LETTER XLVI.

A.D. 389.

SABINUS, who was Bishop of Placentia, had written to S. Ambrose to tell him of an Apollinarian heretic, who appears, after being condemned at Placentia, to have gone to Milan. S. Ambrose in this reply states how he had answered him from Holy Scripture, and refuted his false interpretations, especially of the passage in the Epistle to the Philippians and announces that he has baffled him, and that he is ‘preparing to flee.’

AMBROSE TO SABINUS.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

Sidenote: Eccles. x. 8.

1. THE man of whom you have written to me as a disseminator of pernicious doctrines is a very light character, and has already received the reward of his poison. For he has been replied to publicly, and what he had sown in private he has reaped openly. I had previously esteemed him vain and envious only, but when this language of his reached my ears, I immediately answered that he was infected by the venom of Apollinaris, who will not admit that our Lord Jesus became a servant for us when He took upon Him our flesh; and this, although the Apostle declares that _He took on Him the form of a servant_. This is the bulwark, this is the hedge of our faith; he who destroys this shall be destroyed himself, as it is written, _Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him_.

2. At first I gently asked him, Why do you what is in itself good with evil intent? For I esteem it a favour if any one who reads my writings will tell me of any thing which causes him surprise. And this, first, because even in things which I know I may be deceived. Many things pass by the ear unheeded, many things sound differently to others, it is well, if it be possible, to be on one’s guard in all matters. Next, because it does not become me to be disturbed, seeing that many questions are mooted concerning the words of the Apostles and those of the Gospel and our Lord Himself, if things are found in my writings also, which people consider subjects of dispute. For many indulge their own humour, like that man who compassed the whole world, that he might find some one to censure, not one whom he might deem worthy of imitation.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xi. 25.

Sidenote: Ps. cix. 25, 26.

3. Now this man discovered a nasty means of cavilling at something in my writings, since in commenting upon the passage in which the Lord Jesus said, _I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth_, I stated that it was intended to show that He is the Father of the Son and the Lord of the creature. Nevertheless in the Psalm the Son has plainly called the Father, Lord: _They that looked upon Me shaked their heads: help Me, O Lord My God_. For speaking in the form of a servant He called Him Lord Whom He knew to be His Father; though equal in the form of God, proclaiming Himself to be a servant according to the substance of His flesh; for slavery is of the flesh, lordship of the Godhead.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 16.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 17.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. v. 21.

Sidenote: Gal. iii. 13.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 28.

Sidenote: Acts iii. 6.

Sidenote: Ib. 13.

Sidenote: Rev. v. 12.

Sidenote: Ps. xxii. 6.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 55.

4. First then your great sagacity perceives that what is said in the Gospel has reference to the times of the Gospel, when the Lord Jesus dwelt among men in human form; but now _we know Christ according to the flesh no longer_. Be it that He was so seen and known by them of old, now _old things are passed away, all things are become new_. But all things are from God, Who has reconciled us by Christ unto Himself; for we were dead, and therefore One was made a servant for all. Why do I say, a servant? He was made sin, a reproach, a curse. For the Apostle has said that _He was made sin for us_, that the Lord Jesus _was made a curse for us_. He has said, _when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall He also Himself be subject_. Peter also said in the Acts of the Apostles, _In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk_. Then he said also, that God had _glorified His Servant Jesus_, and no one brings any charge against him concerning the time. But in the Apocalypse He is called _a Lamb_ by John, in the Psalm He is called _a worm and no man_. He was made all these things that He might blunt the sting of our death, that He might take away our slavery, that He might abolish our curses, our sins, our reproaches.

Sidenote: Exod. xvi. 18.

Sidenote: Is. liii. 4.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

Sidenote: Ib. 11.

Sidenote: Ps. xxii. 7.

Sidenote: S. Luke xxiii. 34.

Sidenote: Isa. xl. 5.

Sidenote: Ib. liii. 2.

5. These things and others and many more you have written me word that you answered to one who consulted you; and, seeing that they are contained in Holy Scripture, how should any one hesitate to utter what has been thus piously written, tending as they do to the glory of Christ, not to His disparagement? For if it is said of His gift, that is, of the manna, that _he that gathered little had no lack[225], he that gathered much had nothing over_[226], could He Himself suffer diminution or increase? For in what respect was He diminished by taking upon Him our bondage, our infirmities? He was humbled, He was in the form of a servant, but He was also in the glory of God the Father. He was a worm upon the Cross, but He also forgave the sins of His persecutors. He was a reproach, but He is also the glory of the Lord, as it is written, _The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together_. What did He lose Who is wanting in nothing? _He had_ indeed _no form or comeliness_, but He had the fulness of the Godhead. He was accounted weak, but He ceased not to be the Power of God. He was seen in human form, but there shone upon earth the Divine Majesty and the glory of the Father.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 6, 7.

Sidenote: Ps. xlv. 2.

6. Well therefore has the Apostle repeated the same word, saying of the Lord Jesus, _Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant_. What is the meaning of _in the form of God_ but in the fulness of the Godhead, in the expression of the Divine perfection? Being therefore in the fulness of the Godhead, He _emptied Himself_ of it, and received the fulness of human nature and perfection: as nothing was wanting to Him as God so neither was there any thing wanting to His completeness as Man, that in either _form_ He might be perfect. Wherefore David also says, _Thou art fairer than the children of men_.

Sidenote: Gal. iv. 8.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

Sidenote: Ib.

Sidenote: Jer. xvii. 9.

Sidenote: S. Matt. viii. 2, 3.

Sidenote: S. John xi. 33, 44.

Sidenote: S. Matt. xxvii. 52.

7. The Apollinarian is confuted, he has no refuge to turn to, he is caught in his own net. For he himself had said, He took upon him the form of a servant, He was not chosen to be a servant. I ask again therefore, what is the meaning of _in the form of God_? He replies, In the nature of God. For there are those, says the Apostle, _which by nature are no gods_. I enquire, what is the meaning of _took upon Him the form of a servant_? Doubtless, as I have stated, the perfection of the nature and condition of man, that He might be in the likeness of man. And he has said well _the likeness_, not of the flesh, but _of men_, for He is in the same flesh. But since He alone was without sin, but all men are in sin, He was seen _in the form of man_. Wherefore the prophet also says, _He is a man yet who can know him_[227]? Man according to the flesh, but beyond man according to the Divine operation. When he touched the leper He was seen as man, but above man when He cleansed him. When He wept over Lazarus dead, He wept as man, but He was above men when He commanded the dead to come forth with bound feet. He was seen as man when He hung upon the cross, but above man when the graves were opened and He raised the dead.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 8.

Sidenote: 1 Tim. ii. 5.

Sidenote: S. John i. 14.

8. Nor has the Apollinarian venom any cause for complaining because it is thus it written, _And being found in fashion[228] as a man_, for Jesus is not hereby denied to be man, for in another place Paul himself calls Him, _The Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus_, but rather His manhood is established. For it is the custom and manner of Scripture so to express itself, and we read also in the Gospel, _And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father_. In the same way therefore that He is called _as_ the only-begotten, yet it is not denied that He is truly the only-begotten Son of God, so He is said to be _as_ man, yet it is not denied that the perfection of manhood existed in Him.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 7.

Sidenote: Gal. iv. 4.

Sidenote: Ps. cxix. 91.

Sidenote: Ib. lxxxix. 20, 26, 27.

Sidenote: Ib. lxxxvi. 2.

9. While, then, He was in the form of a servant, humbled even unto death, He yet remained in the glory of God. What injury then was His state of subjection to Him? We read that He was made a servant, because we read that He was made of a Virgin and created in the flesh, for every creature is a servant, as the Prophet says; _For all things serve Thee_. Wherefore also God the Father says, _I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I anointed him. He shall call Me, Thou art my Father, my God, and my strong salvation; and I will make him My first-born_; and in another Psalm, _Preserve Thou my soul for I am holy: save Thy servant_, and afterwards in the same Psalm, _Give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and help the son of Thy handmaid_. Thus I have collected the words of the Father and of the Son, that I may answer not with human arguments but by the Divine oracles.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxi. 5.

Sidenote: Ib. 8.

Sidenote: Ib. 11.

Sidenote: Ib. 16.

Sidenote: Isa. xlix. 1–3.

Sidenote: Ib. xli. 8.

Sidenote: S. John i. 18.

10. In another passage He says, _Into Thy hands I commend My spirit_, and, _Thou hast set My feet in a large room_, and, _I became a reproof among all Mine enemies_. And in the same Psalm, _Shew Thy servant the light of Thy countenance_. By the mouth of Isaiah too the Son of God Himself says, _From my mother’s womb the Lord hath called My name, and He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid Me; and said unto Me, Thou art My servant, O Israel_. For the Son of God is also called Israel, as in another place, _But thou, Israel, My Servant Jacob, whom I have chosen_. For He alone hath truly not only seen but also declared God the Father.

Sidenote: Isa. xlix. 3, 4, 5.

Sidenote: Isa. xlix. 6.

Sidenote: Ib. xlii. 6. xlix. 6.

Sidenote: Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24.

Sidenote: Zech. iii. 8.

Sidenote: Ib. iii. 3.

11. And it goes on, _In whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him and Israel._ Who hath gathered the people of God but Christ? Who is glorified before the Lord? Who is the Power of God? He to Whom the Father hath said, _It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant_[229], and He to Whom He says _Behold, I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, that Thou mightest be My Salvation unto the end of the earth_. Of Him He has also spoken by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, saying, _I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My Servant David, He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My Servant David a Prince among them._ Now king David was already dead, and therefore the true David, the truly humble, the truly meek, the true Son of God, strong of hand, is announced by this name; he also is intended in the book of the prophet Zechariah, where God the Father says, _Behold I will send my servant, the Orient[230] is His name_. Did then His being _clothed in filthy garments_ deprive the Sun of righteousness of the brightness of His Godhead?

12. And why need I say more? Shall we deem servitude to be a state of greater weakness than that of being made sin, of being a curse, a reproach, than the infirmities which He bore for our sakes that we might be saved from them? For He was made all of these that He might relieve the world from them. But they will not admit that He was made a servant, a reproach, a curse, because they affirm that the Word and the flesh are of one substance, and say, Because He redeemed us He is called a servant, and ought to be called sin. And they do not perceive this to be the glory of Christ, that in His Incarnation He took upon Him the state of a servant that He might restore liberty to all; He bore our sins, that He might take away the sin of the world.

Sidenote: Gal. iii. 13.

Sidenote: Is. xlix. 4.

Sidenote: Phil. ii. 16.

13. He was made a servant, He was made sin and a curse, that thou mightest cease to be a servant of sin, and that He might absolve thee from the curse of the Divine judgment. He therefore took upon Him thy curse, for _Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree_. He was made a curse upon the cross, that thou mightest be blessed in the kingdom of God. He was disgraced, He was vilified and set at nought. He said, _I have laboured in vain_, through Whom Paul was enabled to say, _I have not laboured in vain_. This He did that He might confer on His servants the fruit of good works and the glory of the preaching of the Gospel, whereby the world might be released from the burthen of its toil.

Sidenote: Jer. xvii. 11.

14. On hearing these things _the partridge[231] was left in the midst of her days_, she who cried _that she might gather the things which she did not lay_, and was overcome by the voice of the Lord Jesus. And even now is she preparing for flight.

Farewell; love me, for I love you.