c. 207

Tertullian: two substances in one person

Tertullian's christology, according to González, is above all anti-docetic: the truth of Christ's body is the foundation of all soteriology. He rejected the idea of the Word being transformed into flesh and of a fusion of divine and human like an alloy of gold and silver: the Word (Spirit) and the flesh were united but not mixed. As in God there are three persons and one substance, so in Christ there are two substances (or natures) in one person; the properties of each are preserved: the Spirit worked miracles, the flesh hungered, thirsted and wept. Augustine, according to González, restored the term persona in christology and brought the West back to this formula.