Letter 165: 1. At last I have received your joint letter from Africa, and I do not regret the importunity with which, though you were silent, I persevered in sending letters to you, that I might obtain a reply, and learn, not through report from others, but from your own most welcome statement, that you are in health. I have not forgotten the brief query, o...
Augustine of Hippo→Marcellinus and Anapsychia|c. 413 AD|Augustine of Hippo|Human translated
barbarian invasionchristologyeducation bookswomen
Barbarian peoples/invasions; Theological controversy; Military conflict
Jerome to Marcellinus and Anapsychia.
1. You have asked me to explain the different opinions concerning the origin of the soul, and then to declare which opinion I hold. This is a question that has exercised the greatest minds, and I will set out the positions honestly.
Some hold that souls are transmitted from parent to child, just as bodies are — this is called traducianism [the view that the soul is propagated along with the body through generation]. Others maintain that God creates a new soul for each individual at the moment of conception or birth — this is called creationism. A third view, held by Origen and some of the Greek fathers, is that souls pre-exist and are sent into bodies as a kind of punishment or trial — but this opinion has been widely rejected and condemned.
2. You wish to know my own view. I confess that the question is extraordinarily difficult, and I am not ashamed to admit my uncertainty. I lean toward creationism — that each soul is a new creation of God — but I am troubled by the objection that if God creates each soul fresh, how does original sin pass to the infant? This is the point on which I refer you to our brother Augustine. He has thought about this problem more deeply than anyone alive, and if anyone can resolve it, he can.
I am at present, amid the most turbulent times, working my way through a commentary on Ezekiel [the Old Testament prophet whose visions of the temple and the valley of dry bones are among the most complex passages in Scripture]. I have already completed two books and hope to finish the whole work, God willing.
3. I commend to you Oceanus [a learned layman and friend of Jerome], a man deeply versed in the sacred Scriptures, who can serve as your teacher in the matters I am too pressed to address at length. Greet all the brethren. The holy sisters here join me in sending you their warmest affection.
From Jerome to Marcellinus and Anapsychia (A.D. 410)
To My Truly Pious Lords Marcellinus and Anapsychia, Sons Worthy of Being Esteemed with All the Love Due to Their Position, Jerome Sends Greeting in Christ.
Chapter 1
1. At last I have received your joint letter from Africa, and I do not regret the importunity with which, though you were silent, I persevered in sending letters to you, that I might obtain a reply, and learn, not through report from others, but from your own most welcome statement, that you are in health. I have not forgotten the brief query, or rather the very important theological question, which you propounded in regard to the origin of the soul — does it descend from heaven, as the philosopher Pythagoras and all the Platonists and Origen think? Or is it part of the essence of the Deity, as the Stoics, Manichæus, and the Priscillianists of Spain imagine? Or are souls kept in a divine treasure house wherein they were stored of old as some ecclesiastics, foolishly misled, believe? Or are they daily created by God and sent into bodies, according to what is written in the gospel, My Father works hitherto, and I work? John 5:17 or are souls really produced, as Tertullian, Apollinaris, and the majority of the Western divines conjecture, by propagation, so that as the body is the offspring of body, the soul is the offspring of soul, and exists on conditions similar to those regulating the existence of the inferior animals. I know that I have published my opinion on this question in my brief writings against Ruffinus, in reply to a treatise addressed by him to Anastasius, of holy memory, bishop of the Roman Church, in which, while attempting to impose upon the simplicity of his readers by a slippery and artful, yet withal foolish confession, he exposed to contempt his own faith, or, rather, his own perfidy. These books are, I think, in the possession of your holy kinsman Oceanus, for they were published long ago to meet the calumnies contained in numerous writings of Ruffinus. Be this as it may, you have in Africa that holy man and learned bishop Augustine, who will be able to teach you on this subject viva voce, as the saying is, and expound to you his opinion, or, I should rather say, my own opinion stated in his words.
Chapter 2
2. I have long wished to begin the volume of Ezekiel, and fulfil a promise frequently made to studious readers; but at the time when I had just begun to dictate the proposed exposition, my mind was so much agitated by the devastation of the western provinces of the empire, and especially by the sack of Rome itself by the barbarians, that, to use a common proverbial phrase, I scarcely knew my own name; and for a long while I was silent, knowing that it was a time for tears. Moreover when I had, in the course of this year, prepared three books of the Commentary, a sudden furious invasion of the barbarous tribes mentioned by your Virgil as the widely roaming Barcæi, and by sacred Scripture in the words concerning Ishmael, He shall dwell in the presence of his brethren, Genesis 16:12 swept over the whole of Egypt, Palestine, Phenice, and Syria, carrying all before them with the vehemence of a mighty torrent, so that it was only with the greatest difficulty that we were enabled, by the mercy of Christ, to escape their hands. But if, as a famous orator has said, Laws are silent amid the clash of arms, how much more may this be said of scriptural studies, which demand a multitude of books and silence, together with uninterrupted diligence of amanuenses, and especially the enjoyment of tranquillity and leisure by those who dictate! I have accordingly sent two books to my holy daughter Fabiola, of which, if you wish copies, you may borrow them from her. Through lack of time I have been unable to transcribe others; when you have read these, and have seen the portico, as it were, you may easily conjecture what the house itself is designed to be. But I trust in the mercy of God, who has helped me in the very difficult commencement of the foresaid work, that He will help me also in the predictions concerning the wars of Gog and Magog, which occupy the last division but one of the prophecy, and in the concluding portion itself, describing the building, the details, and the proportions of that most holy and mysterious temple.
Chapter 3
3. Our holy brother Oceanus, to whom you desire to be mentioned, is a man of such gifts and character, and so profoundly learned in the law of the Lord, that he may probably give you instruction without any request of mine, and can impart to you on all scriptural questions the opinion which, according to the measure of our joint abilities, we have formed.
May Christ, our almighty God, keep you, my truly pious lords, in safety and prosperity to a good old age!
EPISTOLA 165
Scripta a. 411.
Hieronymus Marcellino et Anapsychiae exponens diversas sententias de animae origine, hortans ut reliqua quaerant ab Augustino (n. l); indicat praeterea se turbulentissimis temporibus aggessum esse Ezechielis Commentarium duoque iam libros conscripsisse speratque eum se confecturum (n. 2); Oceanum denique in Sacris Litteris eruditum, ipsorum magistrum commendat (n, 3).
DOMINIS VERE SANCTIS ATQUE OMNI OFFICIORUM CARITATE VENERANDIS FILIIS MARCELLINO ET ANAPSYCHIAE, HIERONYMUS, IN CHRISTO SALUTEM.
De animae origine A. interrogetur.
1. 1. Tandem ex Africa vestrae litteras Unanimitatis accepi; et non me poenitet impudentiae, qua tacentibus vobis epistolas meas frequenter ingessi, ut rescriptum mererer, et vos esse sospites, non aliis nuntiantibus, sed vestro potissimum sermone cognoscerem. Super animae statu memini vestrae quaestiunculae, imo maximae ecclesiasticae quaestionis: Utrum lapsa de coelo sit, ut Pythagoras philosophus, omnesque Platonici, et Origenes putant; an a propria Dei substantia, ut Stoici, Manichaeus, et Hispana Priscilliani haeresis suspicantur; an in thesauro habeantur Dei, olim conditae, ut quidam Ecclesiastici stulta persuasione confidunt; an quotidie a Deo fiant, et mittantur in corpora, secundum illud quod in Evangelio scriptum est: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor 1; an certe ex traduce, ut Tertullianus, Apollinaris, et maxima pars Occidentalium autumant; ut quomodo corpus ex corpore, sic anima nascatur ex anima, et simili cum brutis animantibus conditione subsistat. Super quo quid mihi videretur, in opusculis contra Ruffinum 2 scripsisse me novi, adversus eum libellum quem sanctae memoriae Anastasio 3, episcopo Romanae Ecclesiae, dedit; in quo lubrica et subdola, imo stulta confessione, dum auditorum simplicitati illudere nititur, suae fidei, imo perfidiae illusit: quos libros reor sanctum parentem vestrum habere Oceanum; olim enim editi sunt, multis Ruffini libris adversus calumnias respondentes. Certe habes ibi virum sanctum et eruditum Augustinum episcopum, qui viva, ut aiunt, voce docere te poterit, et suam, imo per se nostram explicare sententiam.
In Ezechielem duo commentariorum libri a Hier. conscripti.
2. 2. Ezechielis volumen olim aggredi volui, et sponsionem creberrimam studiosis lectoribus reddere; sed in ipso dictandi exordio ita animus meus occidentalium provinciarum, et maxime urbis Romae vastatione confusus est, ut iuxta vulgare proverbium, proprium quoque ignorarem vocabulum: diuque tacui, sciens tempus esse lacrymarum. Hoc autem anno cum tres explicassem libros, subitus impetus barbarorum, de quibus tuus dicit Virgilius: Lateque vagantes Barcaei 4, et sancta Scriptura de Ismael: Contra faciem omnium fratrum suorum habitabit 5, sic Aegypti limitem, Palaestinae, Phoenices, Syriae percurrit, ad instar torrentis cuncta secum trahens, ut vix manus eorum misericordia Christi potuerimus evadere. Quod si, iuxta inclytum oratorem: silent inter arma lege 6; quanto magis studia Scripturarum, quae et librorum multitudine, et silentio, ac librariorum sedulitate, quodque proprium est, securitate et otio dictantium indigent! Duos itaque libros misi sanctae filiae meae Fabiolae, quorum exempla si volueris, ab ipsa poteris mutuari. Pro angustia quippe temporis alios describere non potui: quos cum legeris et vestibula videris, facilis coniectura erit, qualis ipsa sit futura domus. Sed credo in Dei misericordia qui nos adiuvit in difficillimo principio supradicti operis, quod ipse adiuvet et in penultimis Prophetae partibus, in quibus Gog et Magog bella narrantur 7; et in extremis, in quibus sacratissimi et inexplicabilis templi aedificatio, varietas, mensuraque describitur 8.
Oceani scientia sacra ac sapientia.
3. 3. Sanctus frater noster Oceanus, cui vos cupitis commendari, tantus et talis est, et sic eruditus in lege Domini, ut absque nostro rogatu instruere vos possit, et nostram super cunctis quaestionibus Scripturarum pro modulo communis ingenii explicare sententiam. Incolumes vos et prolixa aetate florentes Christus Deus noster tueatur omnipotens, domini vere sancti.
◆
Jerome to Marcellinus and Anapsychia.
1. You have asked me to explain the different opinions concerning the origin of the soul, and then to declare which opinion I hold. This is a question that has exercised the greatest minds, and I will set out the positions honestly.
Some hold that souls are transmitted from parent to child, just as bodies are — this is called traducianism [the view that the soul is propagated along with the body through generation]. Others maintain that God creates a new soul for each individual at the moment of conception or birth — this is called creationism. A third view, held by Origen and some of the Greek fathers, is that souls pre-exist and are sent into bodies as a kind of punishment or trial — but this opinion has been widely rejected and condemned.
2. You wish to know my own view. I confess that the question is extraordinarily difficult, and I am not ashamed to admit my uncertainty. I lean toward creationism — that each soul is a new creation of God — but I am troubled by the objection that if God creates each soul fresh, how does original sin pass to the infant? This is the point on which I refer you to our brother Augustine. He has thought about this problem more deeply than anyone alive, and if anyone can resolve it, he can.
I am at present, amid the most turbulent times, working my way through a commentary on Ezekiel [the Old Testament prophet whose visions of the temple and the valley of dry bones are among the most complex passages in Scripture]. I have already completed two books and hope to finish the whole work, God willing.
3. I commend to you Oceanus [a learned layman and friend of Jerome], a man deeply versed in the sacred Scriptures, who can serve as your teacher in the matters I am too pressed to address at length. Greet all the brethren. The holy sisters here join me in sending you their warmest affection.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
EPISTOLA 165
Scripta a. 411.
Hieronymus Marcellino et Anapsychiae exponens diversas sententias de animae origine, hortans ut reliqua quaerant ab Augustino (n. l); indicat praeterea se turbulentissimis temporibus aggessum esse Ezechielis Commentarium duoque iam libros conscripsisse speratque eum se confecturum (n. 2); Oceanum denique in Sacris Litteris eruditum, ipsorum magistrum commendat (n, 3).
DOMINIS VERE SANCTIS ATQUE OMNI OFFICIORUM CARITATE VENERANDIS FILIIS MARCELLINO ET ANAPSYCHIAE, HIERONYMUS, IN CHRISTO SALUTEM.
De animae origine A. interrogetur.
1. 1. Tandem ex Africa vestrae litteras Unanimitatis accepi; et non me poenitet impudentiae, qua tacentibus vobis epistolas meas frequenter ingessi, ut rescriptum mererer, et vos esse sospites, non aliis nuntiantibus, sed vestro potissimum sermone cognoscerem. Super animae statu memini vestrae quaestiunculae, imo maximae ecclesiasticae quaestionis: Utrum lapsa de coelo sit, ut Pythagoras philosophus, omnesque Platonici, et Origenes putant; an a propria Dei substantia, ut Stoici, Manichaeus, et Hispana Priscilliani haeresis suspicantur; an in thesauro habeantur Dei, olim conditae, ut quidam Ecclesiastici stulta persuasione confidunt; an quotidie a Deo fiant, et mittantur in corpora, secundum illud quod in Evangelio scriptum est: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor 1; an certe ex traduce, ut Tertullianus, Apollinaris, et maxima pars Occidentalium autumant; ut quomodo corpus ex corpore, sic anima nascatur ex anima, et simili cum brutis animantibus conditione subsistat. Super quo quid mihi videretur, in opusculis contra Ruffinum 2 scripsisse me novi, adversus eum libellum quem sanctae memoriae Anastasio 3, episcopo Romanae Ecclesiae, dedit; in quo lubrica et subdola, imo stulta confessione, dum auditorum simplicitati illudere nititur, suae fidei, imo perfidiae illusit: quos libros reor sanctum parentem vestrum habere Oceanum; olim enim editi sunt, multis Ruffini libris adversus calumnias respondentes. Certe habes ibi virum sanctum et eruditum Augustinum episcopum, qui viva, ut aiunt, voce docere te poterit, et suam, imo per se nostram explicare sententiam.
In Ezechielem duo commentariorum libri a Hier. conscripti.
2. 2. Ezechielis volumen olim aggredi volui, et sponsionem creberrimam studiosis lectoribus reddere; sed in ipso dictandi exordio ita animus meus occidentalium provinciarum, et maxime urbis Romae vastatione confusus est, ut iuxta vulgare proverbium, proprium quoque ignorarem vocabulum: diuque tacui, sciens tempus esse lacrymarum. Hoc autem anno cum tres explicassem libros, subitus impetus barbarorum, de quibus tuus dicit Virgilius: Lateque vagantes Barcaei 4, et sancta Scriptura de Ismael: Contra faciem omnium fratrum suorum habitabit 5, sic Aegypti limitem, Palaestinae, Phoenices, Syriae percurrit, ad instar torrentis cuncta secum trahens, ut vix manus eorum misericordia Christi potuerimus evadere. Quod si, iuxta inclytum oratorem: silent inter arma lege 6; quanto magis studia Scripturarum, quae et librorum multitudine, et silentio, ac librariorum sedulitate, quodque proprium est, securitate et otio dictantium indigent! Duos itaque libros misi sanctae filiae meae Fabiolae, quorum exempla si volueris, ab ipsa poteris mutuari. Pro angustia quippe temporis alios describere non potui: quos cum legeris et vestibula videris, facilis coniectura erit, qualis ipsa sit futura domus. Sed credo in Dei misericordia qui nos adiuvit in difficillimo principio supradicti operis, quod ipse adiuvet et in penultimis Prophetae partibus, in quibus Gog et Magog bella narrantur 7; et in extremis, in quibus sacratissimi et inexplicabilis templi aedificatio, varietas, mensuraque describitur 8.
Oceani scientia sacra ac sapientia.
3. 3. Sanctus frater noster Oceanus, cui vos cupitis commendari, tantus et talis est, et sic eruditus in lege Domini, ut absque nostro rogatu instruere vos possit, et nostram super cunctis quaestionibus Scripturarum pro modulo communis ingenii explicare sententiam. Incolumes vos et prolixa aetate florentes Christus Deus noster tueatur omnipotens, domini vere sancti.