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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 4

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter IV.—In Opposition to Plato, the Soul Was Created and Originated at Birth.

After settling the origin of the soul, its condition or

‹ Chapter 3 Chapter 5 ›

state

comes

up

For

when

we

acknowledge

that

the

soul

originates

in

the

breath

of

God

,

it

follows

that

we

attribute

a

beginning

to

it

.

This

Plato

,

indeed

,

refuses

to

assign

to

it

,

for

he

will

have

the

soul

to

be

unborn

and

unmade

.

We

,

however

,

from

the

very

fact

of

its

having

had

a

beginning

,

as

well

as

from

the

nature

thereof

,

teach

that

it

had

both

birth

and

creation

.

And

when

we

ascribe

both

birth

and

creation

to

it

,

we

have

made

no

mistake

:

for

being

born

,

indeed

,

is

one

thing

,

and

being

made

is

another

,

—

the

former

being

the

term

which

is

best

suited

to

living

beings

.

When

distinctions

,

however

,

have

places

and

times

of

their

own

,

they

occasionally

possess

also

reciprocity

of

application

among

themselves

.

Thus

,

the

being

made

admits

of

being

taken

in

the

sense

of

being

brought

forth

;

inasmuch

as

everything

which

receives

being

or

existence

,

in

any

way

whatever

,

is

in

fact

generated

.

For

the

maker

may

really

be

called

the

parent

of

the

thing

that

is

made

:

in

this

sense

Plato

also

uses

the

phraseology

.

So

far

,

therefore

,

as

concerns

our

belief

in

the

souls

being

made

or

born

,

the

opinion

of

the

philosopher

is

overthrown

by

the

authority

of

prophecy

even

.

Notes

1
See his Phædrus, c. xxiv.
2
Capit itaque et facturam provenisse poni.
3
Or, “inspiration.”