Tertullian (c. AD 160 - 225) was one of the first theologians of the Western Church and ranks among the most prominent of the early Latin fathers. His literary output is wide-ranging, and provides an invaluable insight into the Christian Church in the crucial period when the Roman Empire was in decline. This book is the first accessible introduction in English to Tertullian's works, providing translations of Adversus Iudaeos ( Against the Jews ), Scorpiace ( Antidote for the Scorpion's Sting ) and De Verginibus Velandis ( On the Veiling of Virgins ). These crucial works, together with Geoffrey D. Dunn's comprehensive commentary, illuminate the early church's reaction to paganism, Judaism, Scripture, and its development of a distinctive Christian ethic.