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Fragments on John

Jo , 3 And in this the Savior himself was overthrowing an unlawful doctrine. For some supposed that sinning souls are sent from heaven into a body for the sake of punishment, and that sometimes the soul, pre-existing the body by itself, remains , but at other times, on account of its own sins, is entwined with bodies, and that a woman is able to conceive at the time when a soul sins; refuting such an error, Christ, when asked, said: Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest.

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Fragmenta in Joannem

Jo , 3 Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἀνέτρεπεν αὐτὸς ὁ σωτὴρ δόγμα παράνομον. ὑπονοούντων γάρ τινων ψυχὰς ἁμαρτανούσας ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τιμωρίας ἕνεκεν εἰς σῶμα πέμπεσθαι καί ποτε μὲν καθ' ἑαυτὴν προϋπάρχουσαν τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ σώματος <μένειν>, ποτὲ δὲ οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων χάριν σώμασι συμπλέκεσθαι καὶ τότε κατὰ γαστρὸς ἔχειν τὴν γυναῖκα δύνασθαι ὅτε τις ψυχὴ ἁμαρτάνῃ, ἀναιρῶν τὴν τοιαύτην πλάνην ἐρωτηθεὶς ὁ Χριστὸς ἔλεγεν· οὔτε οὗτος ἥμαρτεν οὔτε οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἵνα φανερωθῇ τὰ ἔργα θεοῦ.