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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 29

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Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXIX.—The Pythagorean Doctrine Refuted by Its Own First Principle, that Living Men are Formed from the Dead.

It is indeed, manifest that dead men are formed from

‹ Chapter 28 Chapter 30 ›

living

ones

;

but

it

does

not

follow

from

that

,

that

living

men

are

formed

from

dead

ones

.

For

from

the

beginning

the

living

came

first

in

the

order

of

things

,

and

therefore

also

from

the

beginning

the

dead

came

afterwards

in

order

.

But

these

proceeded

from

no

other

source

except

from

the

living

.

The

living

had

their

origin

in

any

other

source

(

you

please

)

than

in

the

dead

;

whilst

the

dead

had

no

source

whence

to

derive

their

beginning

,

except

from

the

living

.

If

,

then

,

from

the

very

first

the

living

came

not

from

the

dead

,

why

should

they

afterwards

(

be

said

to

)

come

from

the

dead

?

Had

that

original

source

,

whatever

it

was

,

come

to

an

end

?

Was

the

form

or

law

thereof

a

matter

for

regret

?

Then

why

was

it

preserved

in

the

case

of

the

dead

?

Does

it

not

follow

that

,

because

the

dead

came

from

the

living

at

the

first

,

therefore

they

always

came

from

the

living

?

For

either

the

law

which

obtained

at

the

beginning

must

have

continued

in

both

of

its

relations

,

or

else

it

must

have

changed

in

both

;

so

that

,

if

it

had

become

necessary

for

the

living

afterwards

to

proceed

from

the

dead

,

it

would

be

necessary

,

in

like

manner

,

for

the

dead

also

not

to

proceed

from

the

living

.

For

if

a

faithful

adherence

to

the

institution

was

not

meant

to

be

perpetuated

in

each

respect

,

then

contraries

cannot

in

due

alternation

continue

to

be

re

-

formed

from

contraries

.

We

,

too

,

will

on

our

side

adduce

against

you

certain

contraries

,

of

the

born

and

the

unborn

,

of

vision

and

blindness

,

of

youth

and

old

age

,

of

wisdom

and

folly

.

Now

it

does

not

follow

that

the

unborn

proceeds

from

the

born

,

on

the

ground

that

a

contrary

issues

from

a

contrary

;

nor

,

again

,

that

vision

proceeds

from

blindness

,

because

blindness

happens

to

vision

;

nor

,

again

,

that

youth

revives

from

old

age

,

because

after

youth

comes

the

decrepitude

of

senility

;

nor

that

folly

is

born

with

its

obtuseness

from

wisdom

,

because

wisdom

may

possibly

be

sometimes

sharpened

out

of

folly

.

Albinus

has

some

fears

for

his

(

master

and

friend

)

Plato

in

these

points

,

and

labours

with

much

ingenuity

to

distinguish

different

kinds

of

contraries

;

as

if

these

instances

did

not

as

absolutely

partake

of

the

nature

of

contrariety

as

those

which

are

expounded

by

him

to

illustrate

his

great

master’s

principle

—

I

mean

,

life

and

death

.

Nor

is

it

,

for

the

matter

of

that

,

true

that

life

is

restored

out

of

death

,

because

it

happens

that

death

succeeds

life

.

Notes

1
Visualitatis.
2
Insipientiam. “Imbecility” is the meaning here, though the word takes the more general sense in the next clause.
3
Deferatur.