Dialogue with Trypho

"Plato indeed says," I replied, "that the mind's eye has a nature and purpose that allows us to see that very Being when the mind is pure. This Being, who is the cause of everything understood by the mind, has no color, no form, no size—nothing that the physical eye can perceive. It is something beyond all essence, indescribable and unexplainable, but solely honorable and good, appearing suddenly to souls that are well-disposed, due to their affinity and desire to see Him."

"What connection, then," he replied, "is there between us and God? Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very royal mind? And just as that perceives God, is it also possible for us to conceive of the Deity in our mind, and thereby become happy?"

"Truly," I said.

"Do all the souls of all living beings understand Him?" he asked, "or are the souls of humans of one kind and the souls of horses and donkeys of another kind?"

"No, but the souls within everyone are similar," I answered.

"Then," he says, "will both horses and asses see, or have they seen at some time or another, God?"

"No," I said, "for most people will not, except those who live justly, purified by righteousness and every other virtue."

"It is not," he said, "because of his kinship that a man sees God, nor because he has intelligence, but because he is temperate and righteous?"

"‘Yes,’ I said, ‘and because he has that by which he perceives God.’"

"What then? Do goats or sheep harm anyone?"

"No one at all," I said.

"‘Therefore these animals will see [God] according to your account,’ he says."

"No; because their body, by its nature, is an obstacle to them."

He replied, "If these animals could speak, be sure they would have even more reason to mock our bodies. But let's leave this topic for now, and let it be as you say. However, tell me this: Does the soul see [God] while it is in the body, or after it has left the body?"

"As long as it is in the form of a man, it is possible for it," I continue, "to achieve this through the mind; but especially when it has been set free from the body, and being apart by itself, it gains possession of that which it was accustomed to continually and wholly love."

" ‘Does it remember this, then [the sight of God], when it is again in the man?’

"It doesn't seem that way to me," I said.

"What, then, is the advantage to those who have seen [God]? Or what does he who has seen have more than he who has not seen, unless he remembers this fact, that he has seen?"

"I cannot say," I replied.

"And what do those suffer who are judged unworthy of this sight?" he asked.

"They are imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment."

"Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such forms and that they have committed some sin?"

"I don't think so."

"‘Then these gain no benefit from their punishment, it seems: furthermore, I would say that they are not punished unless they are aware of the punishment.’"

"No, indeed."

“ ‘Therefore, souls neither see God nor transmigrate into other bodies; for they would know that by doing so they are punished, and they would be afraid to commit even the most trivial sin afterward. But that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honorable, I also completely agree with you,’ he said.

"You are right," I replied.