Letter VIII¶

A.D. 381

S. AMBROSE in this letter answers the objections raised against the Scriptures, that they were not written according to the rules of art, and illustrates his argument with various passages.

AMBROSE TO JUSTUS

1. VERY many deny that the Sacred writers wrote according to the rules of art. Nor do we contend for the contrary; for they wrote not according to art, but according to grace, which is above all art; for they wrote that which the Spirit gave them to speak. And yet they who wrote on art made use of their writings from which to frame their art, and to compose its comments and rules.

2. Again, in art there are principally required, a cause, a subject, and an end. When then we read that holy Isaac said to his father, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering, which of these is wanting? For he who asks, doubts, he who answers the query pronounces and solves the doubt. Behold the fire, that is the cause, and the wood, that is ὕλη, which in Latin is ‘materia,’ what third thing remains but the end, which the son asked for, saying, Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering, and the father replied, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering?

3. Let us discuss for a little while the mystery. God shewed a ram hanging by his horns. Now the ram is the Word, full of tranquillity, moderation, and patience; whereby is shewn that Wisdom is a good sacrifice, and that He was well skilled in the mode of meritorious propitiation. Wherefore the Prophet also says, Offer the sacrifice of righteousness. And so it is a sacrifice both of righteousness and of wisdom.

4. Here then is a mind fervent and glowing as fire which worketh; here is the thing to be understood, that is the subject-matter, where is the third, the understanding? Behold the colour, where is the seeing? Behold the object of sense, where is the sense itself? For matter is not seen by all, and therefore God gives the gift of understanding, and feeling, and seeing.

5. The Word of God then is the end or completion; that is, the determination and completion of the discussion, which is communicated to the more prudent, and confirms things doubtful. Well do even they who believed not in the Coming of Christ refute themselves, so that they confess what they think to deny. For they say that the ram is the Word of God, and yet believe not the mystery of the Passion, whereas in that mystery is the Word of God, in Whom the Sacrifice was fulfilled.

6. Wherefore let us first kindle within us the fire of the mind, that it may work within us. Let us seek for the subject-matter, what it is that nourishes the mind, as if we were looking for it in darkness. For neither did the Fathers know what manna was: they found manna, it is said, declaring it to be the Discourse and word of God, from Whom all instruction as from a perennial fountain flows and is derived.

7. This is that heavenly food. And it is signified by the Person of the Speaker, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you. The ‘cause’ then we have in the operation of God, Who waters our minds with the dew of wisdom; the ‘subject-matter’ we have in that the minds which see and taste it are delighted, and inquire whence comes this which is brighter than light, sweeter than honey. They have their answer from the text of Scripture: This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat; and this is the Word of God, Which God appointed and ordained, whereby the minds of the prudent are fed and comforted, which is white and sweet, enlightening the minds of the hearers with the splendour of truth, and soothing them with the sweetness of virtue.

8. The Prophet had learned in himself what was the ‘cause’ of the thing to be completed. For when he was sent to the king of Egypt to deliver the people of God, he says, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and deliver my people from the king’s power? the Lord answers, I will be with thee. Moses asked again, What shall I say unto them, if they ask, Who is the Lord that hath sent thee, and what is His Name? The Lord said, I am that I am, thou shalt say, I AM hath sent me unto you. This is the true Name of God――Eternity. Wherefore the Apostle also says of Christ, For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not Yea and Nay, but in Him was Yea. Moses answered, But behold they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. Then He gave him power to work miracles, that it might be believed that he was sent by God. A third time Moses says, I am not eloquent, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue; how shall Pharaoh hear me? the Lord answers, Go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

9. These intermingled questions and answers contain the seeds and science of wisdom. The ‘end’ or ‘completion’ too is good, for He says, I will be with thee! And although He had given him power to work miracles, yet as he was still doubtful, that we might know that signs are for them that believe not, but the promise for believers, the weakness of his deserts or of his purpose receives this answer, I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say! Thus a perfect ‘end’ is preserved.

10. This you have also in the Gospel, Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Ask from the ‘cause,’ that is, from the Author. You have as your subject-matter things spiritual which cause you to seek; knock, and God the Word opens to you. That which asks is the mind, which works like fire; it is in things spiritual that the glow of the mind works, as fire on wood; God the Word opens unto you, this is the ‘end.’ We have also in another part of the Gospel these words of our Lord, But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

11. These words too of Isaac you have in Genesis, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. The Lord is the end. He who seeks in the Lord finds. And thus Laban who sought not in the Lord, for he sought idols, found not.

12. And he has well observed the rules16 and distinctions as they are called. The first is Go and take me some venison, that I may eat. He excites and inflames his mind with the fire, as it were, of his exhortation, that he may labour and seek. The second is, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly? This is in the form of a question; the third is an answer, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. The ‘end’ is God, Who concludes and perfects all things, of Whom we are not to doubt.

13. And there is a ‘distinction’ too as to spontaneous things; If you sow not, you shall not reap17; for although culture calls forth seeds, yet nature by a certain spontaneous impulse, worketh in them that they spring up.

14. Wherefore the Apostle says, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but God That giveth the increase! God gives to you in the spirit, and the Lord sows in your heart. Take care then that He breathe life and sow in you, that you may reap; for if you sow not, neither shall you reap. This is a sort of admonition to you to sow. If you sow not you shall not reap, is a proverb. The end agrees with the beginning; the seed is the beginning, the harvest the end.

15. Learn, he says, of me; nature aids the learner, and God is the Author of nature. It is of God too that we learn well, for it is a natural gift to learn well; the hard of heart learn not. Nature, which is preserved by the Divine bounty, gives the increase. The final consummation God giveth, that is, the most excellent and Divine Nature and Essence of the Trinity.

Farewell: love us, as you do, for we love you.

16: ὅροι.
17: There is no text in Holy Scripture exactly corresponding to this. Lev. xxv. 11 which is referred to by Ed. Ben. is hardly to the point.

The Letters of St. Ambrose

Letter VIII¶