The Importance of the Theologian Tertullian - Essay Example

? Critically Assess the Importance of the Theologian Tertullian Introduction In the period of documenting Christian scriptures and teachings, Tertullian works and theologies have a visible impact. He entered into Christianity before 197 and rendered his services for illustrating and defending the orthodox principles of the Christian faith. His works can be classified into the categories of apologetic, ethical and polemical, in which he has tried to clear the misconception and confusion of people, due to the amalgamation of Greek and Christian concepts. Tertullian’s conversion to Montanism has also a significant importance in forming Christian’s doctrines as then his worked was influenced by the concepts of spirits, and attaining the esoteric objective behind religious traditions and practices (Barnes). Tertullian considered that Heretics were altering the religious teachings and scriptures to fulfill their personal desires, which is leading people towards corruption and confusion about religion and its core believes. He has mentioned it in his treatise of De Praescriptione Haereticorum, in which he defends the Rule of Faith. He argues that religion is not a source to attain material goals and comfort, but a path towards finding oneself and the reason of their existence. Hence, it cannot be guided by an individual who is seeking religion in terms of materialism (Barnes). The prevailing concept of the church being a place only assigned, or prayers was also modified by Tertullian, and describes in his Apology that it is not just a place of worship but attaining wisdom and social integration. In his later works gathered in De Carne Christi, he enlightened the concept of ‘substance’ and ‘person’, explaining how a being can be material and spiritual at the same time. Explaining this notion he addresses the authorities of God, Spirit of God and the Son of God. He exemplifies that as one person can have right over different substances, similarly Jesus Christ has the right over both humanity and divinity, and both exist in equality (Roberts). This paper will deal with Tertullian ideology of Penitential discipline, the church doctrine and his contributions for ethical and moral correction of the people. The paper also aims to provide authentic information about his contribution in forming the Latin vocabulary developing the terminologies of Trinitarian theology and Christology. 1. Trinitarian Theology Trinity defines the core concept of substance and person, illuminating that that there are three divine persons, not one, and one substance not three. The three persons are The God, The Spirit of God and Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. All the three exist in eternity and entirety and are distinct to other, yet possess the same substance. Therefore, all can be considered as God or divine in autonomy (Morrison). Tertullian explains this concept as discussed by Osborn (1997). that the kingdom of God is not suppressed but supported by the son of God. He describes that God’s monarchy is balanced by the Son of God and not in any ways threatened or distributed (Osborn). He explains that there is an economy of divinity, which is possible to maintain only if the divinity is practiced in both natural and supernatural forms. God is one who has created the entire universe and all creations; the Son of God is the protector and presenter of God, while the Spirit of God is the procedure of creation and protecting. Therefore, Tertullian states that, for the existence of God’s monarchy, the co-existence of the Son of God and the Spirit of god is equally important, and they are not dependent but related to each other (Morrison). In explaining the theology of Trinity, Tertullian in his doctrines, also throws light to the Oneness and Corporeity of God. He rejects the concept of Marcion of dual God that is one of the Old Testament and one of the New Testament. In his argument to this, he lays the foundation of God as the supreme Authority. If He has someone equal in Authority, that is the second God, then both gods will no longer be unique and would not have the ultimate power. Hence, this cannot be associated with God, and there is simple logic in believing that there exists only one God. Arguing on Corporeity of God and that if God exists, then He should have a body and visibility, Tertullian briefs that, God do have a body but unlike that of humans. He defines nature to be the body of God as it is in perfect order and gives a sense of goodness in itself, benefiting others, which is the attribute of God (Morrison). Osborn (1997) uses the metaphysics of Substantial Relation to define the Trinity concept given by Tertullian. It explains that, for anything to exist and survive, it should have a substance with which it is made and quality which makes it survives. Hence, for all three persons of Trinity, there exists a substantial relation and they cannot exist in individuality (Osborn). 2. Christology In forming the Christological theology for Christians, teachings and writings of Tertullian plays a pivotal part. During this time, there were other groups opposing his concepts and considered Christ to be a human with no divine power. On the contrary to this theology, Tertullian explains that Christ is a substance of God and can be considered as a son who shows the power and authority of his father that is God (Kelly). The Tertullian theology is quite important in this aspect as it deals with the concepts in Jews and Marcoin regarding Son of God. Marcoin’s argument was based on the exoteric view that there cannot be one same God for both Jesus Christ and the rest of the world as if this was the case, then Christ would have all the attributes of God. Marcoin’s concept was of dual gods, one of a good thing and one of evils. One, who has the power of construction and the other having power of destruction (Kelly). Since both these attributes cannot be associated with Christ, they tend to deny the concept of sole power in one god and Christ being the Son of God. In the argument of this theological concept, Tertullian uses the terminology of word, reason and power. He describes that everything has been created by one single God with his word and power and which have come to the existence for a definite reason. Creating Jesus was the symbol of showing how a man can attain the purpose for which he has been created, and thus Jesus was created with only the spirit of goodness and not evil (Osborn). Tertullian very deliberately explains this concept that as there is a word for anything a person thinks and a reason for anything he interprets or explains, similarly Christ is the word of God’s thought who can explain the reason of God’s creations. From the aspect of Christology, he illuminates that Christ is not a being, but a spirit as even when he was not created he existed within God’s thought and thus his existence can be related with that of God (Roberts). In replying to the argument made by Praxeas that, if Christ is the son of God than their powers are distributed, Tertullian replies that they are one substance and different persons in equity and therefore, there cannot be anything such as a division of power. This concept can be linked with the theology of Trinity that God, the Spirit of God and the Son of God are from a singular source and, the existence of one has no effect on the existence or powers of others (Roberts). A controversy prevailing in the late 2nd Century, as supported by Marcions and heretics that Christ has come to being from flash like other humans and does not have any divine substance. In reply to this Tertullian states that tough the appearance of Christ is of flash, but that actually demonstrates Christ being a human and God at the same time. In one state of nature, he was born but unborn as well, being born without any physical father. That reveals him being a divine being taking a human body shape (Saint James Kid). 3. The Doctrine of the Church The understanding and views of Tertullian about the doctrines of the church changed significantly after he joined the Montanism group. He was also one of the believers that the church holds a central position in religion and all churches should follow the same doctrine (Rankin). He was the advocate of the ideology that bishops are re- presenters of religion and hold a vital place within and outside the church premises. However, his after thoughts differ in this respect as he states that the church is the place of spirit, therefore a bishop is no better than a spiritual man, and a person does not need a representative if he or she has the knowledge about the religion. In his period of pre- Montanism, Tertullian presented the church as the guardian of the true doctrine and people’s faith. While, in his days as Montanism, he looked the church from the standpoint of power and rigorousness. Making the words of Christ to Peter as the basis of his theology, he laid the idea that Church is itself a place of spirit which constitutes the combined power of the Trinity. Hence, not bishops but spiritual persons are the one which sustain the divinity of the church (Morrison). Tertullian has also used the image of ‘ship’ to explain the significance of a church and its position in the religion (Rankin). As it was highlighted in the New Testament, that ship serves the savior of mankind in the time of Moses. So, this image used by Tertullian, stating that churches and its doctrines are the saviors of mankind, which leads a man towards divinity (Kelly). Tertullian has also proposed a hierarchy, with which the church will be governed to properly spread the message of God. For this, he defined authorities and responsibilities of bishops, presbyters and deacons (Osborn). Though he believed that a spiritual man is more superior to a bishop, but for administrative purpose and other internal matters of the church, there must a noble person incharge of all such issues. The bishop would be a person having highest authority in the church, and would act as a leader in carrying out the religious ceremonies or sacraments. Presbyters and deacons can also take the position of bishop, in his absence, and would direct church activities as per the guidance of the bishop. This set of principles helped in shaping the doctrine of the church, which can be seen in practices of churches today (Roberts). 4. Penitential Discipline Works of Tertullian can also be seen in forming the Penitential Discipline of Christianity. Opposing to the believe of Heretics Tertullian forwarded the concept that sins of a person can be forgiven by the power of divine, bestowed in the church. He formulated a doctrine defining the parts of Penitential discipline and their religious significance. These parts include; Confession, Penance and Reconciliation (Bible Study Tools). These parts were included in the Latin vocabulary of Tertullian, forming the basis of practices that are carried in churches. Tertullian elucidates that each person or soul that comes into this world is sinner and needs to be purified. If the act of purification is not done, than it is not possible to attain the true purpose of one’s life (Coffey). For this reason, a man can make confession in front of an authority, generally a bishop, to get forgiveness of his sins. This activity is done in private and is limited to the bishop of the church alone. Then the bishop will decide whether the confession has to be publicized or not, and what will be appropriate punishment for the sin. If the sin of idolatry, murder or adultery than it needs to be penalized, by carrying out outward penance (Bible Study Tools). The practice of asking for forgiveness was modified by Tertullian. He believed that the church should be separated from the world as the world is a sinner place while the church is a purified one. Therefore, every person in the church should be free from sins and should be forgiven after given appropriate punishment. This method of punishment is termed as Penance, which includes fasting, almsgiving or additional prayers. The period of penance is not mentioned in his writings which lead to the fact that life-long penance was imposed on sinners by the bishop. The public penance, as described by Tertullian, was for a limited period and mostly carried out at the time of death (Coffey). Another concept proposed by Tertullian was of ultimate purification and restoring the state in which a person was born. This concept has also acquired immense significance in penitential discipline, as its basis touches the historical event of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Tertullian referred humans as the enemies of God as humans were the reason of the death of Son of God. Hence, to restore the relation of humanity with divinity, a man has to perform the practice of reconciliation. Tertullian termed this as ‘human salvation, believing that a human soul is drowned in sins and reconciliation is the plank, with which God saves him from being doomed (Coffey). The penitential discipline got great popularity, and it was spread in nearly all churches across the world in a very short span of time. The main reasons for this were the privacy in penance and that it was repeatable over the span of life. However, many people questioned on the authority of the person, who will act as the path from man to God and vice versa. For this reason, a Council was established in the fifth century, consisting of several religious people and will select a particular bishop for a church (Rankin). Conclusion To sum up the essay, it can be mentioned that services and writings of Tertullian serves as the foundation of several Christian practices and rituals. Tough, he had introduced several strict rules in religious laws, but has the motive to bring humanity close to God and self- submission. For many years, before Tertullian, the theology of Trinity was leading people towards misconception and believing in polytheism. Tertullian concept of ‘substance’ and ‘person’ helped people in understanding the difference between Son of God and a dual God. His Apologeticus works have gained maximum popularity. It is because it manifests the purposes of refuting the false claims of Pagans against religion and teaching the sacred cultural values to the existing and newly converted people. It can be viewed from his writing, that there were political influence on religion at that time, and higher religious posts were acquired by politically strong people. This practice was openly discouraged by Tertullian, by presenting the doctrine of church and the hierarchy with which it will be governed. Another prominent significance of his work was his Latin writings, which helped the people of that time to understand concepts of religion, who only knew the Greek or the Latin language. From contemporary practices and ideologies, it can be inferred that much of Tertullian theology has been followed to date and are considered to be of foremost importance. Works Cited Barnes, Timothy. Tertullian: A Historical and Literary Study. Clarendon: Clarendon Press, 1971. Bible Study Tools. Note on the Penitential Discipline of the Early Church. 2012. 2 January 2013 . Coffey, David. The Sacrament of Reconciliation. Minnesota: The oredr of St. Benedict Inc., 2001. Kelly, John. Early Christian Doctrines. New York: A&C Black Publishers, 1993. Morrison, Glenn. Book Review: A Brief History of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early Church. Book Review. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, Australia, 2011. Osborn, Eric. Tertullian, First Theologian of the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Rankin, David. Tertullian and the Church. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Roberts, Robet. The theory of Tertullian. Research Report. Cantebury: Epworth Press, Methodist Publishing House, 1924. Saint James Kid. The Role of Tertullian and Irenaeus in the Christological and Ecclesiological Development of the Early Church - Part 1. 16 May 2011. 2 January 2013 . Read More