Description of the significance of Tertullian for Christological and Ireneaus for ecclesiological de
In the mid-second century, two important historical figures came into reputation in the Christian world: Tertullian and Irenaeus. Who were they?
Tertullian, (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225 AD) [Sources: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Tertullian] who was converted to Christianity before 197, was a prolific writer of apologetic, theological, controversial and ascetic works - he was the son of a Roman centurion. He wrote three books in Greek and was the first great writer of Latin Christianity, thus sometimes known as the "Father of the Latin Church". He was evidently a lawyer in Rome. He is said to have introduced the Latin term "trinitas" with regard to the Divine (Trinity) to the Christian vocabulary (but Theophilus of Antioch already wrote of "the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom", which is similar but not identical to the Trinitarian wording) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophilus_of_Antioch] and also probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae, una Substantia" (itself from the Koine Greek "treis Hypostases, Homoousios"), and also the terms "vetus testamentum" (Old Testament) and "novum testamentum" (New Testament). In his “Apologeticus”, he was the first Latin author who qualified Christianity as the "vera religio" and systematically relegated the classical Roman Empire religion and other accepted cults to the position of mere "superstitions". Later in life, Tertullian is thought by most to have joined the Montanists, a heretical sect that appealed to his rigorism.
Irenaeus(pron.: /aɪrəˈniːəs/; Greek: Εἰρηναῖος) (2nd century – c. 202 CE), referred to by some as Saint Irenaeus, was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire(now Lyons, France) [Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus] . He was an early Church Father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a listener of Polycarp, who in turn was traditionally a disciple of John the Evangelist. Irenaeus' best-known book, “Adversus Haereses” or Against Heresies (c. 180) is a detailed attack on Gnosticism, which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus. As one of the first great Christian theologians, he emphasized the traditional elements in the Church, especially the episcopate, Scripture, and tradition. Against the Gnostics, who said that they possessed a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself, Irenaeus maintained that the bishops in different cities are known as far back as the Apostles—and none of them was a Gnostic—and that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture. His writings, with those of Clement and Ignatius, are taken as among the earliest signs of the developing doctrine of the primacy of the Roman see. Irenaeus is the earliest witness to recognition of the canonical character of all four gospels. Irenaeus is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is on June 28 in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, where it was inserted for the first time in 1920; in 1960 it was transferred to July 3, leaving June 28 for the Vigil of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, but in 1969 it was returned to June 28, the day of his death. In the Orthodox Church his feast day is 23 August.
[Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki]
Now then, both left behind many writings that are helpful to modern Christians, and both helped to shape the theology of the Church. Their effects are still evident in the Church’s Christological and Ecclesiological theology.
(*)(Christology (from Greek ΧριστόςKhristós and -λογία, -logia) is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the canonical Gospels and the epistles of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature and person of God the Father. As such, Christology is concerned with the details of Jesus' ministry, his acts and teachings, to arrive at a clearer understanding of who he is in his person, and his role in salvation. A major component of the Christology of the Apostolic Age was that of Paul the Apostle. His central themes were the notion of the pre-existence of Christ and the worship of Christ as Kyrios (Greek: Lord).
(**)(Ecclesiology usually refers to the theological study of the Christian Church. However, when the word was coined in England in the late 1830s, it was defined as the science of the building and decoration of church buildings and it is still, though rarely, used in this sense. In its theological sense, ecclesiology deals with the church's origin, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its discipline, its destiny, and its leadership. Since different ecclesiology’s give shape to very different institutions, the word may also refer to a particular church or denomination’s character, self-described or otherwise – hence phrases such as Roman Catholic ecclesiology, Lutheran ecclesiology, and ecumenical ecclesiology)
Both of these men were influential in each of the aforementioned theological areas, but Tertullian was especially influential on the Christological development, while St. Irenaeus had a major impact on the Ecclesiological development. They were contemporaries, addressing heresies that threatened the theology of the Church during the formative years, before the Ecumenical Councils settled these questions. It was partly through their influence and devotion that the Councils had sufficient and proper theology to confront the heresies and to overcome them, leading to a proper understanding of the nature of Christ and the Church. The influence of Tertullian in the Christological controversies of the late second and early third centuries is evident by the inclusion of his treatise, “On the Flesh of Christ”, as found in the aforementioned volume of The Ante-Nicene Fathers. In that text, Tertullian confronted the heresy that Christ had not come in the flesh, as advocated by heretics such as Marcion, Apelles, Basiledes, and Valentinus [footnote in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3]. In contrast to the heretical notion that the spiritual nature of Christ was the only way that He was manifested, Tertullian maintained that Christ did indeed come in the flesh, and that was of paramount importance. He further stated that:
“the nature of the two substances displayed Him as man and God, - in one respect born, in the other unborn…the divine and the human – is distinctly asserted with equal truth…[the] power of the Spirit proved Him to be God, His sufferings attested to the flesh of man."
[Source: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0315.htm]
So, ultimately, the major component of Tertullian’s Christology was his understanding of Christ existing in two natures, or substances. Christ was eternal, alongside the Father, united in essence, but a distinct Person. It was required for Christ to become man, in order to accomplish man’s redemption, deriving his humanity from the Theotokos. He was truly born in the flesh, from the virgin womb of Mary, mingling “God and man in Himself". Tertullian was also the first to tackle the difficulty of how the two substances could be found in the same person. His determination was that since God is immutable, he did not change or transform, but simply clothed himself in humanity. Both: substances, humanity and divinity, continue to exist “unaltered and unimpaired” in the Person of Christ. In his own words: “We observe a twofold condition, not confused but conjoined, Jesus, in one Person at once God and man. "Finally, Jesus, as the “God-man”, continued to have that “twofold condition”, even after his assumption. It is evident that this interpretation was a precursor of the Orthodox viewpoint of Christ being in two natures, but one person – eternally God, yet man.
Furthermore, God is presented, in the work of Tertullian, as eternally existing, and revealing Himself via creation and redemption. These realities are ultimately fulfilled in the incarnation, which was the ultimate aim of God’s purpose. The working out of this redemptive plan led to the distinction between Father, Son, and Spirit. This was one of the earliest expositions of the distinctive members of the Trinity. As such, it introduced the concept of “persons” as existing within the Godhead. Tertullian went so far as to recognize that “…the Word or Son is a “Person”… “A second in addition to the Father”. In the third place, however, there is the Spirit, the “representative”…[who] issues from the Father by way of the Son…He, too, is a “Person”.
The first treatise, The Trinity, was the work of Novatian of Rome before 250. (It was also the earliest Christian writing in Latin to be produced in Rome.) Despite its traditional title, it never uses the word “trinitas” and displays its conservatism also by focusing largely on the Father and the Son. It did, however, insist that since the Father was always Father, he always had his Son—although the Son was “in the Father” before he was “with the Father” (16, 31). This was a significant clarification, but it was Tertullian’s linguistic creativity that laid a solid foundation for subsequent Trinitarian thought in the Latin West. Tertullian used the word “Trinity” in reference to the Godhead. Speaking about “Trinity” he claimed that though three persons, the members of the Trinity were from a single source, hence one God. There was no division between the three persons. They were, in fact, of one substance. Tertullian’s strength in this area lies in his understanding that the three persons of the Godhead existed in Trinitarian form, and yet were of one ultimate substance. This terminology would ultimately be adopted by the whole Church as Orthodox theology. He believed and taught that Father and Son:
“share the same divine nature or essence, and in fact, since the Godhead is indivisible, are one identical being. On the other hand, [as Persons the Father, Son, and Spirit are] admirably suited to express the otherness, or independent subsistence, of the Three”.
[Source: http://learntheology.com/the-formation-of-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity-in-the-early-church.html]
Just as Tertullian had a major influence on the Christology of the Church, so also did St. Irenaeus have a major impact on its Ecclesiology. He also conducted his expositions in the midst of fighting heresies. A few years older than Tertullian, St. Irenaeus fought against the Montanist and Valentinian heresies. In his desire to stomp out the Gnostic heresies, he focused on rendering “it impossible for anyone to confound Gnosticism with Christianity” and “to make it impossible for such a monstrous system tosurvive, or ever to rise again". One important way that he addressed these concerns was by identifying and developing the concept of what the Church really was.
In the writings of St. Irenaeus, it is evident that he sees the Church as existing from the foundation of the world in a mysterious sense, so that Old Testament faithful would necessarily be considered members. The Church was to be understood as: “the new Israel; it is Christ’s glorious body, the mother of Christians". He defines the church as being the place wherever the Spirit of God can be found. The two share the same space. He further expands that those: “who do not participate in the Spirit neither feed at their mother’s breasts nor drink the bright fountain issuing from Christ’s body". Therefore, the Church is not to be considered as a man-made institution, but is a divine institution founded long before Christ came in the flesh. Taking the words of St. Paul that the Church is the: “pillar and ground of the truth”(NKJV; 1 Timothy 3:15), St. Irenaeus taught that the Church was the repository of all truth, because it was the only place to receive the apostolic writings, the apostolic oral tradition, and the apostolic faith. This threefold description is still relevant to Ecclesiology. The Church possesses the writings of the Apostles, or the New Testament, interpreted through the Church Fathers, or the apostolic tradition, which produces the apostolic faith. That these components are all necessary is evident after reviewing the fractured status of Christianity in the world; various denominations have erupted due to improper interpretations of the scriptures, because the faith and tradition of the apostles has been neglected. It is the Orthodox Church that provides the proper lens (faith and tradition) to correctly interpret the apostolic writings.
Another perfect example of ecclesiology is “where the Bishop is, the Church is”, since “bishop is the successor to the Apostles in the service and government of the Church. The bishop thus serves εις τόπον και τύπον Χριστού (in place and as a type of Christ) in the Church. No bishop in Orthodoxy is considered infallible. None has any authority over or apart from his priests, deacons, and people or the other bishops. They have the responsibility of maintaining the unity of the Church throughout the world by insuring the truth and unity of the faith and practice of their diocese. The bishop represents his particular diocese to the other churches or dioceses, and represents the Universal Church to his own particular priests, deacons, and people. According to Church Law, bishops of an area must meet in councils. When doing so, the metropolitan or patriarchate presides administratively”
[Source: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Bishop]