We began with Tertullian's twin claims for simplicity and perfection. Simplicity did not last long in the apologetic battle against diverse opponents. Athens turned out to have a lot to do with Jerusalem, and the Christian message of credible ineptitude made demands on understanding. Antitheses in God and a divine trinity left the ‘simplices ne dixerim imprudentes et idiotae’ well behind. Prayer took place in conflict and the demands of the bible could not be reduced to uniformity. The simplicity of baptism did not produce transformed lives. Not even sin was straightforward: Tertullian the sinner disagreed with bishops on the fate of exuberant sinners. Those who rose above this confused world, as Valentinians did, finished with greater confusion and muddled fantasies. Even death did not solve all puzzles, for the resurrection of the flesh was contradictory and essential.

Above all, Tertullian wanted to live and to help others to live a Christian life in a complex world. The excellence of Christian example first drew him to a church whose corporate mediocrity (mediocritas nostrd) repelled him. Besides this conflict, there was a deeper puzzle. The recapitulation of all things in Christ meant both correction and perfection. If someone struck you, retaliation was cleverly reconstructed. In giving a cheek for a cheek, you supplied the second cheek yourself and achieved correction and perfection. Ethics lay at the heart of the Christian mystery. The love command summed up the law.