Against Praxeas 28
Summary: “Christ” means “anointed,” a title, not a proper name; Scripture shows that the Father anointed the Son, and if Christ were the Father there would have to be another God above him.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Latin text · CSEL 47:282–285
Nunc de Christo. facis patrem. stultissime, qui nec ipsam uim inspicias nominis huius, si tamen nomen est Christus et non appellatio potius; unctus enim significatur. unctus autem non magis nomen est quam uestitus, quam calciatus. itaque Christus accidens nomini res. an tu, si ex aliquo argumento uestitus quoque uocaretur Iesus, quomodo Christus ab unctionis sacramento, aeque Iesum filium dei diceres, uestitum uero patrem crederes? si pater Christus est, pater unctus est, et utique ab alio. aut si a semetipso, proba. sed non ita docent Acta Apostolorum in illa exclamatione ecclesiae ad deum: conuenerunt enim uniuersi in ista ciuitate aduersus sanctum filium tuum (Iesum,) quem unxisti, Herodes et Pilatus cum nationibus. ita et filium dei Iesum contestati sunt et filium a patre unctum. ergo Iesus idem erit Christus, qui a patre unctus est, non pater, qui filium unxit. sic et Petrus: firmissime itaque cognoscat omnis domus Israhel, quod et dominum et Christum, id est unctum, fecerit eum deus, hunc Iesum, quem uos crucifixistis, Iohannes autem etiam mendacem notat eum, qui negauerit Iesum esse Christum, contra de deo natum omnem, qui crediderit Iesum esse Christum. propter quod et hortatur, ut credamus nomini filii eius Iesu Christi, ut scilicet communio sit nobis cum patre et filio eius Iesu Christo. sic et Paulus ubique deum patrem ponit et dominum nostrum Iesum Christum. cum ad Romanos scribit, gratias agit deo per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum; cum ad Galatas, non ab hominibus se apostolum praefert nec per hominem, sed per Iesum Christum et deum patrem. et habes (per) totum instrumentum eius quae in hunc modum pronuntiant et duos proponunt deum patrem et dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, filium patris, et Iesum ipsum esse Christum, in altero quoque nomine dei filium. nam exinde, [eo iure] quo utrumque nomen unius est, id est dei filii. etiam alterum sine altero eiusdem est. et siue Iesus tantummodo positum est, intellegitur et Christus, quia Iesus unctus est, siue solummodo Christus, idem est et Iesus, quia unctus est Iesus. quorum nominum alterum est proprium, quod ab angelo impositum est. alterum accidens, quod ab unctione conuenit, dum tamen Christus filius sit. non pater. postremo: quam caecus est qui nec in Christi nomine intellegit alium deum portendi. si Christi nomen patri adscribat! si enim Christus pater deus est, qui dicit: ascendo ad patrem meum et patrem uestrum et deum meum et deum uestrum, utique alium patrem super se et deum ostendit. si item pater Christus est. alius est, qui solidat tonitruum et condit spiritum et adnuntiat in homines Christum suum. et si adstiterunt reges terrae et archontes congregati sunt in unum aduersus (dominum et aduersus) Christum ipsius, alius erit dominus, contra cuius Christum congregati sunt reges et archontes. et si haec dicit dominus domino meo Christo. alius erit dominus, qui loquitur ad patrem Christum. et cum apostolus scribit: uti deus domini nostri Iesu Christi det uobis spiritum sapientiae et agnitionis, alius erit deus Christi Iesu charismatum spiritalium largitor. certe, ne per omnia euagemur, qui suscitauit Christum suscitaturus [est] et mortalia corpora nostra tamquam alius erit suscitator quam pater, mortuus et [pater] suscitatus, si Christus, qui est mortuus, pater est.
English · Claude translation
Now about Christ. You make him the Father, most foolish man, who do not even consider the force of this name, if indeed Christ is a name and not rather a title; for it means “anointed.” And “anointed” is no more a name than “clothed” or “shod”; so “Christ” is something that attaches to the name. If Jesus were also called “clothed,” for some reason, as he is called Christ from the sacrament of anointing, would you likewise say that Jesus was the Son of God, but believe that “Clothed” was the Father? If Christ is the Father, the Father is anointed, and certainly by another. Or if by himself, prove it. But the Acts of the Apostles do not teach so, in that cry of the church to God: “For there gathered together in this city against your holy Son Jesus, whom you anointed, Herod and Pilate with the nations.” So they bore witness both that Jesus is the Son of God and that the Son was anointed by the Father. So Jesus will be the same as Christ, who was anointed by the Father, not the Father, who anointed the Son. So Peter too: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know most surely that God has made him both Lord and Christ,” that is, anointed, “this Jesus whom you crucified.” And John marks as a liar him who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and on the other hand says that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. For this reason he also urges us to believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, so that we may have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. So too Paul everywhere sets down God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. When he writes to the Romans, he gives thanks to God through our Lord Jesus Christ; when to the Galatians, he declares himself an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. And you have, throughout his whole instrument, passages that speak in this way and set forth two, God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, and that Jesus himself is the Christ, the Son of God under the other name as well. For from then on, since both names belong to one, that is, to the Son of God, even the one without the other belongs to the same. And whether “Jesus” alone is set down, “Christ” is also understood, since Jesus is the anointed; or whether “Christ” alone, it is also Jesus, since Jesus is the one anointed. Of these names one is proper, which was given by the angel; the other is accidental, which attaches from the anointing; provided always that Christ is the Son, not the Father. Lastly, how blind is he who does not understand that even in the name of Christ another God is indicated, if he ascribes the name of Christ to the Father! For if Christ is God the Father, when he says, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God,” he certainly shows another Father and God above himself. Likewise, if the Father is Christ, there is another who “makes firm the thunder and creates the wind and announces to 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,” there will be another Lord, against whose Christ the kings and rulers gathered. And if “thus says the Lord to my Lord Christ,” there will be another Lord who speaks to Christ the Father. And when the apostle writes, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the spirit of wisdom and knowledge,” there will be another God of Christ Jesus, the giver of spiritual gifts. Certainly, not to wander through everything: he “who raised Christ” and will raise “our mortal bodies” too will be, as it were, another raiser than the Father who died and was raised, if Christ, who died, is the Father.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Acts 4:27, 2:36, 1 John 2:22, 5:1, 3:23, 1:3, Rom 1:8, Gal 1:1, John 20:17, Amos 4:13 (in the Septuagint's form), Ps 2:2, Isa 45:1 (read “to my Lord Christ”; see ch. 11), Eph 1:17, and Rom 8:11. The digital text's “legum” (for Iesum), “ues. trum,” and “m.ortalia” are corrected. Sacramentum is rendered “sacrament.” The editor deletes “eo iure,” “est,” and the second “pater”; they are omitted.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR error in the digital text (legum for Iesum); split word in the digital text; stray punctuation in the digital text): aeque legum filium → aeque Iesum filium; filium dei legum contestati → filium dei Iesum contestati; hunc legum, quem → hunc Iesum, quem; dominum nostrum legum Christum → dominum nostrum Iesum Christum; per legum Christum → per Iesum Christum; et legum ipsum esse → et Iesum ipsum esse; ues. trum → uestrum; m.ortalia → mortalia.
Cite this passage
Tertullian, Prax. 28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-praxean/28/).
Plain text
Tertullian, Prax. 28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-praxean/28/).
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