"For who will deny that God is a body, although 'God is a Spirit?' For Spirit has a bodily substance of its own kind, in its own form" (Adversus Praxean 7, Dr. Peter Holmes English Translation from 1870).
"quis enim negabit deum corpus esse, etsi deus spiritus est? spiritus enim corpus sui generis in sua effigie" (Adversus Praxean 7.8, Ernest Evans' Latin text from 1948)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tertullian on God's Spirit Body
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4 comments:
Hi Edgar.
In Adv. Praxaes Tertullian appears to make an attempt to RE-interpret what Christians called "...The ( MONARCHY ) of God..." according to the "NEW PROPHECY" or Montantist belief.
And I can find references to works on the "MONARCHY OF GOD" in Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and a mention by Theophilus. One commentator mentioned a reference in Tation's writings as well - which I could not find.
Do you know of any other early writers or references to the "MONARCHY" mentioned in Adv. Prax?
As a quick reference, I'll direct you to this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=HjlMmIWJSTAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=angelomorphic&hl=en&ei=00myTcWaDcft0gHXvoyZCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=moltmann&f=false
See also http://books.google.com/books?id=jnAXAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR24&dq=monarchia+tertullian&hl=en&ei=K0yyTY2YHOGS0QHu_vSXCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=monarchia%20tertullian&f=false
Hi Edgar.
Me again.
Hey thanks for the links.
I'm becomming more and more convinced that the key to finding the origional stand of Christian belief regarding God in the late 2nd and early 3rd cneturies - can be found in Against Praxaes.
The Montantist new interpretation of a οἰκονομία and trinitas vs the real Christian belief of a μοναρχία ( or Monarchy ) of the FATHER.
Who is of course Jehovah.
A Monarchy, as you know, is a one ( person ) rule, not, a three persons in one substance.
It's becomming clearer that Against Praxaes is a snapshot of History.
Which for a doctrinal archaeologist speaks volumes.
And the doctrine of the trinitas is the doctrine of a crazed false prophet and his ( Apostate ) follower Tertullian which later Christians adopted for various reasons.
Hi Matt13:
I provided a link for my study on Tertullian's Adversus Praxean. Based on that text, I argue that Tertullian includes the Son and angels in the monarchia, but he only views the Son as having a temporary function in the divine monarchia. See Adv Prax 3 and 4. My thoughts on Tertullian are also that he toed the line of trinitarianism or gave it some lip service without going the full distance.
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