, 88]  The Church shares this view of history with Judaism, and so when she recites the regula fidei in the liturgy, it is not primarily done to exclude heretics; instead, it is done in order the render present the one all holy oblation of Christ as a living reality effective in the present moment.  For the Church, "Remembrance equals participation." [Childs, 56]   From this it is clear that the creed of Tertullian has a twofold purpose: its primary purpose is the reactualization of the events of Christ's life, of His incarnation, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, while also containing a prophetic pledge of His parousia at the end of time, and only in a secondary way is it meant to set a rule of faith binding on all Christians with the additional purpose of exposing those who do not share the Church's faith.

TEXT B – CHRISTIANITY [An excerpt from Tertullian's De Praescriptione Haeriticorum (d. AD 220)]

  ". . . The Rule of Faith is . . . namely, that by which it is believed: That there is only one God, and no other besides the Maker of the world, who produced the universe out of nothing, through His Word, sent forth first of all; that this Word, called His Son, was seen in the name of God in various ways by the patriarchs, and always heard in the prophets, at last was sent down from the Spirit and power of God the Father, into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of the heavens; wrought miracles; was fastened to the cross; rose again the third day; was caught up into the heavens; and sat at the right hand of the Father; He sent in His place the power of the Holy Ghost, to lead the believers; He will come again with glory to take the saints into the enjoyment of eternal life and the celestial promises, and to judge the wicked with perpetual fire, with the restoration of the flesh."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brevard S. Childs.  Memory and Tradition in Israel.  (London:  SCM Press Ltd., 1962).

A. S. Herbert.  Worship in Ancient Israel.  (Richmond:  John Knox Press, 1965).

G. Ernest Wright.  God Who Acts.  (London:  SCM Press Ltd., 1962).

Documents of Vatican II.  Dei Verbum:  The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.  (Boston:  Pauline Books and Media, 1965).

Tertullian and the Regula Fidei

by Steven Todd Kaster

San Francisco State University

Philosophy 501:  Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Dr. Fred Astren

10 May 1999

Copyright © 1999-2025 Steven Todd Kaster