Ambrose

The greater danger is not, therefore, from what is external to us, but from our own selves.  Our adversary is within us. 

A Patristic Treasury: Early Church Wisdom for Today, edited by James R. Payton, Jr

Creation

In the beginning of time, God created heaven and earth.  Time proceeds from this world, not before the world.

However far back one wants to consider time, there was a beginning before this – outside of anything having to do with what we experience as “time.”

The earth is not suspended in the middle of the universe like a balance hung in equilibrium: the majesty of God holds it together by the law of His own will.

I have come across this concept many times now, that without God actively willing it, the world would cease to exist.

Moses saw that there was no place in the words of the Holy Spirit for the vanity of this perishable knowledge which deceives and deludes us in our attempt to explain the unexplainable.  He believed that only these things should be recorded which tend to our salvation. 

This is a very interesting way to put it.  How might we understand the creation story – even the first eleven chapters of Genesis – if the lens we looked through was only what was relevant for our salvation?

Natural Law

But since His word is nature’s birth, justly therefore does He who gave nature its origin presume to give nature its law.

There is a question asked: can God violate His own laws?  Silly questions like can God create a rock so heavy that even He cannot lift it, or a different version of silly ones like can God sin?  In other words, can God violate the order of creation?

I have landed on a spot that suggests there is no need to think in such terms.  God made creation such that there is no need to consider His violating its order.  God is unchanging; He cannot come to a point of saying that He the order which He created was somehow in error or no longer sufficient.

It [natural law] is not the result of some natural propensity, but issues from the will and operation of the most high God.

And as He is unchanging…well, back to my previous comment.

Fish follow a divine law, whereas human beings contravene it.  Fish daily comply with celestial mandates, but humans make void the precepts of God.

Which just points to the reality that God put something in humans that he did not place in any other creature – a will that can act against our created purpose.

The Church

Equality should be observed in the Church, so that no one of wealth and high position should exalt himself and that no one who is poor and lowly should despair.  Liberty is one and the same for all members of the Church; all possess justice and favor in an impartial manner.

The Eucharist

I know this one is a point of disagreement among the different traditions.  I present it merely to offer Ambrose’s reasoning on the matter.  If nothing else, it is worth hearing.

You say, “I see something else [i.e., bread]; how can you tell me that I receive the body of Christ?”  This still remains to be demonstrated.  For that, we use examples great enough to show that this is not what nature formed, but what benediction consecrated, and that the power of benediction is greater than that of nature, because even nature itself is changed by benediction.

That sacrament which you receive is effected by the words of Christ.  But if the words of Elijah had such power as to call down fire from heaven, will not the words of Christ have power enough to change the nature of the elements? … So, cannot the words of Christ, which were able to make what was not out of nothing, change things from what they were into things they previously were not?

By the mysteries of the Incarnation let us establish the truth of the mysteries [i.e., the sacraments].  Did the process of nature [for generation] precede when the Lord Jesus was born of Mary?

Basically, if we can believe all of these other things, why can we not believe in the body and blood?  I realize that there are theological reasons for disputing this (I am not tremendously well versed on this, but something about re-sacrificing Christ). 

In any case, there are Ambrose’s views on the matter.

Man

Ambrose offers several comments about the source of evil within us:

Evil arose from us, and was not made by the Creator God.

Look closely at your intentions; explore the disposition of your mind; set up guards to watch over the thoughts of your mind and the cupidities of your heart.  You yourself are the cause of your wickedness; you yourself are the leader of your own crimes and the instigator of your own misdeeds.  Why do you summon an alien nature to furnish as an excuse for your sins?

Let us not search outside of ourselves or attribute to others the causes of that which we ourselves are sole masters.  Instead, we must recognize that these causes belong only to us.

…evil is not a living substance, but is a deviation of mind and soul from the path of true virtue.

It is this last one that ties all of the ones above it together for me.  True virtue begins with humility; without humility, there is no possibility of growing well into the other virtues.  The lack of humility is within us, and therefore the source of the evil is within us.

“Let the earth bring forth,” God said, and immediately the whole earth was filled with growing vegetation.  And to humanity it was said, “Love the Lord your God”; yet the love of God is not instilled in the hearts of all.  Deafer are human hearts than the hardest rock.

This comes back to the earlier point that God gave humans an ability to act against the purpose for which we were created.

This might sound harsh, or some sort of gaslighting from God.  I don’t see it this way at all.  Imagine if we had the free will of a fish, or a tree, or a rock!  What kind of life would that be for us?  Would we even be able to show true love for God if we had no choice but to show true love for God?

Although you may shine with the splendor of nobility, or because of your superior power, or by the brilliance of your virtue, the thorn is ever close to you, the bramble is ever near you.

We always remain in danger, no matter our level of humility.

The condemned thief who was crucified with our Lord passed over into everlasting Paradise, not because of a favorable nativity but because of his confession of faith.

Despite the ever-present danger, the answer is always here: a confession of true faith.

Repentance

That one sins is no cause for surprise.  What is blameworthy is failure to acknowledge one’s error and humble oneself before God.  

Are not those who condemn their sin truer Christians than those who think to defend it?

Other

The fear of God requires us to act with constancy. 

I would rather fall somewhat short in my duty than in humility.

Perhaps for all the reasons noted above.

Biographies / Sources

Ambrose (333 – 397) was a Roman imperial official who was elected bishop of Milan.  His sermons attracted large crowds, to include Augustine of Hippo, who came to faith under Ambrose’s preaching.