. 19. 3 where he writes: "[Greek: hosper gar en anthropos hina
peirasthe, houto kai logos hina doxasthe. esychazontos men tou logou en
to peirazesthai kai staurousthai kai apothneskein sugginomenou de to
anthropo en to nikan kai hypomenein kai chresteuesthai kai anistasthai
kai analambanesthai]" ("For as he was man that he might be tempted, so
also he was the Logos that he might be glorified. The Logos remained
quiescent during the process of temptation, crucifixion and death, but
aided the human nature when it conquered, and endured, and performed
deeds of kindness, and rose again from the dead, and was received up
into heaven"). From these words it is plain that Irenaeus preferred to
assume that the divine and human natures existed side by side, and
consequently to split up the perfect unity, rather than teach a mere
ideal manhood which would be at the same time a divine manhood. The
"discrete agere" of the two natures proves that to Irenaeus the perfect
manhood of the incarnate Logos was merely an incidental quality he
possessed. In reality the Logos is the perfect man in so far as his
incarnation creates the perfect man and renders him possible, or the
Logos always exists behind Christ the perfect man. But nevertheless this
very way of viewing the humanity in Christ already compelled Irenaeus to
limit the "deus crucifixus" and to lay the foundation for Tertullian's
formulae. With regard to the second point we may remark that there were
not a few passages in both Testaments where Christ appeared as the man
chosen by God and anointed with the Spirit. These as well as the
corresponding language of the Church were the greatest difficulties in
the way of the Logos Christology. Of what importance is an anointing
with the Spirit to him who is God? What is the meaning of Christ being
born by the power of the Holy Ghost? Is this formula compatible with the
other, that he as the Logos himself assumed flesh from the Virgin etc.?
Irenaeus no doubt felt these difficulties. He avoided them (III. 9. 3) by
referring the bestowal of the Spirit at baptism merely to the _man_
Jesus, and thus gave his own approval to that separation which appeared
to him so reprehensible in the Gnostics.[606] This separation indeed
rescued to future ages the minimum of humanity that was to be retained
in the person of Christ, but at the same time it laid the foundation of
those differentiating speculations, which in succeeding times became the
chief art