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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 39

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXXIX.—The Evil Spirit Has Marred the Purity of the Soul from the Very Birth.

All these endowments of the soul which are bestowed on it

‹ Chapter 38 Chapter 40 ›

at

birth

are

still

obscured

and

depraved

by

the

malignant

being

who

,

in

the

beginning

,

regarded

them

with

envious

eye

,

so

that

they

are

never

seen

in

their

spontaneous

action

,

nor

are

they

administered

as

they

ought

to

be

.

For

to

what

individual

of

the

human

race

will

not

the

evil

spirit

cleave

,

ready

to

entrap

their

souls

from

the

very

portal

of

their

birth

,

at

which

he

is

invited

to

be

present

in

all

those

superstitious

processes

which

accompany

childbearing

?

Thus

it

comes

to

pass

that

all

men

are

brought

to

the

birth

with

idolatry

for

the

midwife

,

whilst

the

very

wombs

that

bear

them

,

still

bound

with

the

fillets

that

have

been

wreathed

before

the

idols

,

declare

their

offspring

to

be

consecrated

to

demons

:

for

in

parturition

they

invoke

the

aid

of

Lucina

and

Diana

;

for

a

whole

week

a

table

is

spread

in

honour

of

Juno

;

on

the

last

day

the

fates

of

the

horoscope

are

invoked

;

and

then

the

infant’s

first

step

on

the

ground

is

sacred

to

the

goddess

Statina

.

After

this

does

any

one

fail

to

devote

to

idolatrous

service

the

entire

head

of

his

son

,

or

to

take

out

a

hair

,

or

to

shave

off

the

whole

with

a

razor

,

or

to

bind

it

up

for

an

offering

,

or

seal

it

for

sacred

use

—

in

behalf

of

the

clan

,

of

the

ancestry

,

or

for

public

devotion

?

On

this

principle

of

early

possession

it

was

that

Socrates

,

while

yet

a

boy

,

was

found

by

the

spirit

of

the

demon

.

Thus

,

too

,

is

it

that

to

all

persons

their

genii

are

assigned

,

which

is

only

another

name

for

demons

.

Hence

in

no

case

(

I

mean

of

the

heathen

,

of

course

)

is

there

any

nativity

which

is

pure

of

idolatrous

superstition

.

It

was

from

this

circumstance

that

the

apostle

said

,

that

when

either

of

the

parents

was

sanctified

,

the

children

were

holy

;

and

this

as

much

by

the

prerogative

of

the

(

Christian

)

seed

as

by

the

discipline

of

the

institution

(

by

baptism

,

and

Christian

education

)

.

“

Else

,

”

says

he

,

“

were

the

children

unclean

”

by

birth

:

as

if

he

meant

us

to

understand

that

the

children

of

believers

were

designed

for

holiness

,

and

thereby

for

salvation

;

in

order

that

he

might

by

the

pledge

of

such

a

hope

give

his

support

to

matrimony

,

which

he

had

determined

to

maintain

in

its

integrity

.

Besides

,

he

had

certainly

not

forgotten

what

the

Lord

had

so

definitively

stated

:

“

Except

a

man

be

born

of

water

and

of

the

Spirit

,

he

cannot

enter

into

the

kingdom

of

God

;

”

in

other

words

,

he

cannot

be

holy

.

Notes

1
Fata Scribunda.
2
1 Cor. vii. 14.
3
1 Cor. vii. 14.
4
John iii. 5.