The Gospel of Barnabas · Chapter 106
The Soul and the Sense
When he had finished the prayer of dawn, Jesus sat down under a palm tree, and thither his disciples drew nigh to him. Then said Jesus: 'As God liveth, in whose presence standeth my soul, many are deceived concerning our life. For so closely are the soul and the sense joined together, that the more part of men affirm the soul and the sense to be one and the same thing, dividing it by operation and not by essence, calling it the sensitive, vegetative, and intellectual soul. But verily I say to you, the soul is one, which thinketh and liveth. O foolish one, where will they find the intellectual soul without life? Assuredly, never. But life without senses will readily be found, as is seen in the unconscious when the sense leaveth him.'
Thaddaeus answered: 'O master, when the sense leaveth the life, a man hath not life.'
Jesus answered: 'This is not true, because man is deprived of life when the soul departeth; because the soul returneth not any more to the body, save by miracle. But sense departeth by reason of fear that it receiveth, or by reason of great sorrow that the soul hath. For the sense hath God created for pleasure, and by that alone it liveth, even as the body liveth by food and the soul liveth by knowledge and love. This sense is now rebellious against the soul, through indignation that it hath at being deprived of the pleasure of paradise through sin. Wherefore there is the greatest need to nourish it with spiritual pleasure for him who willeth not that it should live of carnal pleasure. Understand ye? Verily I say unto you, that God having created it condemned it to hell and to intolerable snow and ice; because it said that it was God; but when he deprived it of nourishment, taking away its food from it, it confessed that it was a slave of God and the work of his hands. And now tell me, how doth sense work in the ungodly? Assuredly, it is as God in them: seeing that they follow sense, forsaking reason and the law of God. Whereupon they become abominable, and work not any good.'
When he had finished the dawn prayer, Jesus sat beneath a palm tree, and his disciples gathered around him. Then Jesus said: 'As God lives, in whose presence my soul stands, many are mistaken about our life. The soul and the sense are so closely joined that most people declare them to be one and the same thing, distinguishing them by function rather than by essence and calling it the sensitive, vegetative, and intellectual soul. But truly I tell you, the soul is one: it thinks and lives. O foolish people, where will they find an intellectual soul without life? Certainly nowhere. Yet life without sense is readily found, as may be seen in an unconscious person when the sense leaves him.'
Thaddaeus answered: 'O master, when the sense leaves life, a person has no life.'
Jesus answered: 'That is not true, because a person is deprived of life when the soul departs, and the soul does not return to the body except by a miracle. But the sense departs because of fear that it receives or because of great sorrow in the soul. God created the sense for pleasure, and by pleasure alone it lives, just as the body lives by food and the soul by knowledge and love. The sense is now rebellious against the soul because it resents having been deprived, through sin, of the pleasure of paradise. Therefore anyone who does not wish it to live on carnal pleasure has the greatest need to nourish it with spiritual pleasure. Do you understand? Truly, I tell you that when God created the sense, he condemned it to hell and to unbearable snow and ice because it said that it was God. But when he deprived it of nourishment and took away its food, it confessed that it was God's slave and the work of his hands. Now tell me, how does the sense operate in the ungodly? Certainly, it is like a god within them, for they follow the sense and forsake reason and the law of God. They therefore become abominable and do no good.'
When he had finished the prayer of dawn, Jesus sat down under a palm tree, and thither his disciples drew nigh to him. Then said Jesus: 'As God liveth, in whose presence standeth my soul, many are deceived concerning our life. For so closely are the soul and the sense joined together, that the more part of men affirm the soul and the sense to be one and the same thing, dividing it by operation and not by essence, calling it the sensitive, vegetative, and intellectual soul. But verily I say to you, the soul is one, which thinketh and liveth. O foolish one, where will they find the intellectual soul without life? Assuredly, never. But life without senses will readily be found, as is seen in the unconscious when the sense leaveth him.'
Thaddaeus answered: 'O master, when the sense leaveth the life, a man hath not life.'
Jesus answered: 'This is not true, because man is deprived of life when the soul departeth; because the soul returneth not any more to the body, save by miracle. But sense departeth by reason of fear that it receiveth, or by reason of great sorrow that the soul hath. For the sense hath God created for pleasure, and by that alone it liveth, even as the body liveth by food and the soul liveth by knowledge and love. This sense is now rebellious against the soul, through indignation that it hath at being deprived of the pleasure of paradise through sin. Wherefore there is the greatest need to nourish it with spiritual pleasure for him who willeth not that it should live of carnal pleasure. Understand ye? Verily I say unto you, that God having created it condemned it to hell and to intolerable snow and ice; because it said that it was God; but when he deprived it of nourishment, taking away its food from it, it confessed that it was a slave of God and the work of his hands. And now tell me, how doth sense work in the ungodly? Assuredly, it is as God in them: seeing that they follow sense, forsaking reason and the law of God. Whereupon they become abominable, and work not any good.'