On the Soul and its Origin, Book I

Book I

• On the Soul and its Origin I.1 — Renatus Had Done Him a Kindness by Sending Him the Books Which Had Been Addressed to Him. Chapter 1 [I.]—Renatus Had Done Him a Kindness by Sending Him the Books Which Had Been Addressed to Him. Your sincerity…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.2 — Chapter 2 [II.]—He Receives with a Kindly and Patient Feeling the Books of a Young and Inexperienced Man Who Wrote Against Him in a Tone of Arrogance. Vincentius Victor Converted from the Sect of the Rogatians. I am…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.3 — The Eloquence of Vincentius, Its Dangers and Its Tolerableness. For he has an eloquence by which he is able to explain what he thinks. He must, therefore, be dealt with accordingly; and we must hope that he may…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.4 — Chapter 4 [IV.]—The Errors Contained in the Books of Vincentius Victor. He Says that the Soul Comes from God, But Was Not Made Either Out of Nothing or Out of Any Created Thing. I will now proceed to point out what…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.5 — Another of Victor’s Errors, that the Soul is Corporeal. But as regards his contention, “that the soul is not spirit, but body,” what else can he mean to make out, than that we are composed, not of soul and body, but…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.6 — Another Error Out of His Second Book, to the Effect, that the Soul Deserved to Be Polluted by the Body. Chapter 6 [VI.]—Another Error Out of His Second Book, to the Effect, that the Soul Deserved to Be Polluted by…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.7 — Victor Entangles Himself in an Exceedingly Difficult Question. God’s Foreknowledge is No Cause of Sin. Chapter 7 [VII.]—Victor Entangles Himself in an Exceedingly Difficult Question. God’s Foreknowledge is No Cause…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.8 — Victor’s Erroneous Opinion, that the Soul Deserved to Become Sinful. Chapter 8 [VIII.]—Victor’s Erroneous Opinion, that the Soul Deserved to Become Sinful. Vainly supposing, then, that he was able to solve this…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.9 — Victor Utterly Unable to Explain How the Sinless Soul Deserved to Be Made Sinful. Chapter 9.—Victor Utterly Unable to Explain How the Sinless Soul Deserved to Be Made Sinful. But what does he mean by that, which in…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.10 — Chapter 10 [IX.]—Another Error of Victor’s, that Infants Dying Unbaptized May Attain to the Kingdom of Heaven. Another, that the Sacrifice of the Body of Christ Must Be Offered for Infants Who Die Before They are…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.11 — Chapter 11.—Martyrdom for Christ Supplies the Place of Baptism. The Faith of the Thief Who Was Crucified Along with Christ Taken as Martyrdom and Hence for Baptism. Accordingly, the thief, who was no follower of the…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.12 — Dinocrates, Brother of the Martyr St. Perpetua, is Said to Have Been Delivered from the State of Condemnation by the Prayers of the Saint. Chapter 12 [X.]—Dinocrates, Brother of the Martyr St. Perpetua, is Said to…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.13 — Chapter 13 [XI.]—The Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ Will Not Avail for Unbaptized Persons, and Can Not Be Offered for the Majority of Those Who Die Unbaptized. But even if it be conceded to this man (what…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.14 — Victor’s Dilemma: He Must Either Say All Infants are Saved, or Else God Slays the Innocent. Chapter 14.—Victor’s Dilemma: He Must Either Say All Infants are Saved, or Else God Slays the Innocent. Let him, then, find…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.15 — God Does Not Judge Any One for What He Might Have Done If His Life Had Been Prolonged, But Simply for the Deeds He Actually Commits. Chapter 15 [XII.]—God Does Not Judge Any One for What He Might Have Done If His…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.16 — Difficulty in the Opinion Which Maintains that Souls are Not by Propagation. Chapter 16 [XIII.]—Difficulty in the Opinion Which Maintains that Souls are Not by Propagation. This means, then, of settling the point…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.17 — Chapter 17 [XIV.]—He Shows that the Passages of Scripture Adduced by Victor Do Not Prove that Souls are Made by God in Such a Way as Not to Be Derived by Propagation: First Passage. Here, perhaps, he may say that his…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.18 — By ‘Breath’ Is Signified Sometimes the Holy Spirit. How, again, does he know whether the repetition of the idea in the sentence, “who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk over it,” may…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.19 — The Meaning of ‘Breath’ In Scripture. Chapter 19.—The Meaning of “Breath” In Scripture. The term, however, that is used in the Greek version, πνοή, is variously rendered in Latin: sometimes by flatus, breath;…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.20 — Other Ways of Taking the Passage. There are also some persons who understand the prophet’s words, “He gave breath to the people upon it,” that is to say, upon the earth, as if the word “breath,” flatus, were simply…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.21 — The Second Passage Quoted by Victor. On the same principle we treat the passage in which God says: “For my Spirit shall go forth from me; and I have created every breath.” Here the former clause, “My Spirit shall go…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.22 — Victor’s Third Quotation. He proceeds to favour us with a third passage, in which it is written: “Who forms the spirit of man within him.” As if any one denied this! No; all our question is as to the mode of the…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.23 — His Fourth Quotation. We have read all about the mother of the Maccabean youths, who was really more fruitful in virtues when her children suffered than of children when they were born; how she exhorted them to…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.24 — Whether or No the Soul is Derived by Natural Descent (Ex Traduce), His Cited Passages Fail to Show. Chapter 24 [XV.]—Whether or No the Soul is Derived by Natural Descent (Ex Traduce), His Cited Passages Fail to Show.…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.25 — Just as the Mother Knows Not Whence Comes Her Child Within Her, So We Know Not Whence Comes the Soul. Chapter 25.—Just as the Mother Knows Not Whence Comes Her Child Within Her, So We Know Not Whence Comes the Soul.…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.26 — The Fifth Passage of Scripture Quoted by Victor. “Learn,” says he, “for, behold the apostle teaches you.” Yes, indeed, I will learn, if the apostle teaches; since it is God alone who teaches by the apostle. But,…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.27 — Augustin Did Not Venture to Define Anything About the Propagation of the Soul. Chapter 27 [XVII.]—Augustin Did Not Venture to Define Anything About the Propagation of the Soul. For whence comes it that he is so…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.28 — A Natural Figure of Speech Must Not Be Literally Pressed. He goes on to remark: “But the apostle, by saying, ‘And He Himself giveth life and spirit to all,’ and then by adding the words, ‘And hath made the whole race…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.29 — The Sixth Passage of Scripture Quoted by Victor. Let us now look at the quotation from Genesis, where the woman was created out of the side of the man, and was brought to him, and he said: “This is now bone of my…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.30 — The Danger of Arguing from Silence. Now, while the disputants are thus contending with one another in alternate argument, I so judge between them that they must not rely on uncertain evidence; nor make bold…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.31 — The Argument of the Apollinarians to Prove that Christ Was Without the Human Soul of This Same Sort. Chapter 31.—The Argument of the Apollinarians to Prove that Christ Was Without the Human Soul of This Same Sort.…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.32 — The Self-Contradiction of Victor as to the Origin of the Soul. Chapter 32 [XIX.]—The Self-Contradiction of Victor as to the Origin of the Soul. Under these circumstances, I find that this treatise of mine must now be…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.33 — Augustin Has No Objection to the Opinion About the Propagation of Souls Being Refuted, and that About Their Insufflation Being Maintained. Chapter 33.—Augustin Has No Objection to the Opinion About the Propagation of…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.34 — Chapter 34.—The Mistakes Which Must Be Avoided by Those Who Say that Men’s Souls are Not Derived from Their Parents, But are Afresh Inbreathed by God in Every Instance. All, therefore, who wish to maintain that new…vatican.va
• On the Soul and its Origin I.35 — Conclusion. Chapter 35 [XX.]—Conclusion. As for this present treatise, which I have thought it proper to address to no other person in preference to yourself, who have taken a kindly and true interest both in our…vatican.va