Tatian, Address to the Greeks

Chapter XIII.—Theory of the Soul’s Immortality.

The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal.40 [Here Bishop Kaye has a very full note, quoting a beautiful passage textually from Beausobre, with whom, however, he does not entirely coincide. Justin, p. 184.] Yet it is possible for it not to die. If, indeed, it knows not the truth, it dies, and is dissolved with the body, but rises again at last at the end of the world with the body, receiving death by punishment in immortality. But, again, if it acquires the knowledge of God, it dies not, although for a time it be dissolved. In itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it. And this is the meaning of the saying, “The darkness comprehendeth not the light.”41 John. i. 5. For the soul does not preserve the spirit, but is preserved by it, and the light comprehends the darkness. The Logos, in truth, is the light of God, but the ignorant soul is darkness. On this account, if it continues solitary, it tends downward towards matter, and dies with the flesh; but, if it enters into union with the Divine Spirit, it is no longer helpless, but ascends to the regions whither the Spirit guides it: for the dwelling-place of the spirit is above, but the origin of the soul is from beneath. Now, in the beginning the spirit was a constant companion of the soul, but the spirit forsook it because it was not willing to follow. Yet, retaining as it were a spark of its power, though unable by reason of the separation to discern the perfect, while seeking for God it fashioned to itself in its wandering many gods, following the sophistries of the demons. But the Spirit of God is not with all, but, taking up its abode with those who live justly, and intimately combining with the soul, by prophecies it announced hidden things to other souls. And the souls that are obedient to wisdom have attracted to themselves the cognate spirit;42 [See cap. v., note, supra, p. 67.] but the disobedient, rejecting the minister of the suffering God,43 [τοῦ πεπονθότος Θεοῦ. A very noteworthy testimony to the mystery of the Cross, and an early specimen of the Communicatio idiomatum: the ἀντὶδοσις or ἀντιμετάστασις of the Greek theologians. Pearson, On the Creed, p. 314. London, 1824.] have shown themselves to be fighters against God, rather than His worshippers.

13.1 Οὐκ ἔστιν ἀθάνατος, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ἡ ψυχὴ καθ' ἑαυτήν, θνητὴ δέ· ἀλλὰ δυνατὸς ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ μὴ ἀποθνήσκειν. θνήσκει μὲν γὰρ καὶ λύεται μετὰ τοῦ σώματος μὴ γινώσκουσα τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀνίσταται δὲ εἰς ὕστερον ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ κόσμου σὺν τῷ σώματι θάνατον διὰ τιμωρίας ἐν ἀθανασίᾳ λαμβάνουσα· πάλιν τε οὐ θνήσκει, κἂν πρὸς καιρὸν λυθῇ, τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ πεποιημένη. καθ' ἑαυτὴν γὰρ σκότος ἐστίν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτῇ φωτεινόν, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἄρα τὸ εἰρημένον· _ἡ_ _σ_κ_ο_τ_ί_α_ _τ_ὸ_ _φ_ῶ_ς_ _ο_ὐ_ _κ_α_τ_α_λ_α_μ_β_ά_ν_ε_ι. ψυχὴ γὰρ οὐκ αὐτὴ τὸ πνεῦμα ἔσωσεν, ἐσώθη δὲ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ τὸ φῶς τὴν σκοτίαν κατέλαβεν ᾗ 13.2 λόγος μέν ἐστι τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ φῶς, σκότος δὲ ἡ ἀνεπιστήμων ψυχή. διὰ τοῦτο μόνη μὲν διαιτωμένη πρὸς τὴν ὕλην νεύει κάτω συναποθνήσκουσα τῇ σαρκί, συζυγίαν δὲ κεκτημένη τὴν τοῦ θείου πνεύματος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀβοήθητος, ἀνέρχεται δὲ πρὸς ἅπερ αὐτὴν ὁδηγεῖ χωρία τὸ πνεῦμα· τοῦ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἄνω τὸ οἰκητήριον, τῆς δὲ κάτωθέν ἐστιν ἡ γένεσις. γέγονεν μὲν οὖν συνδίαιτον ἀρχῆθεν τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ πνεῦμα· τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ταύτην ἕπεσθαι μὴ βουλομένην αὐτῷ καταλέλοιπεν. ἡ δὲ ὥσπερ ἔναυσμα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ κεκτημένη καὶ διὰ τὸν χωρισμὸν τὰ τέλεια καθορᾶν μὴ δυναμένη, ζητοῦσα τὸν θεὸν κατὰ πλάνην πολλοὺς θεοὺς ἀνετύπωσε 13.3 τοῖς ἀντισοφιστεύουσι δαίμοσι κατακολουθοῦσα. πνεῦμα δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ πᾶσιν μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, παρὰ δέ τισι τοῖς δικαίως πολιτευομένοις καταγινόμενον καὶ συμπεριπλεκόμενον τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ προαγορεύσεων ταῖς λοιπαῖς ψυχαῖς τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἀνήγγειλε· καὶ αἱ μὲν πειθόμεναι τῇ σοφίᾳ σφίσιν αὐταῖς ἐφεῖλκον τὸ πνεῦμα συγγενές, αἱ δὲ μὴ πειθόμεναι καὶ τὸν διάκονον τοῦ πεπονθότος θεοῦ παραιτούμεναι θεομάχοι μᾶλλον ἤπερ θεοσεβεῖς ἀνεφαίνοντο.