theophilus of antioch first held that the trinity is defined as one substance in three persons.
theophilus of antioch first held that the trinity is defined as one substance in three persons.
who first held that the trinity is defined as one substance in three persons?
theophilus of antioch
tertullian denounced christian doctrines he considered heretical, but later in life adopted montanism, regarded as heretical by the mainstream church, which prevented his canonization. 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), and also probably the formula "three persons, one substance" as the latin ""tres personae, una substantia"" (itself from the koine greek "τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις, ὁμοούσιος; "treis hypostases, homoousios""), and also the terms "vetus testamentum" (old testament) and "novum testamentum" (new testament).
church fathers
bullet::::3. tertullian reserves the appellation god, in the sense of the ultimate originator of all things, to the father, who made the world out of nothing through his son, the word, has corporeity though he is a spirit ("de praescriptione", vii.; "adv. praxeam," vii.). however tertullian used 'corporeal' only in the stoic sense, to mean something with actual material existence, rather than the later idea of flesh. tertullian is often considered an early proponent of the nicene doctrine, approaching the subject from the standpoint of the logos doctrine, though he did not state the later doctrine of the immanent trinity. in his treatise against praxeas, who taught patripassianism in rome, he used the words "trinity", "economy" (used in reference to the three persons), "persons", and "substance," maintaining the distinction of the son from the father as the unoriginate god, and the spirit from both the father and the son ("adv. praxeam," xxv). "these three are one substance, not one person; and it is said, 'i and my father are one' in respect not of the singularity of number but the unity of the substance." the very names "father" and "son" indicate the distinction of personality. the father is one, the son is another, and the spirit is another ("dico alium esse patrem et alium filium et alium spiritum" "adv. praxeam", ix), and yet in defending the unity of god, he says the son is not other ("alius a patre filius non est", "adv. prax." 18) as a result of receiving a portion of the father's substance. at times, speaking of the father and the son, tertullian refers to "two gods". he says that all things of the father belong also to the son, including his names, such as almighty god, most high, lord of hosts, or king of israel. though tertullian considered the father to be god (yahweh), he responded to criticism of the modalist praxeas that this meant that tertullian's christianity was not monotheistic by noting that even though there was one god (yahweh, who became the father when the son became his agent of creation), the son could also be referred to as god, when referred to apart from the father, because the son, though subordinate to god, is entitled to be called god "from the unity of the father" in regards to being formed from a portion of his substance. "the catholic encyclopedia" comments that for tertullian, "there was a time when there was no son and no sin, when god was neither father nor judge." similarly j.n.d. kelly has stated: "tertullian followed the apologists in dating his 'perfect generation' from his extrapolation for the work of creation; prior to that moment god could not strictly be said to have had a son, while after it the term 'father', which for earlier theologians generally connoted god as author of reality, began to acquire the specialized meaning of father and son.". as regards the subjects of subordination of the son to the father, the "new catholic encyclopedia" has commented: "in not a few areas of theology, tertullian’s views are, of course, completely unacceptable. thus, for example, his teaching on the trinity reveals a subordination of son to father that in the later crass form of arianism the church rejected as heretical." though he did not fully state the doctrine of the immanence of the trinity, according to b. b. warfield, he went a long distance in the way of approach to it.
tertullian