1. YOU have enquired of me whether the soul is formed of a heavenly
substance; for you are too well instructed to suppose that the soul
is made of blood or fire or any harmony of nerves, as the common
herd of philosophers believe, nor as that patrician sect of them, the
descendants of Plato assert, does that which moves of itself and is
not moved by others appear to you to be the soul, nor indeed have you
approved that fifth kind of element which the keen genius of Aristotle
has introduced, namely a kind of[177] perfection of which the essence
of the soul might be (as it were) framed and compounded.
2. On this subject I advise you to read the book of Esdras, who
despised these trifles of the philosophers, and with a deeper wisdom
which he had gathered from Revelation, pointed out that the soul is of
a nobler substance.
Sidenote: Rom. viii. 20, 21.
Sidenote: Acts xvii. 28.
3. The Apostle also, though he has not said it in so many words, has
yet given us to understand, like a good master and spiritual husbandman
calling forth the faculties of his disciples by the hidden seeds of
doctrine, that our souls are of a better creation and a more excellent
nature. For when he says that _the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God_, he shews
that the grace of souls is not small, seeing that by their strength
and excellence mankind rises to the adoption of the sons of God, having
within itself that which is given to it to make it in the likeness
and image of God. For souls are not perceived by truth, nor are they
seen by the bodily eye, wherefore they bear upon them the likeness of
this incorporeal and invisible nature, and excel in their substance
corporeal and sensible qualities. _For the things that are seen are
temporal_, they represent and are united to things that are temporal,
but the things that are not seen are united to the Eternal and Chief
Good, _in Him they live and move and have their being_, and suffer not
themselves, if they are wise, to be separated or divided from Him.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 4.
Sidenote: Wisd. ix. 15.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 7, 8.
4. Every soul therefore, seeing herself shut up in the prison-house
of the body, if it be not debased by her connexion with this earthly
habitation, groans under the burthen of the body to which she is
joined; _for the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the
earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things_,
knowing also that she walks _by faith not by sight_, she is willing
_to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord_.
Sidenote: Ib. 10.
5. Let us consider then how _the creature hath been made subject to
vanity, not_ indeed _willingly_, but by the Divine ordinance, which
has appointed that our souls should be united to our bodies on account
of their hopes, in order that, hoping for good, they should make
themselves worthy of a heavenly recompense. _For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the
things belonging to the body[178]._ Every man’s soul must therefore
consider that she will be rewarded according to deserts of life. And he
says well _the things belonging to the body_, that is to say, the body
which was assigned to her to govern, that if she have governed it well
she may receive the reward for the sake of which she was subjected in
hope, but if ill, she may be punished, forasmuch as she did not trust
in God, nor aspire to that adoption of sons, and to the liberty of true
glory.
Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 4.
Sidenote: Ps. cxliv. 4.
Sidenote: Ib. xxxix. 6.
6. So then the Apostle has taught that man is a creature subject to
vanity. For what is so truly the man as his soul? of its companions he
says, _For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burthened_.
David also says, _Man is like a thing of nought_, and, _Every man
living is altogether vanity_. Wherefore the life of man in this world
is vanity, to which vanity the soul is subject. And when a holy man
doeth the things of the body, he doeth them not willingly but _by
reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope_, he does them for
obedience sake. From this example of the soul then let us proceed to
the other creatures.
Sidenote: Ps. civ. 19.
7. Consider the sun the moon and the stars; these heavenly
luminaries, although they shine with an excellent brightness, are yet
but creatures, and rise and set in performance of their daily task,
obeying the ordinance of the eternal Creator, dispensing the radiance
wherewith they are clothed, and giving light by night and by day.
As often as the sun is obscured by clouds, as often as is it hidden
by the interposition of the earth, or when the rays of its light are
intercepted, eclipses occur, and, as the Scripture saith, _The moon
knoweth her going down[179]._ She knows when she shines with a full,
and when with a diminished orb. The stars also are overclouded and
disappear, while going through the service of this earthly ministry,
not willingly indeed but in hope; for they hope for the reward of this
their toil from Him Who subjected them. Wherefore they go through it
for His sake, that is, to do His will.
Sidenote: Rom. xi. 25, 26.
Sidenote: S. John xix. 6.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxvii. 25.
Sidenote: Rom. viii. 20.
8. Nor is it surprising that they bear it with patience, knowing that
their Lord, the Creator of all things in heaven and in earth, took
upon Him our frail body and our servile state. Should not they then
patiently bear the bondage of their corruption, seeing that the Lord
of all humbled Himself even to death for the whole world, took upon Him
the form of a servant, and was made the sin of the world, nay even a
curse for us? Wherefore the heavenly bodies although they groan in that
they are subject to the vanity of this world, yet follow the example
of His goodness, and console themselves with the expectation of being
_delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of glory_,
when the adoption of the sons of God, that is, the redemption of all
men, shall have arrived. For when _the fulness of the Gentiles shall be
come in_, then _all Israel shall be saved_. For what people will He not
pardon when He even pardons that persecuting people, who said, _Crucify
Him, crucify Him_, and, _His blood be on us and on our children_. But
since even the heavenly creation is subject to vanity, albeit in hope,
will not He Who is truly Mercy itself and the Redeemer of the world,
suffer even the perfidy and insolence into which these men through the
vanity of the world have fallen to obtain pardon?
Sidenote: S. Matt. xxiv. 35.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 28.
9. To conclude then, both this great and glorious sun, and this moon
which is not obscured by the shades of night, and these stars which
are the garniture of the heaven, all these now suffer _the bondage of
corruption_, for all creatures are corruptible, and the heavens shall
perish and _the heaven and earth pass away_. But hereafter the sun and
moon and the stars of heaven shall rest in the glory of the sons of God,
when God shall be _all in all_, He Who now in His immensity and mercy
is in thee and in us.
Sidenote: Rev. iii. 1 &c.
10. And shall we not believe that the Angels themselves, who in the
toils of this world fulfil divers ♦ministries, as we read in the
Revelation of S. John, do not also groan when made the ministers of
vengeance and destruction? Seeing that their life is blessed, would
they not rather pass it in their ancient state of tranquillity than
be interrupted by the infliction of vengeance on our sins? They who
rejoice in the salvation of one sinner must surely groan over the
miseries of so grievous sins.
11. If therefore the creatures and powers of heaven suffer the bondage
of corruption, but still in hope, that hereafter they may rejoice on
our behalf and together with us, let us also alleviate the sufferings
of this present time by the hope and expectation of future glory.
Farewell, my son; love me, for I love you.