Chapter V.—The soul is not in its own nature immortal.

“ ‘These philosophers know nothing, then, about these things; for they cannot tell what a soul is.’

“ ‘It does not appear so.’

“ ‘Nor ought it to be called immortal; for if it is immortal, it is plainly unbegotten.’

“ ‘It is both unbegotten and immortal, according to some who are styled Platonists.’

“ ‘Do you say that the world is also unbegotten?’

“ ‘Some say so. I do not, however, agree with them.’

“ ‘You are right; for what reason has one for supposing that a body so solid, possessing resistance, composite, changeable, decaying, and renewed every day, has not arisen from some cause? But if the world is begotten, souls also are necessarily begotten; and perhaps at one time they were not in existence, for they were made on account of men and other living creatures, if you will say that they have been begotten wholly apart, and not along with their respective bodies.’

“ ‘This seems to be correct.’

“ ‘They are not, then, immortal?’

“ ‘No; since the world has appeared to us to be begotten.’

“ ‘But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished.’

“ ‘Is what you say, then, of a like nature with that which Plato in Timæus hints about the world, when he says that it is indeed subject to decay, inasmuch as it has been created, but that it will neither be dissolved nor meet with the fate of death on account of the will of God? Does it seem to you the very same can be said of the soul, and generally of all things? For those things which exist after15    “Beside.” God, or shall at any time exist,16    Otto says: If the old man begins to speak here, then ἔχει must be read for ἔχειν. The received text makes it appear that Justin continues a quotation, or the substance of it, from Plato. these have the nature of decay, and are such as may be blotted out and cease to exist; for God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and therefore He is God, but all other things after Him are created and corruptible. For this reason souls both die and are punished: since, if they were unbegotten, they would neither sin, nor be filled with folly, nor be cowardly, and again ferocious; nor would they willingly transform into swine, and serpents, and dogs; and it would not indeed be just to compel them, if they be unbegotten. For that which is unbegotten is similar to, equal to, and the same with that which is unbegotten; and neither in power nor in honour should the one be preferred to the other, and hence there are not many things which are unbegotten: for if there were some difference between them, you would not discover the cause of the difference, though you searched for it; but after letting the mind ever wander to infinity, you would at length, wearied out, take your stand on one Unbegotten, and say that this is the Cause of all. Did such escape the observation of Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men,’ I said, ‘who have been as a wall and fortress of philosophy to us?’

[5] Οὐδὲν οὖν ἴσασι περὶ τούτων ἐκεῖνοι οἱ φιλόσοφοι: οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι ψυχὴ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν. Οὐκ ἔοικεν. Οὐδὲ μὴν ἀθάνατον χρὴ λέγειν αὐτήν: ὅτι εἰ ἀθάνατός ἐστι, καὶ ἀγέννητος δηλαδή. Ἀγέννητος δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι κατά τινας λεγομένους Πλατωνικούς. Ἦ καὶ τὸν κόσμον σὺ ἀγέννητον λέγεις; Εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, οὐ μέντοι γε αὐτοῖς συγκατατίθεμαι ἐγώ. Ὀρθῶς ποιῶν. τίνα γὰρ λόγον ἔχει σῶμα οὕτω στερεὸν καὶ ἀντιτυπίαν ἔχον καὶ σύνθετον καὶ ἀλλοιούμενον καὶ φθίνον καὶ γινόμενον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας μὴ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τινος ἡγεῖσθαι γεγονέναι; εἰ δὲ ὁ κόσμος γεννητός, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς γεγονέναι καὶ οὐκ εἶναί ποι τάχα: διὰ γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐγένοντο καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα, εἰ ὅλως κατ' ἰδίαν καὶ μὴ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων σωμάτων φήσεις αὐτὰς γεγονέναι. Οὕτως δοκεῖ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν. Οὐκ ἄρα ἀθάνατοι. Οὔ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ κόσμος γεννητὸς ἡμῖν ἐφάνη. Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκειν φημὶ πάσας τὰς ψυχὰς ἐγώ: ἕρμαιον γὰρ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῖς κακοῖς. ἀλλὰ τί; τὰς μὲν τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐν κρείττονί ποι χώρῳ μένειν, τὰς δὲ ἀδίκους καὶ πονηρὰς ἐν χείρονι, τὸν τῆς κρίσεως ἐκδεχομένας χρόνον τότε. οὕτως αἱ μέν, ἄξιαι τοῦ θεοῦ φανεῖσαι, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἔτι: αἱ δὲ κολάζονται, ἔστ' ἂν αὐτὰς καὶ εἶναι καὶ κολάζεσθαι ὁ θεὸς θέλῃ. Ἆρα τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ὃ λέγεις, οἷον καὶ Πλάτων ἐν Τιμαίῳ αἰνίσσεται περὶ τοῦ κόσμου, λέγων ὅτι αὐτὸς μὲν καὶ φθαρτός ἐστιν ᾗ γέγονεν, οὐ λυθήσεται δὲ οὐδὲ τεύξεται θανάτου μοίρας διὰ τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ θεοῦ; τοῦτ' αὐτό σοι δοκεῖ καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντων πέρι λέγεσθαι; ὅσα γάρ ἐστι μετὰ τὸν θεὸν ἢ ἔσται ποτέ, ταῦτα φύσιν φθαρτὴν ἔχειν, καὶ οἷά τε ἐξαφανισθῆναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι ἔτι: μόνος γὰρ ἀγέννητος καὶ ἄφθαρτος ὁ θεὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεός ἐστι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα μετὰ τοῦτον γεννητὰ καὶ φθαρτά. τούτου χάριν καὶ ἀποθνήσκουσιν αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ κολάζονται: ἐπεὶ εἰ ἀγέννητοι ἦσαν, οὔτ' ἂν ἐξημάρτανον οὔτε ἀφροσύνης ἀνάπλεῳ ἦσαν, οὐδὲ δειλαὶ καὶ θρασεῖαι πάλιν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἑκοῦσαί ποτε εἰς σύας ἐχώρουν καὶ ὄφεις καὶ κύνας, οὐδὲ μὴν ἀναγκάζεσθαι αὐτὰς θέμις, εἴπερ εἰσὶν ἀγέννητοι. τὸ γὰρ ἀγέννητον τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ ὅμοιόν ἐστι καὶ ἴσον καὶ ταὐτόν, καὶ οὔτε δυνάμει οὔτε τιμῇ προκριθείη ἂν θατέρου τὸ ἕτερον. ὅθεν οὐδὲ πολλά ἐστι τὰ ἀγέννητα: εἰ γὰρ διαφορά τις ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἂν εὕροις ἀναζητῶν τὸ αἴτιον τῆς διαφορᾶς, ἀλλ', ἐπ' ἄπειρον ἀεὶ τὴν διάνοιαν πέμπων, ἐπὶ ἑνός ποτε στήσῃ ἀγεννήτου καμὼν καὶ τοῦτο φήσεις ἁπάντων αἴτιον. ἢ ταῦτα ἔλαθε, φημὶ ἐγώ, Πλάτωνα καὶ Πυθαγόραν, σοφοὺς ἄνδρας, οἳ ὥσπερ τεῖχος ἡμῖν καὶ ἔρεισμα φιλοσοφίας ἐξεγένοντο;