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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 2

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter II.—The Christian Has Sure and Simple Knowledge Concerning the Subject Before Us.

Of course we shall not deny that philosophers have sometimes thought

‹ Chapter 1 Chapter 3 ›

the

same

things

as

ourselves

.

The

testimony

of

truth

is

the

issue

thereof

.

It

sometimes

happens

even

in

a

storm

,

when

the

boundaries

of

sky

and

sea

are

lost

in

confusion

,

that

some

harbour

is

stumbled

on

(

by

the

labouring

ship

)

by

some

happy

chance

;

and

sometimes

in

the

very

shades

of

night

,

through

blind

luck

alone

,

one

finds

access

to

a

spot

,

or

egress

from

it

.

In

nature

,

however

,

most

conclusions

are

suggested

,

as

it

were

,

by

that

common

intelligence

wherewith

God

has

been

pleased

to

endow

the

soul

of

man

.

This

intelligence

has

been

caught

up

by

philosophy

,

and

,

with

the

view

of

glorifying

her

own

art

,

has

been

inflated

(

it

is

not

to

be

wondered

at

that

I

use

this

language

)

with

straining

after

that

facility

of

language

which

is

practised

in

the

building

up

and

pulling

down

of

everything

,

and

which

has

greater

aptitude

for

persuading

men

by

speaking

than

by

teaching

.

She

assigns

to

things

their

forms

and

conditions

;

sometimes

makes

them

common

and

public

,

sometimes

appropriates

them

to

private

use

;

on

certainties

she

capriciously

stamps

the

character

of

uncertainty

;

she

appeals

to

precedents

,

as

if

all

things

are

capable

of

being

compared

together

;

she

describes

all

things

by

rule

and

definition

,

allotting

diverse

properties

even

to

similar

objects

;

she

attributes

nothing

to

the

divine

permission

,

but

assumes

as

her

principles

the

laws

of

nature

.

I

could

bear

with

her

pretensions

,

if

only

she

were

herself

true

to

nature

,

and

would

prove

to

me

that

she

had

a

mastery

over

nature

as

being

associated

with

its

creation

.

She

thought

,

no

doubt

,

that

she

was

deriving

her

mysteries

from

sacred

sources

,

as

men

deem

them

,

because

in

ancient

times

most

authors

were

supposed

to

be

(

I

will

not

say

godlike

,

but

)

actually

gods

:

as

,

for

instance

,

the

Egyptian

Mercury

,

to

whom

Plato

paid

very

great

deference

;

and

the

Phrygian

Silenus

,

to

whom

Midas

lent

his

long

ears

,

when

the

shepherds

brought

him

to

him

;

and

Hermotimus

,

to

whom

the

good

people

of

Clazomenæ

built

a

temple

after

his

death

;

and

Orpheus

;

and

Musæus

;

and

Pherecydes

,

the

master

of

Pythagoras

.

But

why

need

we

care

,

since

these

philosophers

have

also

made

their

attacks

upon

those

writings

which

are

condemned

by

us

under

the

title

of

apocryphal

,

certain

as

we

are

that

nothing

ought

to

be

received

which

does

not

agree

with

the

true

system

of

prophecy

,

which

has

arisen

in

this

present

age

;

because

we

do

not

forget

that

there

have

been

false

prophets

,

and

long

previous

to

them

fallen

spirits

,

which

have

instructed

the

entire

tone

and

aspect

of

the

world

with

cunning

knowledge

of

this

(

philosophic

)

cast

?

It

is

,

indeed

,

not

incredible

that

any

man

who

is

in

quest

of

wisdom

may

have

gone

so

far

,

as

a

matter

of

curiosity

,

as

to

consult

the

very

prophets

;

(

but

be

this

as

it

may

)

,

if

you

take

the

philosophers

,

you

would

find

in

them

more

diversity

than

agreement

,

since

even

in

their

agreement

their

diversity

is

discoverable

.

Whatever

things

are

true

in

their

systems

,

and

agreeable

to

prophetic

wisdom

,

they

either

recommend

as

emanating

from

some

other

source

,

or

else

perversely

apply

in

some

other

sense

.

This

process

is

attended

with

very

great

detriment

to

the

truth

,

when

they

pretend

that

it

is

either

helped

by

falsehood

,

or

else

that

falsehood

derives

support

from

it

.

The

following

circumstance

must

needs

have

set

ourselves

and

the

philosophers

by

the

ears

,

especially

in

this

present

matter

,

that

they

sometimes

clothe

sentiments

which

are

common

to

both

sides

,

in

arguments

which

are

peculiar

to

themselves

,

but

contrary

in

some

points

to

our

rule

and

standard

of

faith

;

and

at

other

times

defend

opinions

which

are

especially

their

own

,

with

arguments

which

both

sides

acknowledge

to

be

valid

,

and

occasionally

conformable

to

their

system

of

belief

.

The

truth

has

,

at

this

rate

,

been

well

-

nigh

excluded

by

the

philosophers

,

through

the

poisons

with

which

they

have

infected

it

;

and

thus

,

if

we

regard

both

the

modes

of

coalition

which

we

have

now

mentioned

,

and

which

are

equally

hostile

to

the

truth

,

we

feel

the

urgent

necessity

of

freeing

,

on

the

one

hand

,

the

sentiments

held

by

us

in

common

with

them

from

the

arguments

of

the

philosophers

,

and

of

separating

,

on

the

other

hand

,

the

arguments

which

both

parties

employ

from

the

opinions

of

the

same

philosophers

.

And

this

we

may

do

by

recalling

all

questions

to

God’s

inspired

standard

,

with

the

obvious

exception

of

such

simple

cases

as

being

free

from

the

entanglement

of

any

preconceived

conceits

,

one

may

fairly

admit

on

mere

human

testimony

;

because

plain

evidence

of

this

sort

we

must

sometimes

borrow

from

opponents

,

when

our

opponents

have

nothing

to

gain

from

it

.

Now

I

am

not

unaware

what

a

vast

mass

of

literature

the

philosophers

have

accumulated

concerning

the

subject

before

us

,

in

their

own

commentaries

thereon

—

what

various

schools

of

principles

there

are

,

what

conflicts

of

opinion

,

what

prolific

sources

of

questions

,

what

perplexing

methods

of

solution

.

Moreover

,

I

have

looked

into

Medical

Science

also

,

the

sister

(

as

they

say

)

of

Philosophy

,

which

claims

as

her

function

to

cure

the

body

,

and

thereby

to

have

a

special

acquaintance

with

the

soul

.

From

this

circumstance

she

has

great

differences

with

her

sister

,

pretending

as

the

latter

does

to

know

more

about

the

soul

,

through

the

more

obvious

treatment

,

as

it

were

,

of

her

in

her

domicile

of

the

body

.

But

never

mind

all

this

contention

between

them

for

pre

-

eminence

!

For

extending

their

several

researches

on

the

soul

,

Philosophy

,

on

the

one

hand

,

has

enjoyed

the

full

scope

of

her

genius

;

while

Medicine

,

on

the

other

hand

,

has

possessed

the

stringent

demands

of

her

art

and

practice

.

Wide

are

men’s

inquiries

into

uncertainties

;

wider

still

are

their

disputes

about

conjectures

.

However

great

the

difficulty

of

adducing

proofs

,

the

labour

of

producing

conviction

is

not

one

whit

less

;

so

that

the

gloomy

Heraclitus

was

quite

right

,

when

,

observing

the

thick

darkness

which

obscured

the

researches

of

the

inquirers

about

the

soul

,

and

wearied

with

their

interminable

questions

,

he

declared

that

he

had

certainly

not

explored

the

limits

of

the

soul

,

although

he

had

traversed

every

road

in

her

domains

.

To

the

Christian

,

however

,

but

few

words

are

necessary

for

the

clear

understanding

of

the

whole

subject

.

But

in

the

few

words

there

always

arises

certainty

to

him

;

nor

is

he

permitted

to

give

his

inquiries

a

wider

range

than

is

compatible

with

their

solution

;

for

“

endless

questions

”

the

apostle

forbids

.

It

must

,

however

,

be

added

,

that

no

solution

may

be

found

by

any

man

,

but

such

as

is

learned

from

God

;

and

that

which

is

learned

of

God

is

the

sum

and

substance

of

the

whole

thing

.

Notes

1
Mentioned below, c. xxxiii.; also Adv. Valent. c. xv.
2
See his Phædrus, c. lix. (p. 274); also Augustin, De. Civ. Dei, viii. 11; Euseb. Præp. Evang. ix. 3.
3
Or spurious; not to be confounded with our so-called Apocrypha, which were in Tertullian’s days called Libri Ecclesiastici.
4
Here is a touch of Tertullian’s Montanism.
5
Subornant.
6
1 Tim. i. 4.