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Against Praxeas

Tertullian

Chapter 30

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 XXX.—How the Son Was Forsaken by the Father Upon the Cross. The True Meaning Thereof Fatal to Praxeas. So Too, the Resurrection of Christ, His Ascension, Session at the Father’s Right Hand, and Mission of the Holy Ghost.

However, if you persist in pushing your views

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further

,

I

shall

find

means

of

answering

you

with

greater

stringency

,

and

of

meeting

you

with

the

exclamation

of

the

Lord

Himself

,

so

as

to

challenge

you

with

the

question

,

What

is

your

inquiry

and

reasoning

about

that

?

You

have

Him

exclaiming

in

the

midst

of

His

passion

:

“

My

God

,

my

God

,

why

hast

Thou

forsaken

me

?

”

Either

,

then

,

the

Son

suffered

,

being

“

forsaken

”

by

the

Father

,

and

the

Father

consequently

suffered

nothing

,

inasmuch

as

He

forsook

the

Son

;

or

else

,

if

it

was

the

Father

who

suffered

,

then

to

what

God

was

it

that

He

addressed

His

cry

?

But

this

was

the

voice

of

flesh

and

soul

,

that

is

to

say

,

of

man

—

not

of

the

Word

and

Spirit

,

that

is

to

say

,

not

of

God

;

and

it

was

uttered

so

as

to

prove

the

impassibility

of

God

,

who

“

forsook

”

His

Son

,

so

far

as

He

handed

over

His

human

substance

to

the

suffering

of

death

.

This

verity

the

apostle

also

perceived

,

when

he

writes

to

this

effect

:

“

If

the

Father

spared

not

His

own

Son

.

”

This

did

Isaiah

before

him

likewise

perceive

,

when

he

declared

:

“

And

the

Lord

hath

delivered

Him

up

for

our

offences

.

”

In

this

manner

He

“

forsook

”

Him

,

in

not

sparing

Him

;

“

forsook

”

Him

,

in

delivering

Him

up

.

In

all

other

respects

the

Father

did

not

forsake

the

Son

,

for

it

was

into

His

Father’s

hands

that

the

Son

commended

His

spirit

.

Indeed

,

after

so

commending

it

,

He

instantly

died

;

and

as

the

Spirit

remained

with

the

flesh

,

the

flesh

cannot

undergo

the

full

extent

of

death

,

i

.

e

.

,

in

corruption

and

decay

.

For

the

Son

,

therefore

,

to

die

,

amounted

to

His

being

forsaken

by

the

Father

.

The

Son

,

then

,

both

dies

and

rises

again

,

according

to

the

Scriptures

.

It

is

the

Son

,

too

,

who

ascends

to

the

heights

of

heaven

,

and

also

descends

to

the

inner

parts

of

the

earth

.

“

He

sitteth

at

the

Father’s

right

hand

”

—

not

the

Father

at

His

own

.

He

is

seen

by

Stephen

,

at

his

martyrdom

by

stoning

,

still

sitting

at

the

right

hand

of

God

where

He

will

continue

to

sit

,

until

the

Father

shall

make

His

enemies

His

footstool

.

He

will

come

again

on

the

clouds

of

heaven

,

just

as

He

appeared

when

He

ascended

into

heaven

.

Meanwhile

He

has

received

from

the

Father

the

promised

gift

,

and

has

shed

it

forth

,

even

the

Holy

Spirit

—

the

Third

Name

in

the

Godhead

,

and

the

Third

Degree

of

the

Divine

Majesty

;

the

Declarer

of

the

One

Monarchy

of

God

,

but

at

the

same

time

the

Interpreter

of

the

Economy

,

to

every

one

who

hears

and

receives

the

words

of

the

new

prophecy

;

and

“

the

Leader

into

all

truth

,

”

such

as

is

in

the

Father

,

and

the

Son

,

and

the

Holy

Ghost

,

according

to

the

mystery

of

the

doctrine

of

Christ

.

Notes

1
Matt. xxvii. 46.
2
Rom. viii. 32.
3
This is the sense rather than the words of Isa. liii. 5, 6.
4
Luke xxiii. 46.
5
i.e., the divine nature.
6
1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.
7
John iii. 13.
8
Eph. iv. 9.
9
Mark xvi. 19; Rev. iii. 21.
10
Acts vii. 55.
11
Ps. cx. 1.
12
Acts i. 11; Luke xxi. 37.
13
Tertullian was now a [pronounced] Montanist.
14
John xvi. 13.