Mora finis and angustias temporum in Tertullian

Abstract

In this paper Tertullian’s interpretation of the two Pauline verses (1 Cor. 7:29 and 2 Thess. 2:6–7) is examined. The author tries to explain those peculiarities of Tertullian’s perception of the end of the world, which made him to regard the Roman Empire as  “one that restrainth now (κατέχων)”. The Christian apologist making a close connection between “the straits of the times (angustiaе temporum)” and “the imminent distresses (imminentes angustiae)” and correlating the disorders preceding the doomsday with some diseases preceding the death of a man was bound to come to a conclusion that the restraint of the chaos can delay the end of the world, as the suppression of an illness can extend a human life.

Keywords:

Tertullian, New Testament, interpretation, quotations, Roman Empire as κατέχων, eschatology, pun