On the Soul, to Tatian · §7 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

That the soul is immortal

Three arguments show that the soul is immortal: what is simple cannot be dissolved, what moves itself never stops moving, and the soul's own evils do not take away its life.

It seems to me to follow that what is simple is also immortal. Listen to how this is so. Nothing that exists destroys itself; otherwise it would not have existed even in the beginning. Things that are destroyed are destroyed by contraries. For everything that is destroyed is dissolved; what is dissolved is composite; what is composite has many parts; what consists of parts consists, of course, of parts that differ; and what differs is not the same. Since, then, the soul is simple and does not consist of many parts, because it is neither composite nor able to be dissolved, it follows that it is indestructible and immortal.

Moreover, whatever is set in motion by another's movement, and has its power of living not from itself but from what moves it, lasts as long as it is kept in being by that power working within it; when that power ceases, the thing it was moving must also cease. So, since the soul is moved by itself, it never ceases to be. For these things follow one from another in this way: what is moved by itself is always moved; what is always moved never fails; what never fails has no end; what has no end is not destroyed; what is not destroyed is immortal. If, then, the soul is moved by itself, as was shown above, it will be, by the force of the reasoning just set out, indestructible and immortal.

Again, whatever is not destroyed by its own evil cannot be destroyed. Evil is contrary to good, and so it has the power to destroy it. For the evil of the body is nothing other than suffering, disease and death, just as, on the other side, its excellence is beauty, life, health and a sound constitution. If, then, the soul is not destroyed by its own evil, and the evil of the soul is fear, intemperance, envy and the like, none of which takes from it the power of living and moving, then the soul is immortal.

Latin

Consequens vero mihi videtur, ut quod est simplex, etiam sit immortale. Et quo pacto illud, ausculta: Nihil eorum quae sunt, seipsum corrumpit; alioquin enim ne initio quidem constitisset. Quae autem corrumpuntur, ex contrariis corrumpuntur. Nam omne quod corrumpitur, dissolvitur: quod dissolvitur, compositum est: at compositum, multarum est partium: quod ex partibus constat, ex iis scilicet constat differentibus: quod vero differens est; idem non est: Quamobrem cum simplex sit Anima, neque ex pluribus partibus constet; quia nec composita est, nec dissolvi potest: sequitur eam incorruptibilem, et immortalem esse. Praeterea, quidquid alieno cietur motu, nec ex se ipso, sed ex eo, a quo movetur, vivendi habet facultatem; illud tam diu permanet, quod ab illa intrinsecus operante vi conservatur: at ubi ea cessaverit, et ipsum quod ab ea movebatur, desinat necesse est. Quare cum Anima a seipsa moveatur, nunquam esse desinit. Haec enim ita se consequuntur, ut quod a seipso movetur, semper moveatur, quod semper movetur, nunquam deficit: quod nunquam deficit, fine caret: quod finis est expers, non corrumpitur: quod non corrumpitur, est immortale. Ergo si Anima a se ipsa movetur, ut superius demonstratum est; erit igitur ex vi iam propositae ratiocinationis, incorruptibilis et immortalis. Praeterea, quodcunque a proprio malo non corrumpitur, corrumpi non potest: malum autem bono contrarium est; ideo et illius corrumpendi vim habet. Non enim aliud est corporis malum, quam passio, morbus, et mors; sicut e contra virtus eius est, pulchritudo, vita, sanitas, et firma constitutio. Si igitur Anima a suo malo non corrumpitur; malum autem Animae, est metus, intemperantia, invidia, et similia: quae tamen omnia vivendi ac movendi facultatem ipsi non auferunt: Anima ergo est immortalis.

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About this text

Gregory Thaumaturgus, On the Soul, to Tatian: a fresh English translation of the whole short treatise. Arguing from reason alone, without Scripture proofs, it shows that the soul is known by its effects, exists, is a substance, is not a body, is simple, is immortal and shares in reason. Scholars dispute whether Gregory wrote it.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this treatise to his friend Tatian. Gregory was bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus and had studied with Origen in Caesarea in Palestine. Tatian asked him to send a discourse and disputation on the soul, and Gregory complied promptly, trusting in Tatian's goodwill toward him.

Tatian did not need the work for his own assurance, since he was already instructed in the divine Scriptures and traditions. He wanted it for confuting people who refuse to believe the Scriptures and who use clever speech to circumvent and deceive those unaccustomed to such debate. Gregory therefore agreed to write using only human reasoning and common notions, not scriptural testimonies.

The treatise follows the customary order of inquiry for such subjects. Gregory first proposes the criterion by which the soul can be grasped according to nature, then shows by what arguments its existence is demonstrated. He examines whether the soul is substance or accident, body or incorporeal, simple or composite, mortal or immortal, and finally whether it is rational. For proofs he uses only common notions by which assent is usually obtained for evident things, choosing the reasonings most effective for demonstrating each point. He then carries out this plan: the soul is known from what it does; it exists, since it moves the body and gives it life; it is a substance, not a body; it is simple; it is immortal; and it is rational.

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Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Latin column (Greek damaged))
Also checked Archive DjVu machine-read text (Latin/Greek mixed machine-read text)
Translated from Latin preface (Latin)

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Preface — Long-s and column joins expanded from the Latin face; sense checked against the inquiry program that follows.

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