This would mean to establish in
the first place that all substances generally?that is to say
all things which cannot exist without being created by God?are
in their nature incorruptible, and that they can never cease
to exist unless God, in denying to them his concurrence,
reduce them to nought; and secondly that body, regarded
generally, is a substance, which is the reason why it also
cannot perish, but that the human body, inasmuch as it differs
from other bodies, is composed only of a certain configuration
of members and of other similar accidents, while the human
mind is not similarly composed of any accidents, but is a pure
substance. For although all the accidents of mind be changed,
although, for instance, it think certain things, will others,
perceive others, etc., despite all this it does not emerge
from these changes another mind: the human body on the other
hand becomes a different thing from the sole fact that the
figure or form of any of its portions is found to be changed.
From this it follows that the human body may indeed easily
enough perish, but the mind [or soul of man (I make no
distinction between them)] is owing to its nature immortal.
Pages:
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31