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Against Praxeas

Tertullian

Chapter 28

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 XXVIII.—Christ Not the Father, as Praxeas Said. The Inconsistency of This Opinion, No Less Than Its Absurdity, Exposed. The True Doctrine of Jesus Christ According to St. Paul, Who Agrees with Other Sacred Writers.

And so, most foolish heretic, you make

‹ Chapter 27 Chapter 29 ›

Christ

to

be

the

Father

,

without

once

considering

the

actual

force

of

this

name

,

if

indeed

Christ

is

a

name

,

and

not

rather

a

surname

,

or

designation

;

for

it

signifies

“

Anointed

.

”

But

Anointed

is

no

more

a

proper

name

than

Clothed

or

Shod

;

it

is

only

an

accessory

to

a

name

.

Suppose

now

that

by

some

means

Jesus

were

also

called

Vestitus

(

Clothed

)

,

as

He

is

actually

called

Christ

from

the

mystery

of

His

anointing

,

would

you

in

like

manner

say

that

Jesus

was

the

Son

of

God

,

and

at

the

same

time

suppose

that

Vestitus

was

the

Father

?

Now

then

,

concerning

Christ

,

if

Christ

is

the

Father

,

the

Father

is

an

Anointed

One

,

and

receives

the

unction

of

course

from

another

.

Else

if

it

is

from

Himself

that

He

receives

it

,

then

you

must

prove

it

to

us

.

But

we

learn

no

such

fact

from

the

Acts

of

the

Apostles

in

that

ejaculation

of

the

Church

to

God

,

“

Of

a

truth

,

Lord

,

against

Thy

Holy

Child

Jesus

,

whom

Thou

hast

anointed

,

both

Herod

and

Pontius

Pilate

with

the

Gentiles

and

the

people

of

Israel

were

gathered

together

.

”

These

then

testified

both

that

Jesus

was

the

Son

of

God

,

and

that

being

the

Son

,

He

was

anointed

by

the

Father

.

Christ

therefore

must

be

the

same

as

Jesus

who

was

anointed

by

the

Father

,

and

not

the

Father

,

who

anointed

the

Son

.

To

the

same

effect

are

the

words

of

Peter

:

“

Let

all

the

house

of

Israel

know

assuredly

that

God

hath

made

that

same

Jesus

,

whom

ye

have

crucified

,

both

Lord

and

Christ

,

”

that

is

,

Anointed

.

John

,

moreover

,

brands

that

man

as

“

a

liar

”

who

“

denieth

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

;

”

whilst

on

the

other

hand

he

declares

that

“

every

one

is

born

of

God

who

believeth

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

.

”

Wherefore

he

also

exhorts

us

to

believe

in

the

name

of

His

(

the

Father’s

,

)

Son

Jesus

Christ

,

that

“

our

fellowship

may

be

with

the

Father

,

and

with

His

Son

Jesus

Christ

.

”

Paul

,

in

like

manner

,

everywhere

speaks

of

“

God

the

Father

,

and

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

.

”

When

writing

to

the

Romans

,

he

gives

thanks

to

God

through

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

.

To

the

Galatians

he

declares

himself

to

be

“

an

apostle

not

of

men

,

neither

by

man

,

but

through

Jesus

Christ

and

God

the

Father

.

”

You

possess

indeed

all

his

writings

,

which

testify

plainly

to

the

same

effect

,

and

set

forth

Two

—

God

the

Father

,

and

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

,

the

Son

of

the

Father

.

(

They

also

testify

)

that

Jesus

is

Himself

the

Christ

,

and

under

one

or

the

other

designation

the

Son

of

God

.

For

precisely

by

the

same

right

as

both

names

belong

to

the

same

Person

,

even

the

Son

of

God

,

does

either

name

alone

without

the

other

belong

to

the

same

Person

.

Consequently

,

whether

it

be

the

name

Jesus

which

occurs

alone

,

Christ

is

also

understood

,

because

Jesus

is

the

Anointed

One

;

or

if

the

name

Christ

is

the

only

one

given

,

then

Jesus

is

identified

with

Him

,

because

the

Anointed

One

is

Jesus

.

Now

,

of

these

two

names

Jesus

Christ

,

the

former

is

the

proper

one

,

which

was

given

to

Him

by

the

angel

;

and

the

latter

is

only

an

adjunct

,

predicable

of

Him

from

His

anointing

,

—

thus

suggesting

the

proviso

that

Christ

must

be

the

Son

,

not

the

Father

.

How

blind

,

to

be

sure

,

is

the

man

who

fails

to

perceive

that

by

the

name

of

Christ

some

other

God

is

implied

,

if

he

ascribes

to

the

Father

this

name

of

Christ

!

For

if

Christ

is

God

the

Father

,

when

He

says

,

“

I

ascend

unto

my

Father

and

your

Father

,

and

to

my

God

and

your

God

,

”

He

of

course

shows

plainly

enough

that

there

is

above

Himself

another

Father

and

another

God

.

If

,

again

,

the

Father

is

Christ

,

He

must

be

some

other

Being

who

“

strengtheneth

the

thunder

,

and

createth

the

wind

,

and

declareth

unto

men

His

Christ

.

”

And

if

“

the

kings

of

the

earth

stood

up

,

and

the

rulers

were

gathered

together

against

the

Lord

and

against

His

Christ

,

”

that

Lord

must

be

another

Being

,

against

whose

Christ

were

gathered

together

the

kings

and

the

rulers

.

And

if

,

to

quote

another

passage

,

“

Thus

saith

the

Lord

to

my

Lord

Christ

,

”

the

Lord

who

speaks

to

the

Father

of

Christ

must

be

a

distinct

Being

.

Moreover

,

when

the

apostle

in

his

epistle

prays

,

“

That

the

God

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

may

give

unto

you

the

spirit

of

wisdom

and

of

knowledge

,

”

He

must

be

other

(

than

Christ

)

,

who

is

the

God

of

Jesus

Christ

,

the

bestower

of

spiritual

gifts

.

And

once

for

all

,

that

we

may

not

wander

through

every

passage

,

He

“

who

raised

up

Christ

from

the

dead

,

and

is

also

to

raise

up

our

mortal

bodies

,

”

must

certainly

be

,

as

the

quickener

,

different

from

the

dead

Father

,

or

even

from

the

quickened

Father

,

if

Christ

who

died

is

the

Father

.

Notes

1
Acts iv. 27.
2
Acts ii. 36.
3
See 1 John ii. 22, iv. 2, 3, and v. 1.
4
1 John i. 3.
5
Rom. i. 8.
6
Gal. i. 1.
7
John xx. 17.
8
Amos iv. 13, Sept.
9
Ps. ii. 2.
10
Here Tertullian reads τῷ Χριστῷ μου Κυρίῳ, instead of Κύρῳ, “to Cyrus,” in Isa. xlv. 1.
11
Eph. i. 17.
12
Rom. viii. 11.
13
From this deduction of the doctrine of Praxeas, that the Father must have suffered on the cross, his opponents called him and his followers Patripassians.