Mary's Virginity in partu and Tertullian's anti-Docetism in De Carne Christi Reconsidered

Abstract

Astute scholars have already pointed to the fact that it is Tertullian's vehement anti-docetism that best explains his rejection of the notion that Mary's virginity did not relate only to the question of the conception of Jesus. Insistence on Mary's virginity in the act of giving birth (in partu) or thereafter (post partum) would, for Tertullian, weaken the argument that Jesus was possessed of true humanity in his flesh. This important question in historical theology is revisited from the literary perspective of rhetorical criticism. I wish to argue that it is really Tertullian's handling of Scripture as an evidential tool in the construction of a rhetorical position that allows him to use reference to Mary's virginity as part of his anti-docetic position. A close examination of the rhetoric of Tertullian's De Carne Christi will illustrate this point.