Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy

Anima Christiana 451
fellow Christians imagined that our resurrected bodies would be glorified,
or spruced up, in one way or another.)
The date of the Last Judgement is fixed by divine decision, and the
waiting souls tremble in suspense. For the souls are still capable of trembling:
throughout the interval, however long or however short it may
be, between my death and the ending of the world, while my body
lies a-mouldering in its grave, my soul continues to march – it marches
on the parade-grounds of Hell. Tertullian need not go into details; for
“you have my book On Paradise in which I establish that every soul is
kept in Hell to await the day of the Lord” (55.5). 9 We no longer
have Tertullian’s On Paradise; but in On the Soul we learn that Hell,
as St. Matthew says, is “in the heart of the earth” (55.1 – Mt 12.40);
and the story of Lazarus and the rich man describes the sort of thing
which happens there (7.2 –4).
The story is told by St. Luke (16.19 – 31); the most pertinent part of
it is this:
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he
lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my
tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (16.22 –24)
Tertullian insists that the story purports to tell a literal truth: it is not an
imago, not a parable or simile. And of course he supposes that the story is
literally true. He also supposes – although he does not explicitly say –
that the story concerns three souls which are at the moment separated
from their bodies. It must do so, since it takes place after their death
and before the General Resurrection.
Different Christian sects held different eschatological views; but the
doctrine of the Resurrection, like the doctrine of the Fall, was an essential
element in the Christian religion. The two doctrines, together with
their surrounding notions, underlie any Christian psychology.
If it is antecedently evident that On the Soul will rely upon Holy Writ, it
is less clear why it should invoke pagan philosophy. In the first sentence
of the essay, Tertullian warns that he “will be seen skirmishing with the
9 That is to say, all souls except those of the martyrs, which wait in Paradise for
the Day of Judgement (55.4 – see Waszink 1947, 553 – 554).