I’ve been taking a class at Pentecostal Theological Seminary – “Tertullian, Trinity, and the Charismatic Life” with Dale Coulter. Tertullian (155-220) was a third century Christian theologian located in Carthage, Northern Africa. He is recognized as the first to use the Latin term trinitas (trinity) in reference to God.
Our focus is Tertullian’s Against Praxeas in which he lays the foundation for the doctrine of Holy Trinity – one God in three persons. This is fascinating stuff. Tertullian’s language for Holy Trinity comes straight from the biblical text. He translates from Greek to Latin. Since I don’t read Latin, I’m reading from two English translations. I have discovered anew the shortcomings of translations. The nuances of Latin often cannot be discerned in a translation. The same is true of the biblical languages – Hebrew and Greek. This gives me a greater appreciation for scholars who have devoted themselves to the original languages and my need to be more attentive to the original languages.
One God in Three persons
Trinitarian economy (Greek – oikonomia) speaks to the structure of the Godhead as revealed in the story of salvation. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son proceeds/begotten by the Father, sent by the Father into the womb of the Virgin; he is born both man and God; suffered, died, and raised up by the Father. The Holy Spirit, that is, the Paraclete is sent by the Father and through the Son. Tertullian insists that this “Rule” of faith (regula fidei) has come down from the beginning, that is, originates with the apostles.
God is one – a unity of substance, quality, and power. Nonetheless, God is three – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is plurality without division. The Son and Spirit are co-joint and inseparable of the Father’s substance. God the Father has never been alone, that is, a singular deity. Rather, God has always existed as Father, Logos (Reason, or Discourse), and Spirit (Paraclete). Tertullian declared, “I testify that the Father, and Son, and Spirit are unseparated from one another… For look now, I say that the Father is one, and the Son another, and the Spirit another…” He insist on a simple unity of divine substance that is structured in a tri-personal relationship.
Biblical Foundation for Trinity
The primary biblical foundation for Tertullian’s doctrine of Holy Trinity is found in Proverbs 8 of the Septuagint and John 1. Tertullian identifies Wisdom as synonymous with Logos. Wisdom declares, “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works’ sake, before he made the earth, before the mountains were set in their places; yea, before all the hills he begat me. When he was preparing the heaven, she says, I was present with him, and as he made strong above the winds the clouds on high, and as he made safe the fountains of the earth which is under heaven, I was with him as a fellow-worker, I was she in whose presence he delighted; for daily did I delight in his person.”[1]
I have signified important terms and phrases in bold print. The word created is ambiguous. It does not mean created out of nothing, but rather suggest begotten from existing substance. Modern translations read “Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His deeds of old. From everlasting I was installed, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth” (Legacy Standard Bible, Proverbs 8:22–23). The implication is NOT that Wisdom is created in time, but eternally possessed and begotten of the Father. Wisdom originates in the Father, BUT there is no beginning to Wisdom’s begottenness. The Father is eternally begetting, and Wisdom is eternally begotten. This is an eternal movement within Holy Trinity.
Wisdom is present with the Father, and co-creator with the Father. The relationship between Yahweh and Wisdom corresponds to that of God and the Word in John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:1-3 LSB).
Yahweh and Wisdom delight in one another. Holy Trinity is a movement of intra-divine love. Augustine spoke of Holy Trinity as Lover, Beloved, and Flame of Love. Tertullian speaks of Father and Son as divine persons (Greek – prosopon), borrowing the term from Proverbs. He grounds the personhood of the Spirit in the language of Paraclete (John 15). The Holy Spirit is “another Paraclete” – distinct from the Son. There are not two sons because Son and Spirit are distinct movements from the Father.
Also, it’s interesting that Tertullian used Wisdom in Proverbs 8 as the basis for understanding the eternal begottenness of the Son because Wisdom is personified in Proverbs as a woman (cf. 1:20-33; 3:16; 4:6; 9:1-4). The eternal Logos of John is the only begotten Son of God. Tertullian certainly is not suggesting that the Wisdom/Logos of God is a transgendered deity who identifies as female in Proverbs and male in John. He is not suggesting that God is a gendered being. He insists that God is eternal and uncreated spirit. The use of feminine or masculine language in reference to the divine nature does not signify gender. Tertullian seems utterly unconcerned about the matter of identifying Lady Wisdom with the Son of God.
We are half way through the course, and my short reflection here doesn’t do justice to the depth of our conversations. Tertullian must be read carefully, slowly, with serious intent. He is meticulous in his logic, often struggling with the intricacy of his concepts. He borrows from Irenaeus and the established theological tradition of his day. His theology would become the foundation for the Nicene Creed and all subsequent Trinitarian reflection. He is a theological giant of the Faith who is largely unrecognized by the Catholic or Orthodox churches. In 2022, Irenaeus was formally declared to be a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis. In my mind, Tertullian is likewise worthy of the honor.
[1] Translation by Ernest Evans in Tertullian’s Treatise against Praxeas: The Text Edited, with an Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. SCPK, 1948; Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011. Evans translation used throughout.
