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Against Praxeas

Tertullian

Chapter 20

About this work

A polemical Latin treatise opposing a modalist account of God and articulating distinctions among Father, Son, and Spirit while insisting on divine unity and the reality of Christ’s incarnation.

Author: Tertullian
Date: Early 3rd century
Origin: Carthage, North Africa
Genre: Theological Treatise

Chapter XX.—The Scriptures Relied on by Praxeas to Support His Heresy But Few. They are Mentioned by Tertullian.

But I must take some further pains to rebut their

‹ Chapter 19 Chapter 21 ›

arguments

,

when

they

make

selections

from

the

Scriptures

in

support

of

their

opinion

,

and

refuse

to

consider

the

other

points

,

which

obviously

maintain

the

rule

of

faith

without

any

infraction

of

the

unity

of

the

Godhead

,

and

with

the

full

admission

of

the

Monarchy

.

For

as

in

the

Old

Testament

Scriptures

they

lay

hold

of

nothing

else

than

,

“

I

am

God

,

and

beside

me

there

is

no

God

;

”

so

in

the

Gospel

they

simply

keep

in

view

the

Lord’s

answer

to

Philip

,

“

I

and

my

Father

are

one

;

”

and

,

“

He

that

hath

seen

me

hath

seen

the

Father

;

and

I

am

in

the

Father

,

and

the

Father

in

me

.

”

They

would

have

the

entire

revelation

of

both

Testaments

yield

to

these

three

passages

,

whereas

the

only

proper

course

is

to

understand

the

few

statements

in

the

light

of

the

many

.

But

in

their

contention

they

only

act

on

the

principle

of

all

heretics

.

For

,

inasmuch

as

only

a

few

testimonies

are

to

be

found

(

making

for

them

)

in

the

general

mass

,

they

pertinaciously

set

off

the

few

against

the

many

,

and

assume

the

later

against

the

earlier

.

The

rule

,

however

,

which

has

been

from

the

beginning

established

for

every

case

,

gives

its

prescription

against

the

later

assumptions

,

as

indeed

it

also

does

against

the

fewer

.

Notes

1
Sonitu.
2
Isa. xlv. 5.
3
John x. 30.
4
John xiv. 9, 10.