And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
All Commentaries on Revelation 6:9 Go To Revelation 6
Tertullian of Carthage
AD 220
Beheld plainly the souls of the martyrs.
How is it, then, that the region of Paradise, which as revealed to John in the Spirit lay under the altar.
In the Revelation of John, again, the order of these times is spread out to view, which "the souls of the martyrs "are taught to wait for beneath the altar, whilst they earnestly pray to be avenged and judged:.
For unquestionably he, who has exhibited to our sight the martyrs' hitherto disembodied souls resting under the altar.
Who, pray, are these so blessed conquerors, but martyrs in the strict sense of the word? For indeed theirs are the victories whose also are the fights; theirs, however, are the fights whose also is the blood. But the souls of the martyrs both peacefully rest in the meantime under the altar,
