Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting: for there is no word so secret, that shall go for nought: and the mouth that belieth slayeth the soul.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 1:11 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 1
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"I have the power to give my life and the power to take it up again." In another passage of the Gospel it says that it is not only the Father who raises the Son but the Son also raises himself. "I will destroy this temple," he says, "and in three days I will raise it up again." And the Evangelist notes, "he spoke of the temple of his body." In fact, he had to raise what had died; now, the Word is not dead, and neither is his soul. Could the Lord"s soul die, when not even your soul dies? How do I know, you ask, that my soul does not die? If you do not kill it, it will not die. In what sense, you ask, can I kill my soul? "A lying mouth destroys the soul," to not speak of other sins. How can I be sure, you insist, that it does not die? Listen to the Lord, who gives this assurance to his servant: "You must not fear those who kill the body and, after that, can do nothing more." And more exactly, what did he say? "Fear, rather, him who has the power to cause both body and soul to perish in Gehenna." This proves that the soul both dies and does not die.
