. . . while we cannot be certain whether paradise, which according to
Tertullian is open and accessible only to the souls of martyrs, is equated with
heaven as such or (more probable) only a part of it (just as the sinus
Abrahae is part of the inferi), we may plausibly conclude that
Tertullian did not place it in the "lower parts" or inferi. What
connects the subterranean sinus Abrahae, destined for the souls of all
the faithful, and heavenly paradise sub altari, allotted only to martyrs,
is the fact that Tertullian seems to think that both are temporal (interim) refuges:
All souls must wait for the completion of times, the last judgement, and
the resurrection, because the soul must rejoin the body in order to become
complete and be subjected to the final judgement of God. The
"refreshment" (refrigerium) and even the candida
claritatis the souls enjoy, or the punishment they suffer, are just
temporal. To be comprehensive, the "divine censure" (diuina
censura) applies not only to the soul but also to the body. Afterwards, the
"complete man will be recalled to the paradise where he was initially': and
according to the promise made to the flesh, he and she will be called back in
the same condition in which they were before their expulsion: The substance or
nature of the flesh will be the same, while its condicio will change for
the better and will be liberated from all its original negative features, such
as infirmity, corruptibility, or mortality.
Where this ultimate and original paradise is located, how precisely it
looks, and whether it is even a place or rather a state of
integrity, final happiness, and bliss upon resurrection, Tertullian
intentionally leaves open. (Petr Kitzler, “Tertullian’s Paradise,” in “Montanism”
in the Roman World: The New Prophecy Movement from Historical, Sociological,
and Ecclesiological Perspectives—Festschrift for William Tabbernee on the
Occasion of His 80th Birthday, ed. Peter Lampe and Heidrun E. Mader [Novum
Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus/Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments 132; Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2024], 119-20)
