Oration to the Greeks 13
Summary: The soul is not immortal by nature; united with the divine Spirit and knowing God it lives, but without the Spirit it dies and is raised only for punishment.
Greek text · Otto 6:58–64
Οὐκ ἔστιν ἀθάνατος, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ἡ ψυχὴ καθʼ ἑαυτήν, θνητὴ δέ. Ἀλλὰ δύναται ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ μὴ ἀποθνήσκειν, Θνήσκει μὲν γὰρ καὶ λύεται μετὰ τοῦ σώματος μὴ γινώσκουσα τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἀνίσταται δὲ εἰς ὕστερον ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ κόσμου σὺν τῷ σώματι, θάνατον διὰ τιμωρίας ἐν ἀθανασίᾳ λαμβάνουσα. Πάλιν τε οὐ θνήσκει, κἂν πρὸς καιρὸν λυθῇ, τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ πεποιημένη. Καθʼ ἑαυτὴν γὰρ σκότος ἐστίν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτῇ φωτεινόν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἔστιν ἄρα τὸ εἰρημένον· Ἡ σκοτία τὸ φῶς οὐ καταλαμβάνει. Ψυχὴ γὰρ οὐκ αὐτὴ τὸ πνεῦμα ἔσωσεν, ἐσώθη δὲ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ φῶς τὴν σκοτίαν κατέλαβεν. Ἦ λόγος μέν ἐστι τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ φῶς, σκότος δὲ ἡ ἀνεπιστήμων ψυχή. Διὰ τοῦτο μόνη μὲν διαιτωμένη πρὸς τὴν ὕλην νεύει κάτω, συναποθνήσκουσα τῇ σαρκί· συζυγίαν δὲ κεκτημένη τὴν τοῦ θείου πνεύματος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀβοήθητος, ἀνέρχεται δὲ πρὸς ἅπερ αὐτὴν ὁδηγεῖ χωρία τὸ πνεῦμα· τοῦ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἄνω τὸ οἰκητήριον, τῆς δὲ κάτωθέν ἐστιν ἡ γένεσις. Γέγονε μὲν οὖν συνδίαιτον ἀρχῆθεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῇ ψυχῇ· τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ταύτην ἕπεσθαι μὴ βουλομένην αὐτῷ καταλέλοιπεν. Ἡ δὲ ὥσπερ ἔναυσμα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ κεκτημένη, καὶ διὰ τὸν χωρισμὸν τὰ τέλεια καθορᾶν μὴ δυναμένη, ζητοῦσα τὸν θεὸν κατὰ πλάνην πολλοὺς θεοὺς ἀνετύπωσε, τοῖς ἀντισοφιστεύουσι δαίμοσι κατακολουθήσασα. Πνεῦμα δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ πᾶσιν μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, παρὰ δέ τισι τοῖς δικαίως πολιτευομένοις καταγόμενον καὶ συμπλεκόμενον τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ προαγορεύσεων ταῖς λοιπαῖς ψυχαῖς τὸ κεκρυμμένον ἀνήγγειλε· καὶ αἱ μὲν πειθόμεναι σοφίᾳ σφίσιν αὐταῖς ἐφείλκοντο πνεῦμα συγγενές, αἱ δὲ μὴ πειθόμεναι καὶ τὸν διάκονον τοῦ πεπονθότος θεοῦ παραιτούμεναι θεομάχοι μᾶλλον ἤπερ θεοσεβεῖς ἀνεφαίνοντο.
English · Claude translation
The soul in itself, men of Greece, is not immortal, but mortal. Yet the same soul is also able not to die. If it does not know the truth, it dies and is dissolved with the body, and later, at the consummation of the world, rises again with the body, receiving death by punishment in immortality. But if it has gained the knowledge of God, it does not die, even if it is dissolved for a time. For in itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it. And this, then, is the saying, “The darkness does not comprehend the light.” For it was not the soul that saved the spirit; the soul was saved by it, and the light comprehended the darkness. The Word is the light of God, and the soul without knowledge is darkness. For this reason, if the soul lives alone, it bends downward toward matter and dies together with the flesh; but if it has gained union with the divine spirit, it is not without help, but rises to the regions where the spirit leads it; for the spirit's dwelling is above, but the soul's origin is below. The spirit, then, was at first the soul's companion; but the spirit left it when it was unwilling to follow. The soul kept as it were a spark of the spirit's power, but because of the separation it could not see perfect things, and in seeking God it went astray and fashioned many gods, following the demons with their counterfeit wisdom. The Spirit of God is not with all people; but taking up its dwelling with some who lived justly and being intertwined with their souls, it proclaimed hidden things to the other souls by predictions. And the souls that obeyed wisdom drew to themselves the kindred spirit; but those that did not obey, and rejected the minister of the God who suffered, showed themselves to be fighters against God rather than worshipers of God.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- John 1:5 is quoted with the present tense “does not comprehend” (καταλαμβάνει).
- “The Word is the light of God”: the Greek begins with Ἦ, probably a slip for Ὁ (“the”).
- “The God who suffered” (τοῦ πεπονθότος θεοῦ) is a striking early phrase for Christ. “His minister” may be the Spirit who spoke through the prophets, or the prophets themselves.
- “Receiving death by punishment in immortality”: those raised without the knowledge of God live forever in punishment, which Tatian calls death (cf. ch. 14).
Cite this passage
Tatian, Or. Graec. 13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/13/).
Plain text
Tatian, Or. Graec. 13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tatian-oration/13/).
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