The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Tatian’s Confession of Faith on Soul, Here, and Hereafter

But before his digression, after dealing with the claims and the errors of the Greek philosophers and Greek polytheism, Tatian tells how Christians worship the one true God, without beginning and without end; how they hold to the doctrine of the creation of the world, and of man; how they believe in the fall of man, and in the Christian view of the resurrection; and how the sin of man is not due to fate, but to man’s free will. Tatian then launches into the question of the claimed immortality of the soul (chapter thirteen), and the deception, depravity, and severe punishment of the demons. CFF1 835.3

1. NONEXISTENT IN DEATH, EXISTENT AGAIN THROUGH RESURRECTION

Taking himself as an example, Tatian held that man came into being from a state of “not existing,” prior to birth—a “state of nothingness.” He came into being, or existence, through birth. In death, “existing no longer,” he is “seen no longer.” But through the resurrection (the subject of chapter six), from this period of nonexistence, Tatian declares, “I shall exist again.” CFF1 836.1

And, as before birth, he “was not,” so in death—whether martyred through fire, with ashes “dispersed through rivers and seas, or torn in pieces by wild beasts”—he is “laid up,” as it were, in the “storehouses” of his Lord, who will “restore” him to life through resurrection. Here is Tatian’s full statement: CFF1 836.2

“For just as, not existing before I was born, I knew not who I was, and only existed in the potentiality (hupostasis) of fleshly matter, but being born, after a former state of nothingness, I have obtained through my birth a certainty of my existence; in the same way, having been born, and through death existing no longer, and seen no longer, I shall exist again, just as before I was not, but was afterwards born.” ² CFF1 836.3

Then he adds that, though after death others may not know where they are “stored up,” yet “God the Sovereign, when He pleases [at the resurrection], will restore the substance [the body] that is visible to Him alone to its pristine condition.” ³ The language is unmistakable—in death there is no more knowledge than there was before a man was born. In other words, he teaches the unconscious state of man in death—a period of nonexistence, to be broken by the resurrection. Then he exists again. CFF1 836.4

2. SIN AND DEATH COME THROUGH FREE CHOICE

In chapter seven, “The Fall of Man,” Tatian says that God created man “an image of immortality,” without sin or corruption, that he “might have the immortality principle also.” The Logos was also the “Framer of angels,” who were free to act as they chose. Man, with the same freedom, is to be “brought to perfection” through his “freedom of choice.” Thus the bad will be justly punished, while the just will receive their reward. Thus, “such is the constitution of things in reference to angels and men.” It is therefore not fate, but the “choice of free agents,” that determines the future. Thus it was that through sin man became mortal. ⁴ This latter point concerning fate is amplified in chapter eleven, “The Sin of Men Due Not to Fate, but to Free-Will.” Here, he says, because of the Fall there is “one death for all.” Then comes Tatian’s appeal: CFF1 836.5

“Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it.” ⁵ CFF1 837.1

3. SOUL “NOT ITSELF IMMORTAL,” BUT “MORTAL.”

Tatian’s unequivocal declaration that the soul is not innately, inherently immortal appears in chapter thirteen. Yet it is possible “not to die” forevermore. Twice the determinative “if” is introduced. “if” it sins it dies, and is “dissolved with the body,” yet it “rises again at last at the end of the world.” But “if” it acquires a saving knowledge. of God, it “dies not”—in the eternal second death—though “for a time it be dissolved.” The soul is not of itself light, but “darkness.” The light comes from God. Here again is Tatian’s full statement: CFF1 837.2

“The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal. Yet it is possible for it not to die. If, indeed, it knows not the truth, it dies, and is dissolved with the body, but rises again at last at the end of the world with the body, receiving death by punishment in immortality. But, again, if it acquires the knowledge of God, it dies not, although for a time it be dissolved. In itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it. And this is the meaning of the saying, ‘The darkness comprehendeth not the light.’ For the soul does not preserve the spirit, but is preserved by it, and the light comprehends the darkness.” ⁶ CFF1 837.3

Everything depends on the relation of the soul to the Divine Spirit. However, “The Spirit of God is not with all,” but takes up His abode only “with those who live justly.” ⁷ CFF1 838.1

It is to be noted that the phrases “punishment in immortality,” and later “painful with immortality,” deviate from the phraseology of the New Testament. There only the simple term “immortality” and its equivalents “incorruptibility” and “eternal life” are used to describe the eternal state of the blessed. So we see Tatian is beginning to employ, and approach, the language of Plato, with which he was familiar. CFF1 838.2

4. PUNISHMENT OF DEMONS VERSUS PUNISHMENT OF MEN

In chapter fourteen (“The Demons Shall Be Punished More Severely Than Men”) Tatian declares that the demons “do not die like men,” but will suffer greater punishment. They will “not partake of everlasting life” and “blessed immortality.” They will have greater punishment, owing to their “boundless existence.” He uses the new expression “painful with immortality.” ⁸ CFF1 838.3

And in chapter sixteen Tatian observes: CFF1 838.4

“But from us the things which are in the world are not hidden, and the divine is easily apprehended by us if the power that makes souls immortal visits us.” ⁹ CFF1 838.5

5. PAGAN CONFUSION VERSUS CHRISTIAN CONSISTENCY AND TRUTH

Discussing, in chapter twenty-five, the quarrels of the philosophers—those that follow the doctrines of Plato, Epicurus, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Pherecydes—Tatian states that Aristotle “impugns the immortality of the soul.” But the doctrines of these philosophers “clash with one another” in fatal disharmony. One says, “The world is indestructible,” but Tatian warns, “It is to be destroyed.” One says there will be “many conflagrations,” while Tatian maintains that it will come “once for all.” The philosophers say that “the soul alone is endowed with immortality,” while Tatian holds that, through the resurrection, the “flesh also” will be “endowed with it.” Here is his full statement: CFF1 838.6

“One of you asserts that God is body, but I assert that He is without body; that the world is indestructible, but I say that it is to be destroyed; that a conflagration will take place at various times, but I say that it will come to pass once for all; that Minos and Rhadamanthus are judges, but I say that God Himself is judge; that the soul alone is endowed with immortality, but I say that the flesh also is endowed with it.” ¹⁰ CFF1 839.1

That was Tatian’s concise testimony as to the nature of man, written when associated with Justin and sharing his views. The pattern of his eschatology is thus evident—at the catastrophic end of the world come the resurrection of the righteous and the bestowal of immortality. CFF1 839.2

6. PLACE TRUST IN SCRIPTURE; FOLLOW “FATHER OF IMMORTALITY.”

He closes, in chapter twenty-nine, with an account of his conversion. After trying out the foibles of pagan philosophy, he sought how he “might be able to discover the truth.” Then he found the Old Testament Scriptures and was— CFF1 839.3

“led to put faith in these by the unpretending cast of the language, the inartificial character of the writers, the foreknowledge displayed of future events, the excellent quality of the precepts, and the declaration of the government of the universe as centred in one Being.” ¹¹ CFF1 839.4

Thus he was “taught of God,” and rescued from error. So, he says, he put away his former errors concerning the hereafter, believing that wickedness will finally be destroyed. This was the “hidden treasure” that Tatian found. ¹² And this true philosophy, revealed by Moses, is older than that of Homer and the Greeks (chapter thirty-one). So he concludes by touching again upon God as the Father of immortality. CFF1 839.5

“For having renounced the popular and earthly, and obeying the commands of God, and following the law of the Father of immortality, we reject everything which rests upon human opinion.” ¹³ CFF1 839.6

That is the witness of Tatian’s testimony. CFF1 840.1

Picture 1: Tatian, Theophilus:
Tatian: Soul Not Immortal but Mortal; Nonexistent in Death; Again Existend Trough Resurrection.
Theophilus: Man Created a Candidate for Immortality; to Seek for Immortality.
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