Fallen Angels and the Christian Body in Tertullian’s On the Veiling of Virgins: A Multispecies Exploration

Abstract

Abstract Drawing on insights from posthuman theory, this article analyzes the role of fallen angels in Tertullian of Carthage’s On the Veiling of Virgins. In this treatise, Tertullian argues that unveiled virgins stand in danger of sexual attack by fallen angels and must don the veil to protect themselves. I examine how ancient understandings of connections between humans and (fallen) angels undergird Tertullian’s textual logics. I call attention to angels’ (1) hyper-sexual desire for human women, (2) cosmic positioning in the intermediary celestial realm, and (3) gawkish observance of humanity. I outline how each of these aspects of angelic nature serve as key supports for Tertullian’s construction of the human (female) body. I close the article by noting that Tertullian’s invocation of fallen angels likely served to counter the unveiled virgins’ own appeals to (benevolent) angelic corporeality, thus positioning Tertullian’s On Veiling as a kind of “counter-angelology.”