Arnobius — Against the Nations 2.33

When fear of death is set before us — that is, the destruction of souls — what? Do we not, from the sense of advantage by which we all love ourselves, hold, embrace, and (if only a just exchange stands) prefer before our very souls him who promises he will free us from such danger? You place the salvation of your souls in yourselves and trust you become gods by your own inward effort; but we promise ourselves nothing from our weakness, seeing that our nature is of no strength and is overcome by its own affections in every contest of things.

You think that as soon as you have gone free from the knots of the limbs, wings will be at hand by which you can make for heaven and fly to the stars; we fear such boldness so much and do not reckon it placed in our power to seek the things above, since we hold even this itself uncertain — whether we deserve to receive life and be led away from mortality’s law. You presume you will return of your own accord into the Lord’s hall as into your own seat with none forbidding; but we neither hope that this order of things can happen without the Lord, nor do we judge that so much power and license is granted to any human.