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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 58

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter LVIII.—Conclusion. Points Postponed. All Souls are Kept in Hades Until the Resurrection, Anticipating Their Ultimate Misery or Bliss.

All souls, therefore, are shut up within Hades:

‹ Chapter 57

do

you

admit

this

?

(

It

is

true

,

whether

)

you

say

yes

or

no

:

moreover

,

there

are

already

experienced

there

punishments

and

consolations

;

and

there

you

have

a

poor

man

and

a

rich

.

And

now

,

having

postponed

some

stray

questions

for

this

part

of

my

work

,

I

will

notice

them

in

this

suitable

place

,

and

then

come

to

a

close

.

Why

,

then

,

cannot

you

suppose

that

the

soul

undergoes

punishment

and

consolation

in

Hades

in

the

interval

,

while

it

awaits

its

alternative

of

judgment

,

in

a

certain

anticipation

either

of

gloom

or

of

glory

?

You

reply

:

Because

in

the

judgment

of

God

its

matter

ought

to

be

sure

and

safe

,

nor

should

there

be

any

inkling

beforehand

of

the

award

of

His

sentence

;

and

also

because

(

the

soul

)

ought

to

be

covered

first

by

its

vestment

of

the

restored

flesh

,

which

,

as

the

partner

of

its

actions

,

should

be

also

a

sharer

in

its

recompense

.

What

,

then

,

is

to

take

place

in

that

interval

?

Shall

we

sleep

?

But

souls

do

not

sleep

even

when

men

are

alive

:

it

is

indeed

the

business

of

bodies

to

sleep

,

to

which

also

belongs

death

itself

,

no

less

than

its

mirror

and

counterfeit

sleep

.

Or

will

you

have

it

,

that

nothing

is

there

done

whither

the

whole

human

race

is

attracted

,

and

whither

all

man’s

expectation

is

postponed

for

safe

keeping

?

Do

you

think

this

state

is

a

foretaste

of

judgment

,

or

its

actual

commencement

?

a

premature

encroachment

on

it

,

or

the

first

course

in

its

full

ministration

?

Now

really

,

would

it

not

be

the

highest

possible

injustice

,

even

in

Hades

,

if

all

were

to

be

still

well

with

the

guilty

even

there

,

and

not

well

with

the

righteous

even

yet

?

What

,

would

you

have

hope

be

still

more

confused

after

death

?

would

you

have

it

mock

us

still

more

with

uncertain

expectation

?

or

shall

it

now

become

a

review

of

past

life

,

and

an

arranging

of

judgment

,

with

the

inevitable

feeling

of

a

trembling

fear

?

But

,

again

,

must

the

soul

always

tarry

for

the

body

,

in

order

to

experience

sorrow

or

joy

?

Is

it

not

sufficient

,

even

of

itself

,

to

suffer

both

one

and

the

other

of

these

sensations

?

How

often

,

without

any

pain

to

the

body

,

is

the

soul

alone

tortured

by

ill

-

temper

,

and

anger

,

and

fatigue

,

and

very

often

unconsciously

,

even

to

itself

?

How

often

,

too

,

on

the

other

hand

,

amidst

bodily

suffering

,

does

the

soul

seek

out

for

itself

some

furtive

joy

,

and

withdraw

for

the

moment

from

the

body’s

importunate

society

?

I

am

mistaken

if

the

soul

is

not

in

the

habit

,

indeed

,

solitary

and

alone

,

of

rejoicing

and

glorifying

over

the

very

tortures

of

the

body

.

Look

for

instance

,

at

the

soul

of

Mutius

Scævola

as

he

melts

his

right

hand

over

the

fire

;

look

also

at

Zeno’s

,

as

the

torments

of

Dionysius

pass

over

it

.

The

bites

of

wild

beasts

are

a

glory

to

young

heroes

,

as

on

Cyrus

were

the

scars

of

the

bear

.

Full

well

,

then

,

does

the

soul

even

in

Hades

know

how

to

joy

and

to

sorrow

even

without

the

body

;

since

when

in

the

flesh

it

feels

pain

when

it

likes

,

though

the

body

is

unhurt

;

and

when

it

likes

it

feels

joy

though

the

body

is

in

pain

.

Now

if

such

sensations

occur

at

its

will

during

life

,

how

much

rather

may

they

not

happen

after

death

by

the

judicial

appointment

of

God

!

Moreover

,

the

soul

executes

not

all

its

operations

with

the

ministration

of

the

flesh

;

for

the

judgment

of

God

pursues

even

simple

cogitations

and

the

merest

volitions

.

“

Whosoever

looketh

on

a

woman

to

lust

after

her

,

hath

committed

adultery

with

her

already

in

his

heart

.

”

Therefore

,

even

for

this

cause

it

is

most

fitting

that

the

soul

,

without

at

all

waiting

for

the

flesh

,

should

be

punished

for

what

it

has

done

without

the

partnership

of

the

flesh

.

So

,

on

the

same

principle

,

in

return

for

the

pious

and

kindly

thoughts

in

which

it

shared

not

the

help

of

the

flesh

,

shall

it

without

the

flesh

receive

its

consolation

.

Nay

more

,

even

in

matters

done

through

the

flesh

the

soul

is

the

first

to

conceive

them

,

the

first

to

arrange

them

,

the

first

to

authorize

them

,

the

first

to

precipitate

them

into

acts

.

And

even

if

it

is

sometimes

unwilling

to

act

,

it

is

still

the

first

to

treat

the

object

which

it

means

to

effect

by

help

of

the

body

.

In

no

case

,

indeed

,

can

an

accomplished

fact

be

prior

to

the

mental

conception

thereof

.

It

is

therefore

quite

in

keeping

with

this

order

of

things

,

that

part

of

our

nature

should

be

the

first

to

have

the

recompense

and

reward

to

which

they

are

due

on

account

of

its

priority

.

In

short

,

inasmuch

as

we

understand

“

the

prison

”

pointed

out

in

the

Gospel

to

be

Hades

,

and

as

we

also

interpret

“

the

uttermost

farthing

”

to

mean

the

very

smallest

offence

which

has

to

be

recompensed

there

before

the

resurrection

,

no

one

will

hesitate

to

believe

that

the

soul

undergoes

in

Hades

some

compensatory

discipline

,

without

prejudice

to

the

full

process

of

the

resurrection

,

when

the

recompense

will

be

administered

through

the

flesh

besides

.

This

point

the

Paraclete

has

also

pressed

home

on

our

attention

in

most

frequent

admonitions

,

whenever

any

of

us

has

admitted

the

force

of

His

words

from

a

knowledge

of

His

promised

spiritual

disclosures

.

And

now

at

last

having

,

as

I

believe

,

encountered

every

human

opinion

concerning

the

soul

,

and

tried

its

character

by

the

teaching

of

(

our

holy

faith

,

)

we

have

satisfied

the

curiosity

which

is

simply

a

reasonable

and

necessary

one

.

As

for

that

which

is

extravagant

and

idle

,

there

will

evermore

be

as

great

a

defect

in

its

information

,

as

there

has

been

exaggeration

and

self

-

will

in

its

researches

.

Notes

1
Nescio quid.
2
“Operienda” is Oehler’s text; another reading gives “opperienda,” q.d., “the soul must wait for the restored body.”
3
This “etiam” is “otium” in the Agobardine ms., a good reading; q.d. “a most iniquitous indifference to justice,” etc.
4
Comp. The Apology, last chapter.
5
Xen. Cyropæd. p. 6.
6
Matt. v. 28.
7
Quid nunc si.
8
Conscientia.
9
Matt. v. 25.
10
Ver. 26.
11
Morâ resurrectionis. See above, on this opinion of Tertullian, in ch. xxxv.
12
[A symptom of Montanism.]