The Ancient Witnesses

78 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

“From the roots to the fruit join the parts that make the tree, As the Father with the Son and the Spirit make three, But the Three of them are One, in the bosom they begun They’re Economy and Monarchy for all eternity.” 15 “Dang!” said Preacher, delighted with Tertullian’s recitation. “Wait,” said Joseph, “does that really explain how God can be one and yet three also?” “The tree is not severed from the roots,” answered Tertullian, “for while the root and the tree are distinctly two things, they are joined. Just as a fountain and the river that flows from it are two forms but indivisible. In like manner the Trinity, flowing down from the Father, through intertwined and connected steps, does not disturb the Monarchy even as it guards the state of the Economy .” Justin Martyr, having been interrupted, now continued his explanation of the Logos , whom he described as the “thought” or the “mind” of the Father, and the blueprint or plan in the mind of God. Jesus was the Father’s Logos or blueprint for His creation. The Logos had been in the bosom of the Father from the very beginning, as Tertullian had recited, where it could be called the Integral Word of God. But, through the Incarnation , the Word became the expressed or spoken Word of God , revealing the Father. Justin drew on other ideas from the philosophers to prove that Jesus Christ was the Logos in whom they believed, though they did not know him. Just as the Apostle Paul had declared

15 Adapted from Tertullian, Against Praxeas, 7 & 8, ANF 3, 602-603.