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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 28

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXVIII.—The Pythagorean Doctrine of Transmigration Sketched and Censured.

What, then, by this time means that ancient saying

‹ Chapter 27 Chapter 29 ›

,

mentioned

by

Plato

,

concerning

the

reciprocal

migration

of

souls

;

how

they

remove

hence

and

go

thither

,

and

then

return

hither

and

pass

through

life

,

and

then

again

depart

from

this

life

,

and

afterwards

become

alive

from

the

dead

?

Some

will

have

it

that

this

is

a

saying

of

Pythagoras

;

Albinus

supposes

it

to

be

a

divine

announcement

,

perhaps

of

the

Egyptian

Mercury

.

But

there

is

no

divine

saying

,

except

of

the

one

true

God

,

by

whom

the

prophets

,

and

the

apostles

,

and

Christ

Himself

declared

their

grand

message

.

More

ancient

than

Saturn

a

good

deal

(

by

some

nine

hundred

years

or

so

)

,

and

even

than

his

grandchildren

,

is

Moses

;

and

he

is

certainly

much

more

divine

,

recounting

and

tracing

out

,

as

he

does

,

the

course

of

the

human

race

from

the

very

beginning

of

the

world

,

indicating

the

several

births

(

of

the

fathers

of

mankind

)

according

to

their

names

and

their

epochs

;

giving

thus

plain

proof

of

the

divine

character

of

his

work

,

from

its

divine

authority

and

word

.

If

,

indeed

,

the

sophist

of

Samos

is

Plato’s

authority

for

the

eternally

revolving

migration

of

souls

out

of

a

constant

alternation

of

the

dead

and

the

living

states

,

then

no

doubt

did

the

famous

Pythagoras

,

however

excellent

in

other

respects

,

for

the

purpose

of

fabricating

such

an

opinion

as

this

,

rely

on

a

falsehood

,

which

was

not

only

shameful

,

but

also

hazardous

.

Consider

it

,

you

that

are

ignorant

of

it

,

and

believe

with

us

.

He

feigns

death

,

he

conceals

himself

underground

,

he

condemns

himself

to

that

endurance

for

some

seven

years

,

during

which

he

learns

from

his

mother

,

who

was

his

sole

accomplice

and

attendant

,

what

he

was

to

relate

for

the

belief

of

the

world

concerning

those

who

had

died

since

his

seclusion

;

and

when

he

thought

that

he

had

succeeded

in

reducing

the

frame

of

his

body

to

the

horrid

appearance

of

a

dead

old

man

,

he

comes

forth

from

the

place

of

his

concealment

and

deceit

,

and

pretends

to

have

returned

from

the

dead

.

Who

would

hesitate

about

believing

that

the

man

,

whom

he

had

supposed

to

have

died

,

was

come

back

again

to

life

?

especially

after

hearing

from

him

facts

about

the

recently

dead

,

which

he

evidently

could

only

have

discovered

in

Hades

itself

!

Thus

,

that

men

are

made

alive

after

death

,

is

rather

an

old

statement

.

But

what

if

it

be

rather

a

recent

one

also

?

The

truth

does

not

desire

antiquity

,

nor

does

falsehood

shun

novelty

.

This

notable

saying

I

hold

to

be

plainly

false

,

though

ennobled

by

antiquity

.

How

should

that

not

be

false

,

which

depends

for

its

evidence

on

a

falsehood

?

—

How

can

I

help

believing

Pythagoras

to

be

a

deceiver

,

who

practises

deceit

to

win

my

belief

?

How

will

he

convince

me

that

,

before

he

was

Pythagoras

,

he

had

been

Æthalides

,

and

Euphorbus

,

and

the

fisherman

Pyrrhus

,

and

Hermotimus

,

to

make

us

believe

that

men

live

again

after

they

have

died

,

when

he

actually

perjured

himself

afterwards

as

Pythagoras

.

In

proportion

as

it

would

be

easier

for

me

to

believe

that

he

had

returned

once

to

life

in

his

own

person

,

than

so

often

in

the

person

of

this

man

and

that

,

in

the

same

degree

has

he

deceived

me

in

things

which

are

too

hard

to

be

credited

,

because

he

has

played

the

impostor

in

matters

which

might

be

readily

believed

.

Well

,

but

he

recognised

the

shield

of

Euphorbus

,

which

had

been

formerly

consecrated

at

Delphi

,

and

claimed

it

as

his

own

,

and

proved

his

claim

by

signs

which

were

generally

unknown

.

Now

,

look

again

at

his

subterranean

lurking

-

place

,

and

believe

his

story

,

if

you

can

.

For

,

as

to

the

man

who

devised

such

a

tricksty

scheme

,

to

the

injury

of

his

health

,

fraudulently

wasting

his

life

,

and

torturing

it

for

seven

years

underground

,

amidst

hunger

,

idleness

,

and

darkness

—

with

a

profound

disgust

for

the

mighty

sky

—

what

reckless

effort

would

he

not

make

,

what

curious

contrivance

would

he

not

attempt

,

to

arrive

at

the

discovery

of

this

famous

shield

?

Suppose

now

,

that

he

found

it

in

some

of

those

hidden

researches

;

suppose

that

he

recovered

some

slight

breath

of

report

which

survived

the

now

obsolete

tradition

;

suppose

him

to

have

come

to

the

knowledge

of

it

by

an

inspection

which

he

had

bribed

the

beadle

to

let

him

have

,

—

we

know

very

well

what

are

the

resources

of

magic

skill

for

exploring

hidden

secrets

:

there

are

the

catabolic

spirits

,

which

floor

their

victims

;

and

the

paredral

spirits

,

which

are

ever

at

their

side

to

haunt

them

;

and

the

pythonic

spirits

,

which

entrance

them

by

their

divination

and

ventriloquistic

arts

.

For

was

it

not

likely

that

Pherecydes

also

,

the

master

of

our

Pythagoras

,

used

to

divine

,

or

I

would

rather

say

rave

and

dream

,

by

such

arts

and

contrivances

as

these

?

Might

not

the

self

-

same

demon

have

been

in

him

,

who

,

whilst

in

Euphorbus

,

transacted

deeds

of

blood

?

But

lastly

,

why

is

it

that

the

man

,

who

proved

himself

to

have

been

Euphorbus

by

the

evidence

of

the

shield

,

did

not

also

recognise

any

of

his

former

Trojan

comrades

?

For

they

,

too

,

must

by

this

time

have

recovered

life

,

since

men

were

rising

again

from

the

dead

.

Notes

1
Phædo, p. 70.
2
[Hermes. See Bacon, De Aug. i. p. 99.]
3
De posteris defunctis.
4
De posteris defunctis.
5
From καταβάλλειν, to knock down.
6
From πάρεδος, sitting by one.
7
From πυθωνικός, an attribute of Pythius Apollo; this class were sometimes called ἐγγαστρίμυθοι, ventriloquists.