Origen of Alexandria : The troubling utterance is the following: "The soul of all flesh is the blood" — behold an extremely difficult passage, which has shaken those who did not understand it! And also: "Do not eat the soul together with the meat. Strictly observe that you do not eat the blood; do not eat the soul together with the meat." Such are the truly difficult passages, since the others, though numerous, are less striking. … Do not doubt, then, also concerning the blood, homonymous with the sentient blood, which, like the other parts of the body, the inner man has. It is precisely this blood of which the soul of the sinner is deprived. — DIALOGUE WITH HERACLIDES