Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155-220)

Tertullian of Carthage (c. 155-220) was the first great Latin apologist and is at times called "The Father of the Latin Church."  Tertullian believed in divine corporeality, and held that the Son was begotten out of the Father's material essence. It is argued that Tertullian affirmed the Latin equivalent of ομοούσιος with his phrase unius substantiae, but this is simply incorrect. (Adv. Praxeas 2.) The Greek equivalent of unius substantiae would be μονοούσιος, which carries a numeric sense. The Gnostics already made use of the term ομοούσιος and Tertullian discusses it in his writings. He translated ομοούσιος with the Latin equivalent consubstantialem, (never as unius substantiae), hence he deliberately avoided applying ομοούσιος to the Son and the Spirit. (Adv. Valentin. 12, 18, 37.) Tertullian claims the Son is not eternal. 

"He has not always been Father and Judge, merely on the ground of His having always been God. For He could not have been the Father previous to the Son, nor a Judge previous to sin. There was, however, a time when neither sin existed with Him, nor the Son; the former of which was to constitute the Lord a Judge, and the latter a Father." (Adversus Hermogenes, 3.)

His argument might be summarized by saying that neither sin nor the Son are eternal for God was once alone. If God once existed alone then sin could not be eternal because God is perfectly holy and righteous. Hence, if there was no sin with him he could not be a judge for there were not yet any sins to judge. Equivalently he was not always a Father for he did not always have a Son. He argues that Prov. 8:22-31 proves that the Word and Wisdom of God was "born and created" by God before all else.

"The Lord," says the Scripture, "possessed me, the beginning of His ways for the creation of His works. Before the worlds He founded me; before He made the earth, before the mountains were settled in their places; moreover, before the hills He generated me, and prior to the depths was I begotten." Let Hermogenes then confess that the very Wisdom of God is declared to be born and created, for the special reason that we should not suppose that there is any other being than God alone who is unbegotten and uncreated. For if that, which from its being inherent in the Lord was of Him and in Him, was yet not without a beginning — I mean His wisdom, which was then born and created, when in the thought of God It began to assume motion for the arrangement of His creative works — how much more impossible is it that anything should have been without a beginning which was extrinsic to the Lord! But if this same Wisdom is the Word of God, in the capacity of Wisdom, and (as being He) without whom nothing was made, just as also (nothing) was set in order without Wisdom, how can it be that anything, except the Father, should be older, and on this account indeed nobler, than the Son of God, the only-begotten and first-begotten Word?" (Adv. Herm. 18.)

 "When, therefore, He attested His own unity, the Father took care of the Son's interests, that Christ should not be supposed to have come from another God, but from Him who had already said, "I am God and there is none other beside me," who shows us that He is the only God, but in company with His Son, with whom "He stretcheth out the heavens alone… But, (this doctrine of yours bears a likeness) to the Jewish faith, of which this is the substance—so to believe in One God as to refuse to reckon the Son besides Him, and after the Son the Spirit." (Adv. Prax. 18, 31.) 

The "one God" of the Jews is the Father of Christ, who is the "only God." Tertullian never likewise describes the Son and the Spirit. Tertullian also affirms the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and describes him as subordinate to the Son, third in rank.

"(Christ) sent also from heaven from the Father, according to His own promise, the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of the faith of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost." (Adv. Prax. 2.)   

The generation or creation of the Holy Spirit is never directly described but since Tertullian did not regard the Son as co-eternal with God it is certain that he regarded the Spirit as a creature of some sort as well. re all else and this was not a past-eternal act of nature but an act borne of "the will of his progenitor." 

Sermon on Baptism: Life in Christ

 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

At Galatians 2:20 Paul says, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." He had an encounter, and experience with the risen and living Christ. This encounter was not a mere memory for the apostle. The meeting permeated his soul, it affected every part of his life, it changed who he was. That encounter with the risen Christ was not a mere memory, it was life itself to him, so he could say that Christ lived in him. To encounter the risen Christ, the living God, is a transformative experience. It is like being given a new life, a new birth, a new way of living and looking at the world. The ceremony of baptism is meant to symbolize our encounter with Christ and our new life in the Church, his body. For this reason St. Paul says that we are ‘buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him to a new life.’ (Romans 6:1-7) 

In the Law of Moses there are baptisms or washings (βαπτιζω) to cleanse the priests and the children of Israel of ceremonial impurity. (Lev. 14:5-7; Num. 8:6-7; 19:16-22; 31:21-23; Exod. 24:6-8) Therefore, when St. John the Baptist began baptizing in the Jordan River; the Pharisees did not ask him about the origin of the ceremony. They were already familiar with baptisms. They were curious about why St. John was baptizing rather than one of the priests. (St. John 1:19-23) These ceremonies for the Jewish people anticipated something greater. The prophets of the exile foretold that the Messiah will “sprinkle many nations,” not merely the Jewish nation. (Eze. 36:25-27; Isa. 52:15) When the apostles met the Risen Christ in Galilee, he gave them the commission to baptize the world in the very name of God himself. 

“All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” (St. Matthew 28:18-19) 

When we speak of baptism in water, the ideal form is immersion in living water, as symbolized in Colossians 2:12. Immersion signifies burial with Christ, and rising from the water mirrors His resurrection, a profound declaration of new life. The water itself represents the cleansing of sin, just as the believer is washed and renewed through Christ's sacrifice. However, the mode of baptism—whether by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling—carries the same symbolism. (Didache 7:1-2; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5-8; Hebrews 10:22) There is yet a deeper baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that all who believe that Christ is the Son of God are born again. (1 John 5:1, 18) 

If a man is not born again then he is not a Christian. "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (St. John 3:5) It marks our adoption as children of God, heirs with Christ and it is by this Spirit that we are incorporated into the body of Christ. (Romans 8:15-17; 1 Corinthians 12:13) Sometimes baptism with the Holy Ghost precedes water baptism, as was seen with St. Cornelius and his family. (Acts of apostles 10:44-48). This reminds us that God’s work in a person’s heart cannot be contained even by the mysteries. Finally, we must consider the baptism by fire. When John the Baptist spoke of this baptism, he was not referring to physical water or even the Spirit, but to the fiery trials that come upon every believer. To follow Christ is to carry your cross and follow him, to suffer as he suffered, and to live as he lived. “All who wish to live godly lives will face persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) 

Fire purifies, and in the same way, the trials of life refine our faith, proving its genuineness. For this reason our Lord said that his followers must be “salted with fire.” Baptism with fire signifies the faithful endurance of trials, temptations and persecutions for the sake of Christ. (St. Matthew 3:11; 1 Peter 1:7) St. Paul says that “all who wish to live godly lives will face persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) It is a baptism with fire because fire signifies persecution and tribulation, all of the saints “will be salted with fire.” (Mk. 9:49) The visible manifestation of tongues of fire accompanied the baptisms at Pentecost and many of the saints who were baptized at this event were later martyred. 

In these three baptisms, water, Spirit, and fire, our life in Christ is defined. We become members of the Church, his body, when we are born of water and the Spirit, and our faith is refined by the baptism of fire when we endure trials for the sake of Christ. Christ lives, and he is with us, even to the end of the age. Amen and Amen.

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