Primary source · Latin
On Baptism (De Baptismo)
Tertullian · c. AD 200
What this text is
The first treatise on baptism — and, in chapter 17, the earliest external notice of the Acts of Paul and Thecla, whose author, Tertullian reports, was deposed for composing it 'out of love for Paul.'
Profile of Tertullian of Carthage →
Public-domain translations
ANF translation (1885, public domain)
But if the writings which wrongly go under Paul's name claim Thecla's example as a licence for women's teaching and baptizing, let them know that, in Asia, the presbyter who composed that writing, as if he were augmenting Paul's fame from his own store, after being convicted, and confessing that he had done it from love of Paul, was removed from his office. (De bapt. 17)
Manuscript witnesses
Codex Trecensis 523 and the lost Cluny corpus
12th c.De Baptismo survives by a thread — one medieval manuscript and early printed copies of lost ones.
Mesnart edition (Paris)
1545Early printing preserving readings of lost manuscripts.
Provenance
Carthage
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Tertullian's Homily on BaptismErnest Evans, 1964Critical text, translation, and commentary.
- Tertullian (The Early Church Fathers)Geoffrey D. Dunn, 2004Modern introduction with translations.