The Ancient Witnesses

64 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

seemed to be in a foul mood. 1 Commenting on the immutability of God, Tertullian rapped in Latin! “Our God is perfectly free,” he began, “and this is divine integrity,

For what God is God always will be In Him no change shall we ever see.

Not so for the moon, the stars and the sun They change every night in the courses they run Our God without loss and never with gain Remains Himself and is ever the same.” 2 As Tertullian sat down I saw a look of disbelief on my friends’ faces—except for Preacher, who was delighted by Tertullian’s poetic rap. “As our brother Tertullian suggests,” replied Mentor, “while the heavenly spheres vary in their phases, God’s glory never changes; God’s character—His love, truth, justice, and mercy—never varies with circumstances. “Human life involves continual change from birth to death,” Mentor continued, “and we mortals tend to think of change as good because so much about ourselves and our world needs changing. But God does not change in any way.” “Augustine, Bishop of Hippo,” Mentor next announced, “please enlighten us further.” Augustine rose from a throne-like chair in the arena.

1 These imaginative details are my impression of Tertullian but not based on reported facts about the ancient witness.

2 A poetic paraphrase of Tertullian, Ad Nationes ( To the Heathen ) II.6 (ANF 3, 134-135).