. .
.We are a society
with a common religious feeling, unity of discipline, a common
bond of hope. We meet in gatherings and congregations to
approach God in prayer, massing our forces to surround Him . . .
We meet to read the divine Scriptures . . . Our presidents are
elders of proved character . .
Even if there
is a treasury of a sort, it is not made up of money paid in
initiation fees, as if religion were a matter of contract.
Every man once a month brings some modest contribution – or
whenever he wishes, and only if he does wish, and if he can; for
nobody is compelled; it is a voluntary offering . . . to feed the
poor and to bury them, for boys and girls who lack property and
parents, and then for slaves grown old . . .
So we, who
are united in mind and soul, have no hesitation about sharing
property. All is common among us – except our wives.
At that point we dissolve our partnership . .
.
Our dinner
shows its idea in its name; it is called by the Greek name for
love . . . We do not take our places at table until we have first
partaken of prayer to God. Only so much is eaten as
satisfies hunger . . . After water for the hands come the lights;
and then each, from what he knows of the Holy Scriptures, or from
his own heart, is called before the rest to sing to
God.
. . . Prayer
in like manner ends the banquet . . . (Roman Civilization Source
book II: the Empire, 588).
Tertullian
was a Latin speaking believer who lived around 200
A.D.
