VII. Third plague: outward operations cease; Tatian, Tertullian, Nyssen, Bernard, Durandus

VII. The third plague of the soul in death is that by which it extinguishes all its operations, especially those outward. For that the state of the soul severed from the body is imperfect, and that it has no act, has seemed so to many holy men. Tatian by that argument proves that souls do not become demons: how would souls be operative after death? The soul, by its own resources, barely suffices for action, says Tertullian in On the Resurrection chapter 46. For from its own it has only to think, to will, to desire; but for accomplishing, it awaits the service of the flesh. Deeds are administered through the flesh. The soul alone does nothing, says Nyssen in the first oration On the Resurrection. The spirit of a human being without the body can neither itself advance nor profit another, as Bernard authorizes in Song of Songs sermon 5. And again, where the body shall be wanting, there will be no delusion. So Durandus, whom Pico della Mirandola follows. Angels are said to be moved from place to place insofar as they operate successively in diverse places. But the separated soul is not said to have any operation around a place, or around a body existing in a place, because since by its nature it is determined to a certain body, it cannot move nor act upon another except by means of its own body, but it lacks that while it is separated. Therefore the soul cannot be moved from place to place by reason of operation.