Dialogue with Trypho 6.2
Summary: Life belongs to God; the soul lives only as long as God gives it life.
Greek text · Archambault 1:34–36
Οὕτως ἄρα καὶ οὐ μεθέξει ποτέ, ὅταν αὐτὴν μὴ θέλοι ζῆν. Οὐ γὰρ ἴδιον αὐτῆς ἐστι τὸ ζῆν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος οὐ διὰ παντός ἐστιν οὐδὲ σύνεστιν ἀεὶ τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλʼ, ὅταν δέῃ λυθῆναι τὴν ἁρμονίαν ταύτην, καταλείπει ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστιν, οὕτως καί, ὅταν δέῃ τὴν ψυχὴν μηκέτι εἶναι, ἀπέστη ἀπʼ αὐτῆς τὸ ζωτικὸν πνεῦμα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ψυχὴ ἔτι, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ ὅθεν ἐλήφθη ἐκεῖσε χωρεῖ πάλιν.
English · Claude translation
“So it will also no longer partake, whenever he does not will it to live. For life is not its own as it is God's; but just as a man does not exist forever, nor is the body always with the soul, but when this harmony must be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man no longer exists, so also, when the soul must no longer exist, the life-giving spirit departs from it, and the soul no longer exists, but itself goes back again to the place from which it was taken.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Compare Eccl 12:7, “the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Cite this passage
Justin, Dial. 6.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/6/2/).
Plain text
Justin, Dial. 6.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/6/2/).
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