Origen’s “On First Principles” (Book 1, Number 7)

Gary Pollard

[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]

If anyone still believes that the mind or soul is just a part of the body, I’d like them to explain something: How does it understand deep and complex ideas? Where does memory come from? How can we think about or study things we can’t see? How can something made of matter understand things that aren’t made of matter?

Can a body, which is physical, really explore skills and ideas, or understand things that are invisible and spiritual? Some people might say that, just like God shaped our ears and eyes in a certain way to help us hear and see, the soul or mind might also have a shape that helps it think, feel, and understand. But if that’s true, then what color or shape is the mind? No one can really say, because the mind isn’t like a body part―it’s something more.

To help show that the mind or soul is better than the body, think about this: Each of our senses―like sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch―needs something physical to work. Sight needs colors and shapes. Hearing needs sound. Smell needs odors. Taste needs flavors. Touch needs things like heat, cold, or texture.

But the mind, which is the greatest of all our senses, doesn’t need anything physical like that. So isn’t it strange to say that all the other, lesser senses have something real to work with, but the mind doesn’t? That the power of thinking just happens by accident because of the body?

People who believe that are actually insulting the best part of themselves. They even dishonor God by thinking He is just a body, something you can see or touch. They don’t want to believe that the mind is like a small image of God―that it is through our minds we can begin to understand who God is, especially when the mind is clean and free from bodily distractions.