Lactantius contends that before God produced the world and other angels, he “created a holy and incorruptible spirit whom he called his son,” since this spirit was firstborn and distinguished by “a name of divine significance” in that God granted the Son possession of God the Father’s authority and supremacy.[1] Lactantius thus believes, strictly speaking, that God calls Christ “Son,” but only after the Logos passes some type of arduous trial.[2] Hence, the Son does not inherently possess divine titles: God names the Logos, “Son” or allows him to bear the divine name because of Christ’s faithfulness to the Father.[3]
Bowen and Garnsey believe that Lactantian thinking here “smacks of Arianism.”[4] Conversely, others such as Mary McDonald exhibit sympathy toward the Lactantian writings, presuming that they reflect the cultural situation in which he composed them.[5] This study proposes there were some angels postulated in ancient Judaism who seemingly possessed the holy name of God ex officio (Exodus 23:20-22).[6] Lactantius may perceive a correlation between the status of angels in Judaism and the position of the Logos in Christian circles when he argues that God the Father vouchsafed the divine name to the Son. In fact, the North African seems to believe that the Son is an angel whom God promotes to the status of Son and God: “In fine, of all the angels, whom the same God formed from his own breath, he alone was admitted into a participation of his supreme power, he alone was called God. For all things were through him, and nothing was without him” (Epitome 42). Lactantian concepts regarding the Son’s nomina, as in other instances, evidently find their provenance in both Hermes and the ancient Hebrew prophets.
[1] DI 4.6.1-4.
[2] Schneweis, Angels and Demons, 21. Contrast McGuckin’s remarks in “The Christology of Lactantius,” 816.
[3] DI 4.6.1-4.
[4] Divine Institutes, 232. Cf. McGuckin, “Christology of Lactantius,” 816.
[5] McDonald; Paul McGuckin, “The Christology of Lactantius,” 815.
[6] See Bock, Blasphemy and Exaltation; S. Olyan, A Thousand Thousands Served Him: Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1993.
2 comments:
Hi Edgar,
You posted:
>>Lactantius may perceive a correlation between the status of angels in Judaism and the position of the Logos in Christian circles when he argues that God the Father vouchsafed the divine name to the Son. In fact, the North African seems to believe that the Son is an angel whom God promotes to the status of Son and God: “In fine, of all the angels, whom the same God formed from his own breath, he alone was admitted into a participation of his supreme power, he alone was called God. For all things were through him, and nothing was without him” (Epitome 42).>>
Me: I missed the angel aspect in my reading of the Epitome. Thanks much for pointing this out.
Have you read Charles A. Gieschen’s Angelomprphic Christology – Antecedents & Early Evidence? Though he dismisses Werner much too quickly, the book remains an excellent read.
Grace and peace,
David
Hi David,
I agree that Gieschen's work is a great read. You'll see how I interacted with his study when you read the published version of my M.Th. thesis on Tertullian.
A work that analyzes Epitome 42 but still tries to maintain that Lactantius is fairly orthodox is Schneweis, Emil. Angels and Demons According to Lactantius (Washington, D.C.: The
Catholic University of America Press, 1944).
You might also want to consult the translation of the Divine Institutes by Anthony Bowen and Peter Garnsey. The bibliographic information for that translation is Divine Institutes, trans. Anthony Bowen and Peter Garnsey (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003).
All the best,
Edgar
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