{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/105/1050700.htm","path":"chr/ecf/105/1050700.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/105/1050700.htm","text":"Chapter 28.\u2014A Natural Figure of Speech Must Not Be Literally Pressed.\nHe goes on to remark: \u201cBut the apostle, by saying, \u2018And He Himself giveth life and spirit to all,\u2019 and then by adding the words, \u2018And hath made the whole race of men of one blood,\u2019 2382 has referred this soul and spirit to the Creator in respect of their origin, and the body to propagation.\u201d Now, certainly any one who does not wish to deny at random the propagation of souls, before ascertaining clearly whether the opinion is correct or not, has ground for understanding, from the apostle\u2019s words, that he meant the expression, of one blood, to be equivalent to of one man, by the figure of speech which understands the whole from its part. Well, then, if it be allowable for this man to take the whole from a part in the passage, \u201cAnd man became a living soul,\u201d 2383 as if the spirit also was understood to be implied, about which the Scripture there said nothing, why is it not allowable to others to attribute an equally comprehensive sense to the expression, of one blood, so that the soul and spirit may be considered as included in it, on the ground that the human being who is signified by the term \u201cblood\u201d consists not of body alone, but also of soul and spirit? For just as the controversialist who maintains the propagation of souls, ought not, on the one hand, to press this man too hard, because the Scripture says concerning the first man, \u201cIn whom all have sinned\u201d 2384 (for the expression is not, In whom the flesh of all has sinned, but \u201call,\u201d that is, \u201call men,\u201d seeing that man is not flesh only);\u2014as, I repeat, he ought not to be too hard pressed himself, because it happens to be written \u201call men,\u201d in such a way that they might be understood simply in respect of the flesh; so, on the other hand, he ought not to bear too hard on those who hold the propagation of souls, on the ground of the phrase, \u201cThe whole race of men of one blood,\u201d as if this passage proved that flesh alone was transmitted by propagation. For if it is true, as they 2385 assert, that soul does not descend from soul, but flesh only from flesh, then the expression, \u201cof one blood,\u201d does not signify the entire human being, on the principle of a part for the whole, but merely the flesh of one person alone; while that other expression, \u201cIn whom all have sinned,\u201d must be so understood as to indicate merely the flesh of all men, which has been handed on from the first man, the Scripture signifying a part by the whole. If, on the other hand, it is true that the entire human being is propagated of each man, himself also entire, consisting of body, soul, and spirit, then the passage, \u201cIn whom all have sinned,\u201d must be taken in its proper literal sense; and the other phrase, \u201cof one blood,\u201d is used metaphorically, the whole being signified by a part, that is to say, the whole man who consists of soul and flesh; or rather (as this person is fond of putting it) of soul, and spirit, and flesh. For both modes of expression the Holy Scriptures are in the habit of employing, putting both a part for the whole and the whole for a part. A part, for instance, implies the whole, in the place where it is said, \u201cUnto Thee shall all flesh come;\u201d 2386 the whole man being understood by the term flesh. And the whole sometimes implies a part, as when it is said that Christ was buried, whereas it was only His flesh that was buried. Now as regards the statement which is made in the apostle\u2019s testimony, to the effect that \u201cHe giveth life and spirit to all,\u201d I suppose that nobody, after the foregoing discussion, will be moved by it. No doubt \u201cHe giveth;\u201d the fact is not in dispute; our question is, How does He give it? By fresh inbreathing in every instance, or by propagation? For with perfect propriety is He said to give the substance of the flesh to the p. 328 human being, though at the same time it is not denied that He gives it by means of propagation.\nAnother reading has \u201che asserts,\u201d i.e. Augustin\u2019s opponent, Victor.\n327:2386","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. V: A Treatise on the...","type":"page"}