If, therefore, man would understand the excellency of his soul, let him
turn his eyes inwardly and look unto himself and search diligently his
own mind, and there he shall see many admirable gifts and excellent
ornaments, that must needs fill him with wonder and amazement; as
reason, understanding, freedom of will, memory, etc., that clearly show
the soul to be descended from a heavenly original, and that therefore it
is of infinite duration and not subject to annihilation.
Yet for its many operations and offices while in the body it goes under
several denominations: for when it enlivens the body it is called the
soul; when it gives knowledge, the judgment of the mind; and when it
recalls things past, the memory; when it discourses and discerns,
reason; when it contemplates, the spirit; when it is the sensitive part,
the senses. And these are the principal offices whereby the soul
declares its powers and performs its actions. For being seated in the
highest parts of the body it diffuses its force into every member. It is
not propagated from the parents, nor mixed with gross matter, but the
infused breath of God, immediately proceeding from Him; not passing from
one to another as was the opinion of Pythagoras, who held a belief in
transmigration of the soul; but that the soul is given to every infant
by infusion, is the most received and orthodox opinion.
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