transactions to be managed without one's body? Life (spent) without life? But (you will tell me) the destined period in question is to be bare of all incident whatever, only to be accomplished by merely elapsing. What, then, is to prevent its being fulfilled in Hades, where there is absolutely no use to which you can apply it? We therefore maintain that every soul, whatever be its age on quitting the CHAP. LVII.]
A TREATISE ON THE SOUL.
oil l)ody, remains unchanged in the same, until the time shall come when the promised per- fection shall be realized in a state duly tem- pered to the measure of the peerless angels. Hence those souls must be accounted as pass- ing an exile in Hades, which people are apt to regard as carried off by violence, especially by cruel tortures, such as those of the cross, and the axe, and the sword, and the lion; but we do not account those to be violent deaths which justice awards, that avenger of violence. So then, you will say, it is all the wicked souls that are banished in Hades. (Not quite so fast, is my answer.) I must compel you to determine (what you mean by Hades), which of its two regions, the region of the good or of the bad. If you mean the bad, (all I can say is, that) even now the souls of the wicked de- serve to be consigned to those abodes; if you mean the good why should you judge to be unworthy of such a restmg-place the souls of infants and of virgins, and ' those which, by reason of their condition in life were pure and innocent?
CHAP. LVII. MAGIC AND SORCERY ONLY APPAR- ENT IN THEIR EFFECTS. GOD ALONE CAN RAISE THE DEAD.
It is either a very fine thing to be detained in these infernal regions with the Aori^ or souls which were prematurely hurried away; or else a very bad thing indeed to be there asoociated with the Biaeothanati, w^ho suffered violent deaths. I may be permitted to use the actual words and terms with which magic rings again, that inventor of all these odd opinions — with its Ostanes, and Typhon, and Dardanus, and Damigeron, and Nectabis, and Berenice. There is a well-known popular bit of writing, = which undertakes to summon up from the abode of Hades the souls which have actually slept out their full age, and had passed away by an honourable death, and had even been buried with full rites and proper cere- mony. What after this shall we say about magic? Say, to be sure, what almost every- body says of it — that it is an imposture. But it is not we Christians only whose notice this system of imposture does not escape. We, it is true, have discovered these spirits of evil, not, to be sure, by a complicity with them, but by a certain knowledge which is hostile to them; nor is it by any procedure which is at- tractive to them, but by a power which subju- gates them that we handle (their wretched system) — that manifold pest of the mind of ' We have treated this particle as a conjunction • but it may only be an intensive particle introducing an explanatory clause: " e7)en those which were pure," etc. [a better rendering.]
" Litteratura.
man, that artificer of all error, that destroyer of our salvation and our soul at one swoop.' In this way, even by magic, which is indeed only a second idolatry, wherein they pretend that after death they become demons, just as they were supposed in the first and literal idola- try to become gods (and why not? since the gods are butdead things), the before-mentioned Aori Biaeotha7iati are actually invoked, — and not unfairly,* if one grounds his faith on this principle, that it is clearly credible for those souls to be beyond all others addicted to vio- lence and wrong, which with violence and wrong have been hurried away by a cruel and premature death and which would have a keen appetite for reprisals Under cover, however, of these souls, demons operate, especially such as used to dwell in them when they were in life, and who had driven them, in fact, to the fate which had at last carried them off. For, as we have already suggested, s there is hardly a human being who is unattended by a demon; and it is well known to many, that premature and violent deaths, which men ascribe to ac- cidents, are in fact brought about by demons. This imposture of the evil spirit lying con- cealed in the persons of the dead, we are able, if I mistake not, to prove by actual facts, when in cases of exorcism (the evil spirit) afifirms himself sometimes to be one of the relatives* of the person possessed by him, sometimes a gladiator or a bestiarius^ and sometimes even a god; always making it one of his chief cares to extinguish the very truth which we are proclaiming, that men may not readily be- lieve that all souls remove to Hades, and that they may overthrow faith in the resurrection and the judgment. And yet for all that, the demon, after trying to circumvent the by- standers, is vanquished by the pressure of divine grace, and sorely against his will con- fesses all the truth. So also in that other kind of magic, which is supposed to bring up from Hades the souls now resting there, and to ex- hibit them to public view, there is no other expedient of imposture ever resorted to which operates more powerfully. Of course, why a phantom becomes visible, is because a body is also attached to it; and it is no difificult matter to delude the external vision of a man whose mental eye it is so easy to blind. The serpents which emerged from the magicians' rods, certainly appeared to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians as bodily substances. It is true 3 Oehler takes these descriptive clauses as meant of Satan, in- stead of being synonymes of magic, as the context seems to re- quire.
4 vEque.
6 Aliquem ex parentibus.
7 One who fought with wild beasts in the public games, only without the weapons allowed to the gladiator.
A TREATISE ON THE SOUL.
[chap. LVIII.
that the verity of Moses swallowed up their lying deceit.' Many attempts were also wrought against the apostles by the sorcerers Simon and Elymas,^ but the blindness which struck (them) was no enchanter's trick. What novelty is there in the effort of an unclean spirit to counterfeit the truth? At this very time, even, the heretical dupes of this same Simon (Magus) are so much elated by the ex- travagant pretensions of their art, that they undertake to bring up from Hades the souls of the prophets themselves. And I suppose that they can do so under cover of a lying wonder. For, indeed, it was no less than this that was anciently permitted to the Pythonic (or ventriloquistic) spirit ^ — even to represent the soul of Samuel, when Saul consulted the dead, after (losing the living) God.^ God forbid, however, that we should suppose that the soul of any saint, much less of a prophet, can be dragged out of (its resting-place in Hades) by a demon. We know that " Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light " ^ — much more into a man of light — and that at last he will " show himself to be even God,"* and will exhibit "great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, he shall deceive the very elect. ' ' ' He hardly ^ hesitated on the before-mentioned occasion to affirm himself to be a prophet of God, and especially to Saul, in whom he was then act- ually dwelling. You must not imagine that he who produced the phantom was one, and he who consulted it was another; but that it was one and the same spirit, both in the sor- ceress and in the apostate (king), which easily pretended an apparition of that which it had already prepared them to believe as real — (even the spirit) through whose evil influence Saul's heart was fixed where his treasure was, and where certainly God was not. Therefore it came about, that he saw him through whose aid he believed that he was going to see, be- cause he believed him through whose help he saw. But we are met with the objection, that in visions of the night dead persons are not unfrequently seen, and that for a set purpose. ' For instance, the Nasamones consult private oracles by frequent and lengthened visits to the sepulchres of their relatives, as one may find in Heraclides, or Nymphodorus, or He- rodotus;'° and the Celts, for the same purpose, stay away all night at the tombs of their brave 2 Acts viii. 9, xiii. 8.
3 See above in ch. xxviii. p. 209, supra, 7 Matt. xxiv. 24. « Si forte. 9 Non frustra.
chieftains, as Nicander affirms. Well, we admit apparitions of dead persons in dreams to be not more really true than those of living persons; but we apply the same estimate to all alike — to the dead and to the living, and indeed to all the phenomena which are seen. Now things are not true because they appear to be so, but because they are fully proved to be so. The truth of dreams is declared from the realization, not the aspect. Moreover, the fact that Hades is not in any case opened for (the escape of) any soul, has been firmly established by the Lord in the person of Abraham, in His representation of the poor man at rest and the rich man in torment." No one, (he said,) could possibly be despatched from those abodes to report to us how matters went in the nether regions, — a purpose which, (if any could be,) might have been allowable on such an occasion, to persuade a belief in Moses and the prophets. The power of God has, no doubt, sometimes recalled men's souls to their bodies, as a proof of His own trans- cendent rights; but there must never be, be- cause of this fact, any agreement supposed to be possible between the divine faith and the arrogant pretensions of sorcerers, and the im- posture of dreams, and the licence of poets.
But yet in all cases of a true resurrection, when the power of God recalls souls to their bodies, either by the agency of prophets, or of Christ, or of apostles, a complete presump- tion is afforded us, by the solid, palpable, and ascertained reality (of the revived body), that its true form must be such as to compel one's* belief of the fraudulence of every incorporeal apparition of dead persons.
CHAP. LVIII. CONCLUSION. POINTS POST- PONED. ALL SOULS ARE KEPT IN HADES UNTIL THE RESURRECTION, ANTICIPATING THEIR ULTIMATE MISERY OR BLISS.
All souls, therefore, are shut up within Hades: do you admit this? (It is true, whether) you say yes or no: moreover, there are already experienced there punishments and consolations; and there you have a poor man and a rich. And now, having postponed some stray questions " for this part of my work, I will notice them in this suitable place, and then come to a close. Why, then, cannot you suppose that the soul undergoes punishment and consolation in Hades in the interval, while it awaits its alternative of judgment, in a certain anticipation either of gloom or of glory? You reply: Because in the judgment of God its matter ought to be sure and safe.
" Luke xvi. 26. [Compare note 15. p. zSi, supra. '^Nescio quid.
CHAP. LVIII.]
A TREATISE ON THE SOUL.
nor should there be any inkling beforehand of the award of His sentence; and also because (the soul) ought to be covered first by its vestment' of the restored flesh, which, as the partner of its action" should be also a sharer in its recompense. What, then, is to take place in that interval? Shall we sleep? But souls do not sleep even when men are alive: it is indeed the business of bodies to sleep, to which also belongs death itsejf, no less than its mirror and counterfeit sleep. Or will you have it, that nothing is there done whither the whole human race is attracted, and whither all man's expectation is postponed for safe keeping? Do you think this state is a foretaste of judgment, or its actual com- mencement? a premature encroachment on it, or the first course in its full ministration? Now really, would it not be the highest possi- ble injustice, even '^ in Hades, if all were to be still well with the guilty even there, and not well with the righteous even yet? What, would you have hope be still more confused after death? would you have it mock us still more with uncertain expectation? or shall it now become a review of past life, and an ar- ranging of judgment, with the inevitable feel- ing of a trembling fear? But, again, must the soul always tarry for the body, in order to ex- perience sorrow or joy? Is it not sufficient, even of itself, to suffer both one and the other of these sensations? How often, with- out any pain to the body, is the soul alone tor- tured by ill-temper, and anger, and fatigue, and very often unconsciously, even to itself? How often, too, on the other hand, amidst bodily suffering, does the soul seek out for itself some furtive joy, and withdraw for the moment from the body's importunate society? I am mistaken if the soul is not in the habit, indeed, solitary and alone, of rejoicing and glorying over the very tortures of the body. Look for instance, at the soul of Mutius Scce- vola as he melts his right hand over the fire; look also at Zeno's, as the torments of Dio- nysius pass over it.^ The bites of wild beasts are a glory to young heroes, as on Cyrus were the scars of the bear.* Full well, then, does ~ the soul even in Hades know how to joy and to sorrow even without the body; since when in the flesh it feels pain when it likes, though the body is unhurt; and when it likes it feels joy though the body is in pain. Now if such sensations occur at its will during life, how ' " Operienda " is Oehler's text; another reading gives " opperienda," q.d. " the soul must wait for the restored body."
* This " etiam " is " otium " in the Agobardine MS., a good reading; q.d. " a most iniquitous indifference to justice, etc.
3 Comp. The Apology, last chapter.
much rather may they not happen after death by the judicial appointment of God! More- over, the soul executes not all its operations with the ministration of the flesh; for the judg- ment of God pursues even simple cogitations and the merest volitions. " Whosoever look- eth on a woman to lust after her, hath com- mitted adultery with her already in his heart. "= Therefore, even for this cause it is most fitting that the soul, without at all waiting for the flesh, should be punished for what it has done without the partnership of the flesh. So, on the same principle, in return for the piou§ and kindly thoughts in which it shared not the help of the flesh, shall it without the flesh ' receive its consolation. Nay more,* even in matters done through the flesh the soul is the first to conceive them, the first to arrange them, the first to authorize them, the first to precipitate them into acts. And even if it is sometimes unwilling to act, it is still the first to treat the object which it means to effect by help of the body. In no case, indeed, can an accomplished fact be prior to the mental conception 7 thereof. It is therefore quite in keeping with this order of things, that that j part of our nature should be the first to have • the recompense and reward to which they are due on account of its priority. In short, inas- much as we understand " the prison " pointed out in the Gospel to be Hades, ^ and as we also interpret " the uttermost farthing "Mo mean the very smallest offence which has to be recompensed there before the resurrection,'" \ no one will hesitate to believe that the soul ) undergoes in Hades some compensatory dis- ( cipline, without prejudice to the full process of the resurrection, when the recompense will be administered through the flesh besides.J This point the Paraclete has also pressed home on our attention in most frequent ad- monitions, whenever any of us has admitted the force of His words from a knowledge of ^:is promised spiritual disclosures." And now at last having, as I believe, encountered every human opinion concerning the soul, and tried its character by the teaching of (our holy faith,) we have satisfied the curiosity which is simply a reasonable and necessary one. As for that which is extravagant and idle, there will evermore be as great a defect in its in- formation, as there has been exaggeration and self-will in its researches.
6 Quid nunc si.
7 Conscientia.
10 Mora resurrectionis. See above, on this opioion of TertuUiai^ in ch. XXXV.
" [A symptom of Montainisra.]
TERTULLIAN.
PART SECONa INTRODUCTION, BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
The Second Class of TertuUian's works, according to the logical method I have endeavoured to carry out, is that which includes his treatises against the heresies of his times. In these, the genius of our author is brilliantly illustrated, while, in melancholy fact, he is demon- strating the folly of his own final lapse and the wickedness of that schism and heresy into which he fell away from Truth. Were it not that history abounds in like examples of the frailty of the human intellect and of the insufficiency of " man that walketh to direct his steps," we should be forced to a theory of mental decay to account for inconsistencies so gross and for delusions so besotted, " Genius to madness is /«</<?^^ allied," and who knows but something like that imbecility which closed the career of Swift ' may have been the fate of this splendid wit and versatile man of parts? Charity, admiration and love force this inquiry upon my own mind continually, as I explore his fascinating pages. And the order in which the student will find them in this series, will lead, I think, to similar reflections on the part of many readers. We observe a natural bent and turn of mind, even in his Catholic writings, which indicate his perils. These are more and more apparent in his recent works, as his enthusiasm heats itself into a frenzy which at last becomes a rage. He breaks down by degrees, as in orthodoxy so also in force and in character. It is almost like the collapse of Solomon or of Bacon. And though our own times have produced no example of stars of equal magnitude, to become falling-stars, we have seen illustrations the most humiliating, of those calm words of Bishop Kaye: " Human nature often presents the curious phenomenon of an union of the most opposite qualities in the same mind; of vigour, acuteness and discrimina- tion on some subjects, with imbecility, dulness and bigotry on others." Milton, himself another example of his own threnode, breaks forth in this splendid utterance of lyrical con- fession: " God of our fathers what is man?
Nor do I name of men the common rout, That, wandering loose about, Grow up and perish as the summer fly, Heads without name, no more remembered, But such as thou hast solemnly elected, With gifts and graces eminently adorned.
To some great work, thy glory And people's safety, which in part they effect."
And here, I must venture a remark on the ambiguity of the expressions concerning our author's Montanism. In the treatise against Marcion, written late in his career, Tertullian identifies himself with the Church and strenuously defends its faith and its apostolic order. In only rare instances does his weakness for the " new prophecy " crop out, and then, it is only as one identifies himself with a school within the church. Precisely so Fenelon main- tained his milder Montanism, without a thought of deserting the Latin Church. Afterwards Fenelon drew back, but at last poor Tertullian fell away. So with the Jansenists. They credited the miracles and the convulsions (or ecstasies) of their school,' and condemned those I " From Marlboro's eyes the tears of dotage flow, And Swift expires a driveller and a show." * See the story of the Abbe Paris, Guettee, Histoire de V EsUse de France, Tom. xii. p. 12. Also, Parton, Voltaire, Vol. t. ppk 240 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
who rejected them, as TertulHan condemns the Psychics. The great expounder of the Nicene Faith (Bp. Bull) does indeed speak very decidedly of Tertullian as a lapser, even when he wrote his first book against Marcion. His semi-schismatic position must be allowed. But, was it a formal lapse at that time? The English non-jurors were long in communion with the Church, even while they denounced their brethren and the " Erastianizing " clergy, much as Tertullian does the Psychics. St. Augustine speaks of Tertullianists ' with great moderation, and notes the final downfall of our author as something distinct from Tertullianism. When we reflect, therefore, that only four of all his varied writings (now extant) are proofs of an accomplished lapse, ought we not carefully to maintain the distinction between the Montan- istic Tertullian and Tertullian the Montanist? Bishop Bull, it seems to me would not object to this way of putting it, when we consider his own discrimination in the following weighty words. He says: " A clear distinction must be made between those works which Tertullian, when already a Montanist, wrote specifically in defence of Montanism against the chui-ch, and those which he composed, as a Montanist indeed, yet tiot iri defence of Montanism against the church, but rather, in defence of the commoti doctri?ies of the church — and of Montanus, in opposition to other heretics."
Now in arranging the works of this second class, the Prescription comes logically first, because, written in Orthodoxy, it forcibly upholds the Scriptural Rule of Faith, the Catholic touchstone of all professed verity. It is also a necessary Introduction to the great work against Marcion which I have placed next in order; giving it the precedence to which it is entitled in part on chronological ground, in part because of the general purity of its material with the exhibition it presents of the author's mental processes and of his very gradual de- cline from Truth.
Very fortunate were the Edinburgh Editors in securing for this work and some others, the valuable labours of Dr. Holmes, of whom I have elsewhere given some biographical par- ticulars. The merit and fulness of his annotations are so marked, that I have been spared a great deal of work, such as I was forced to bestow on the former volumes of this American Edition. But on the other hand these pages have given me much patient study and toil as an editor, because of the "shreds and patches" in which Tertullian comes to us, in the Edinburgh Series; and because of some typographical peculiarities, exceptional in that Series itself, and presenting complications, when transferred to a new form of mechanical arrange- ment. For example, apart from some valuable material which belongs to the General Preface, and which I have transferred accordingly, the following dislocations confronted me to begin with: The Marcion is presented to us in Volume VII. apart from the other writings of Ter- tullian. At the close of Vol. XI. we reach the Ad Natioties, of which Dr. Holmes is the translator, another hand (Mr. Thelwall's) having been employed on former pages of that vol- ume. It is not till we reach Volume XV. that Tertullian again appears, but this volume is wholly the work of Dr. Holmes. Finally, in Volume XVIII., we meet Tertullian again. (Mr. Thelwall the able translator), but, here is placed the " Introduction " to all the works of Tertullian, which, of course, I have, transferred to its proper place. I make these explana- tions by no means censoriously, but to point out at once the nature of my own task, and the advantage that accrues to the reader, by the order in which the works of the great Ter- tullian appear in this edition, enabling him to compare different or parallel passages, all methodically arranged in consecutive pages, without a minute's search, or delay.