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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 23

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXIII.—The Opinions of Sundry Heretics Which Originate Ultimately with Plato.

Some suppose that they came down from heaven, with as

‹ Chapter 22 Chapter 24 ›

firm

a

belief

as

they

are

apt

to

entertain

,

when

they

indulge

in

the

prospect

of

an

undoubted

return

thither

.

Saturninus

,

the

disciple

of

Menander

,

who

belonged

to

Simon’s

sect

,

introduced

this

opinion

:

he

affirmed

that

man

was

made

by

angels

.

A

futile

,

imperfect

creation

at

first

,

weak

and

unable

to

stand

,

he

crawled

upon

the

ground

like

a

worm

,

because

he

wanted

the

strength

to

maintain

an

erect

posture

;

but

afterwards

having

,

by

the

compassion

of

the

Supreme

Power

(

in

whose

image

,

which

had

not

been

fully

understood

,

he

was

clumsily

formed

)

,

obtained

a

slender

spark

of

life

,

this

roused

and

righted

his

imperfect

form

,

and

animated

it

with

a

higher

vitality

,

and

provided

for

its

return

,

on

its

relinquishment

of

life

,

to

its

original

principle

.

Carpocrates

,

indeed

,

claims

for

himself

so

extreme

an

amount

of

the

supernal

qualities

,

that

his

disciples

set

their

own

souls

at

once

on

an

equality

with

Christ

(

not

to

mention

the

apostles

)

;

and

sometimes

,

when

it

suits

their

fancy

,

even

give

them

the

superiority

—

deeming

them

,

forsooth

,

to

have

partaken

of

that

sublime

virtue

which

looks

down

upon

the

principalities

that

govern

this

world

.

Apelles

tells

us

that

our

souls

were

enticed

by

earthly

baits

down

from

their

super

-

celestial

abodes

by

a

fiery

angel

,

Israel’s

God

and

ours

,

who

then

enclosed

them

firmly

within

our

sinful

flesh

.

The

hive

of

Valentinus

fortifies

the

soul

with

the

germ

of

Sophia

,

or

Wisdom

;

by

means

of

which

germ

they

recognise

,

in

the

images

of

visible

objects

,

the

stories

and

Milesian

fables

of

their

own

Æons

.

I

am

sorry

from

my

heart

that

Plato

has

been

the

caterer

to

all

these

heretics

.

For

in

the

Phædo

he

imagines

that

souls

wander

from

this

world

to

that

,

and

thence

back

again

hither

;

whilst

in

the

Timæus

he

supposes

that

the

children

of

God

,

to

whom

had

been

assigned

the

production

of

mortal

creatures

,

having

taken

for

the

soul

the

germ

of

immortality

,

congealed

around

it

a

mortal

body

,

—

thereby

indicating

that

this

world

is

the

figure

of

some

other

.

Now

,

to

procure

belief

in

all

this

—

that

the

soul

had

formerly

lived

with

God

in

the

heavens

above

,

sharing

His

ideas

with

Him

,

and

afterwards

came

down

to

live

with

us

on

earth

,

and

whilst

here

recollects

the

eternal

patterns

of

things

which

it

had

learnt

before

—

he

elaborated

his

new

formula

,

μαθήσεις

ἀναμνήσεις

,

which

means

that

“

learning

is

reminiscence

;

”

implying

that

the

souls

which

come

to

us

from

thence

forget

the

things

amongst

which

they

formerly

lived

,

but

that

they

afterwards

recall

them

,

instructed

by

the

objects

they

see

around

them

.

Forasmuch

,

therefore

,

as

the

doctrines

which

the

heretics

borrow

from

Plato

are

cunningly

defended

by

this

kind

of

argument

,

I

shall

sufficiently

refute

the

heretics

if

I

overthrow

the

argument

of

Plato

.