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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 25

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXV.—Tertullian Refutes, Physiologically, the Notion that the Soul is Introduced After Birth.

I shall now return to the cause of this digression,

‹ Chapter 24 Chapter 26 ›

in

order

that

I

may

explain

how

all

souls

are

derived

from

one

,

when

and

where

and

in

what

manner

they

are

produced

.

Now

,

touching

this

subject

,

it

matters

not

whether

the

question

be

started

by

the

philosopher

,

by

the

heretic

,

or

by

the

crowd

.

Those

who

profess

the

truth

care

nothing

about

their

opponents

,

especially

such

of

them

as

begin

by

maintaining

that

the

soul

is

not

conceived

in

the

womb

,

nor

is

formed

and

produced

at

the

time

that

the

flesh

is

moulded

,

but

is

impressed

from

without

upon

the

infant

before

his

complete

vitality

,

but

after

the

process

of

parturition

.

They

say

,

moreover

,

that

the

human

seed

having

been

duly

deposited

ex

concubiterin

the

womb

,

and

having

been

by

natural

impulse

quickened

,

it

becomes

condensed

into

the

mere

substance

of

the

flesh

,

which

is

in

due

time

born

,

warm

from

the

furnace

of

the

womb

,

and

then

released

from

its

heat

.

(

This

flesh

)

resembles

the

case

of

hot

iron

,

which

is

in

that

state

plunged

into

cold

water

;

for

,

being

smitten

by

the

cold

air

(

into

which

it

is

born

)

,

it

at

once

receives

the

power

of

animation

,

and

utters

vocal

sound

.

This

view

is

entertained

by

the

Stoics

,

along

with

Ænesidemus

,

and

occasionally

by

Plato

himself

,

when

he

tells

us

that

the

soul

,

being

quite

a

separate

formation

,

originating

elsewhere

and

externally

to

the

womb

,

is

inhaled

when

the

new

-

born

infant

first

draws

breath

,

and

by

and

by

exhaled

with

the

man’s

latest

breath

.

We

shall

see

whether

this

view

of

his

is

merely

fictitious

.

Even

the

medical

profession

has

not

lacked

its

Hicesius

,

to

prove

a

traitor

both

to

nature

and

his

own

calling

.

These

gentlemen

,

I

suppose

,

were

too

modest

to

come

to

terms

with

women

on

the

mysteries

of

childbirth

,

so

well

known

to

the

latter

.

But

how

much

more

is

there

for

them

to

blush

at

,

when

in

the

end

they

have

the

women

to

refute

them

,

instead

of

commending

them

.

Now

,

in

such

a

question

as

this

,

no

one

can

be

so

useful

a

teacher

,

judge

,

or

witness

,

as

the

sex

itself

which

is

so

intimately

concerned

.

Give

us

your

testimony

,

then

,

ye

mothers

,

whether

yet

pregnant

,

or

after

delivery

(

let

barren

women

and

men

keep

silence

)

,

—

the

truth

of

your

own

nature

is

in

question

,

the

reality

of

your

own

suffering

is

the

point

to

be

decided

.

(

Tell

us

,

then

,

)

whether

you

feel

in

the

embryo

within

you

any

vital

force

other

than

your

own

,

with

which

your

bowels

tremble

,

your

sides

shake

,

your

entire

womb

throbs

,

and

the

burden

which

oppresses

you

constantly

changes

its

position

?

Are

these

movements

a

joy

to

you

,

and

a

positive

removal

of

anxiety

,

as

making

you

confident

that

your

infant

both

possesses

vitality

and

enjoys

it

?

Or

,

should

his

restlessness

cease

,

your

first

fear

would

be

for

him

;

and

he

would

be

aware

of

it

within

you

,

since

he

is

disturbed

at

the

novel

sound

;

and

you

would

crave

for

injurious

diet

,

or

would

even

loathe

your

food

—

all

on

his

account

;

and

then

you

and

he

,

(

in

the

closeness

of

your

sympathy

,

)

would

share

together

your

common

ailments

—

so

far

that

with

your

contusions

and

bruises

would

he

actually

become

marked

,

—

whilst

within

you

,

and

even

on

the

selfsame

parts

of

the

body

,

taking

to

himself

thus

peremptorily

the

injuries

of

his

mother

!

Now

,

whenever

a

livid

hue

and

redness

are

incidents

of

the

blood

,

the

blood

will

not

be

without

the

vital

principle

,

or

soul

;

or

when

disease

attacks

the

soul

or

vitality

,

(

it

becomes

a

proof

of

its

real

existence

,

since

)

there

is

no

disease

where

there

is

no

soul

or

principle

of

life

.

Again

,

inasmuch

as

sustenance

by

food

,

and

the

want

thereof

,

growth

and

decay

,

fear

and

motion

,

are

conditions

of

the

soul

or

life

,

he

who

experiences

them

must

be

alive

.

And

,

so

,

he

at

last

ceases

to

live

,

who

ceases

to

experience

them

.

And

thus

by

and

by

infants

are

still

-

born

;

but

how

so

,

unless

they

had

life

?

For

how

could

any

die

,

who

had

not

previously

lived

?

But

sometimes

by

a

cruel

necessity

,

whilst

yet

in

the

womb

,

an

infant

is

put

to

death

,

when

lying

awry

in

the

orifice

of

the

womb

he

impedes

parturition

,

and

kills

his

mother

,

if

he

is

not

to

die

himself

.

Accordingly

,

among

surgeons

’

tools

there

is

a

certain

instrument

,

which

is

formed

with

a

nicely

-

adjusted

flexible

frame

for

opening

the

uterus

first

of

all

,

and

keeping

it

open

;

it

is

further

furnished

with

an

annular

blade

,

by

means

of

which

the

limbs

within

the

womb

are

dissected

with

anxious

but

unfaltering

care

;

its

last

appendage

being

a

blunted

or

covered

hook

,

wherewith

the

entire

fœtus

is

extracted

by

a

violent

delivery

.

There

is

also

(

another

instrument

in

the

shape

of

)

a

copper

needle

or

spike

,

by

which

the

actual

death

is

managed

in

this

furtive

robbery

of

life

:

they

give

it

,

from

its

infanticide

function

,

the

name

of

ἐμβρυοσφάκτης

,

the

slayer

of

the

infant

,

which

was

of

course

alive

.

Such

apparatus

was

possessed

both

by

Hippocrates

,

and

Asclepiades

,

and

Erasistratus

,

and

Herophilus

,

that

dissector

of

even

adults

,

and

the

milder

Soranus

himself

,

who

all

knew

well

enough

that

a

living

being

had

been

conceived

,

and

pitied

this

most

luckless

infant

state

,

which

had

first

to

be

put

to

death

,

to

escape

being

tortured

alive

.

Of

the

necessity

of

such

harsh

treatment

I

have

no

doubt

even

Hicesius

was

convinced

,

although

he

imported

their

soul

into

infants

after

birth

from

the

stroke

of

the

frigid

air

,

because

the

very

term

for

soul

,

forsooth

,

in

Greek

answered

to

such

a

refrigeration

!

Well

,

then

,

have

the

barbarian

and

Roman

nations

received

souls

by

some

other

process

,

(

I

wonder

;

)

for

they

have

called

the

soul

by

another

name

than

ψυχή

?

How

many

nations

are

there

who

commence

life

under

the

broiling

sun

of

the

torrid

zone

,

scorching

their

skin

into

its

swarthy

hue

?

Whence

do

they

get

their

souls

,

with

no

frosty

air

to

help

them

?

I

say

not

a

word

of

those

well

-

warmed

bed

-

rooms

,

and

all

that

apparatus

of

heat

which

ladies

in

childbirth

so

greatly

need

,

when

a

breath

of

cold

air

might

endanger

their

life

.

But

in

the

very

bath

almost

a

babe

will

slip

into

life

,

and

at

once

his

cry

is

heard

!

If

,

however

,

a

good

frosty

air

is

to

the

soul

so

indispensable

a

treasure

,

then

beyond

the

German

and

the

Scythian

tribes

,

and

the

Alpine

and

the

Argæan

heights

,

nobody

ought

ever

to

be

born

!

But

the

fact

really

is

,

that

population

is

greater

within

the

temperate

regions

of

the

East

and

the

West

,

and

men’s

minds

are

sharper

;

whilst

there

is

not

a

Sarmatian

whose

wits

are

not

dull

and

humdrum

.

The

minds

of

men

,

too

,

would

grow

keener

by

reason

of

the

cold

,

if

their

souls

came

into

being

amidst

nipping

frosts

;

for

as

the

substance

is

,

so

must

be

its

active

power

.

Now

,

after

these

preliminary

statements

,

we

may

also

refer

to

the

case

of

those

who

,

having

been

cut

out

of

their

mother’s

womb

,

have

breathed

and

retained

life

—

your

Bacchuses

and

Scipios

.

If

,

however

,

there

be

any

one

who

,

like

Plato

,

supposes

that

two

souls

cannot

,

more

than

two

bodies

could

,

co

-

exist

in

the

same

individual

,

I

,

on

the

contrary

,

could

show

him

not

merely

the

co

-

existence

of

two

souls

in

one

person

,

as

also

of

two

bodies

in

the

same

womb

,

but

likewise

the

combination

of

many

other

things

in

natural

connection

with

the

soul

—

for

instance

,

of

demoniacal

possession

;

and

that

not

of

one

only

,

as

in

the

case

of

Socrates

’

own

demon

;

but

of

seven

spirits

as

in

the

case

of

the

Magdalene

;

and

of

a

legion

in

number

,

as

in

the

Gadarene

.

Now

one

soul

is

naturally

more

susceptible

of

conjunction

with

another

soul

,

by

reason

of

the

identity

of

their

substance

,

than

an

evil

spirit

is

,

owing

to

their

diverse

natures

.

But

when

the

same

philosopher

,

in

the

sixth

book

of

The

Laws

,

warns

us

to

beware

lest

a

vitiation

of

seed

should

infuse

a

soil

into

both

body

and

soul

from

an

illicit

or

debased

concubinage

,

I

hardly

know

whether

he

is

more

inconsistent

with

himself

in

respect

of

one

of

his

,

or

of

that

which

he

had

just

made

.

For

he

here

shows

us

that

the

soul

proceeds

from

human

seed

(

and

warns

us

to

be

on

our

guard

about

it

)

,

not

,

(

as

he

had

said

before

,

)

from

the

first

breath

of

the

new

-

born

child

.

Pray

,

whence

comes

it

that

from

similarity

of

soul

we

resemble

our

parents

in

disposition

,

according

to

the

testimony

of

Cleanthes

,

if

we

are

not

produced

from

this

seed

of

the

soul

?

Why

,

too

,

used

the

old

astrologers

to

cast

a

man’s

nativity

from

his

first

conception

,

if

his

soul

also

draws

not

its

origin

from

that

moment

?

To

this

(

nativity

)

likewise

belongs

the

inbreathing

of

the

soul

,

whatever

that

is

.

Notes

1
“Inhaled” is Bp. Kaye’s word for adduci, “taken up.”
2
Educi.
3
Vivacitas.
4
Ciborum vanitates.
5
Rapiens.
6
Anima.
7
Anulocultro. [To be seen in the Museum at Naples.]
8
Or, “the whole business (totem facinus) is despatched.”
9
So Plato, Cratylus, p. 399, c. 17.
10
Censentur.
11
Liberi aliqui.
12
See Pliny, Natural History, vii. 9.
13
See above, ch. x.
14
Mark xvi. 9.
15
Mark vi. 1–9.
16
See above, ch. v.