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It is certain because it is impossible.

Certum est, quia impossibile.

Original text (Latin)

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Notes from Wikiquote

De Carne Christi 5.4 | Also paraphrased as "It is so extraordinary that it must be true." | The above two lines from De Carne Christi have often become conflated into the statement: "Credo quia impossibile" (I believe it because it is impossible), which can be perceived as a distortion of the actual arguments that Tertullian was making.

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Philosophy

More quotes by Tertullian

It is certainly no part of religion to compel religion.

The principal crime of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgment, is idolatry.

They converse as those who know that God hears.

See how these Christians love one another.

Demons are the magistrates of this world: they bear the fasces … One soul cannot be due to two masters—God and Cæsar.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Tertullian (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.