Ambrose Letter 73 to Irenaeus

7/28/2019 Ambrose Letter 73 to Irenaeus

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The natural Lato. 433

LETrER LXXIII.IKEN BUS bavlng enqnired why the Law WIllI ever given, _Ing that Paul de-clares it to be Injurious: S. Ambrose replies tbat it would bave been useless,had we kept tbat natural law which Is written on our hearts, and Is foundeven In Inrants; but tbat, this being brokl'n, the former beI.'ame necessary,that It might take away all excuse by its manifestation of that sin which Williafterwards removed by the grace of Christ.

AMBROSE TO IREN&US.1. GREATLY, it would seem, have you been moved by the

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lesson from the Apostle, having heard read to-day, Because Rum. Iv.the Law worketh wrath; for where no law i" there is no 15.transgression. And therefore you have thought fit to askwhy the Law was promulgated, if it profited nothing, nayrather, by working wrath and bringing in transgression, wasinjurious.2. And indeed, according to the tenor of your question,it is certain that the Law, which was given by MOBes, wasnot necessary. For had men been able to keep the naturalLaw, which our God and Maker implante!I in the breast ofeach, there would have been no need of the Law, which,written on table, of stone, tended rather to entangle andfetter the infirmity of human nature, than to set at largeand liberate it. Now that there is a natural Law written lb. U. 14.in our heart, the Apostle also teaches us, when he writes,that for the most part the Gentiles, which have not the Law,do by nature the things contained in the Law, and, thoughthey have not read the Law, have yet the work. 01 the Lawwritten in their heart,.3. This law therefore is not written but innate; not ac-quired by reading, but flowing as from a natural fountain,it springs up in each breast, and men's minds drink it in.This Law we ought to have kept even from fear of a future. judgment, a witness whereof we have in our conscience,which shews itl!elf in those silent thoughts we have to-wards God, and whereby either our sin is reproved or ourinnocence justified. And thus that which has ever been

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434 The written Law given whenLETT. 78. manifest to the Lord, will be clearly revealed in the day ofr;m. Ii. judgment, when those secrets of the heart, which were. thought to be concealed, will be called into account. Now

the discovery of these things, these secrets, I mean, woulddo no harm, if the natural Law still remained in the hu-man breast; for it is holy, free from craft or guile, thecompanion of justice, free from iniquity.

Oen. iii.6.

4. Moreover let us interrogate the age of childhood, let'us consider whether any crime can be found therein, avarice,ambition, guile, rage, or insolence. It claims nothing for itsown, assumes no honours to itself, never prefers itself toothers, neither wishes or knows how to avenge itself. Itspure and simple mind cannot even comprehend the mean-ing of insolence.5. Adam broke this Law, seeking to assume to himselfthat which he had not received, that thus he might becomeas it were his own maker and creator, and arrogate to him-self divine honour. Thus by his disobedience he incurredguilt, and through arrogance fell into transgression. Hadhe not thus violated his allegiance, but been obedient tothe commands of heaven, he would have preserved to hisposterity the prerogative of nature and the innocence whichhe possessed at his birth. Wherefore as by disobediencethe authority of the Law of Nature was corrupted andblotted out, the written law was found necessary; in orderthat man, having lost all, might at least regain a part;attaining by instruction to the knowledge of that whichhe had received at his birth, but had subsequently lost.Moreover, since the cause of his fall was pride, and pridearose from the dignity of innocence, it was needful thatsome law should be passed which should subdue and sub-

Rom. ,iI. ject him to God. For without the Law he was ignorant8. of sin, and thus his guilt was less because he knew it not.S. John Wherefore also the Lord says, I f I had nol come and spokeraxv. 22. to them they had not had ,in, but now they have no eZCfUt

for their rin.6. The Law then was published, first to take away allRom. iii. excuse lest man should say, I knew not sin, because I19. received no rule what to avoid. And next that all tAtworld might become guilty 1 before God by the confession ofVoig.


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the natural Law 'lOa, broken by Bin. 435SIn . For it made all subject; in that it was not only given TOto the Jews but also called the Gentiles; for proselytes IRENJEUIfrom the Gentiles were associated with them. Nor can heseem to be excepted, who after being called was foundwanting, for the Law also bound those whom she called.And thus the fault of all worked subjection, subjection hu-mility, humility obedience. And thus as pride had drawnafter it transgression, so on the other hand, transgressionproduced obedience. And thus the written Law, whichseemed superfluous, was rendered necessary, redeeming sinby sin.

7. But again, lest anyone should be deterred, and saythat an increase of sin was caused by the Law, and that theLaw not only did not profit but was even injurious, he hasa consolation for his solicitude, because although by the Rom ....Law Bin abounded, grace did much more abound. And now 20.let us consider the meaning of this.8. Sin abounded by the Law because by the Law u the Ib . ..n. 1.knowledge of Bin, and thus it began to be injurious to meto know that which through infirmity I could not avoid;it is good to foreknow in order to avoid, but if I cannotavoid, to have known was injurious. Thus the effect ofthe Law was changed to me into its opposite, yet by thevery increase of sin it became useful to me, because I washumbled. Wherefore David also said, It iB good for me PI. cxix.that I have been humbled. For by my humiliation I have 11.broken those bonds of that ancient transgression, wherebyAdam and Eve had bound the whole line of their posterity.Hence too the Lord (lame in obedience that He mightloose the knot of disobedience and of man's transgression.And so, as by disobedience sin entered, so by obediencesin was remitted. Wherefore the Apostle also says, For Rom. v.a, by one man', diBobedience many were made Binner,,'o 19.by the obedience of one ,hallmany be made righteoUB.9. Here is one reason the Law on the one hand wassuperfluous and yet became necessary. It was superflousherein, that it would not have been needed could we havekept the natural Law, but as we kept it not, the law ofMoses became needful for us, to the intent that it mightteach us obedience and loose that knot of Adam's trans-

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436 The Law convicts of sin, which grace forgives.LETT. 73. gression which has fettered his whole posterity. Guilt in. deed was increased by the Law, but pride, the author ofthis guilt, was overthrown by it, and this was profitable to

me, for pride discovered the guilt, and this guilt broughtgrace.10. Hear another reason. At first Moses' Law was notneeded; it was introduced subsequently, and this appearsto intimate that this introduction was in a sense clandes-tine and not of an ordinary kind, seeing that it succeededin the place of the natural Law. Had this maintained itsplace, the written Law would never have entered in; butthe natural Law being excluded by transgression and al.most blotted out of the human breast, pride reigned, anddisobedience spread itself; and then this Law succeeded,that by its written precepts it might cite us before it, and

Rom. m. every mouth be stopped, and all the world become guilty be-19. fore God. Now the world becomes guilty before God bythe Law, in that all are made amenable to its prescripts,

but no man is justified by its works. And since by theLaw comes the knowledge of sin, but not the remissionof guilt, the Law, which has made all sinners, would seemto have been injurious.11. But when the Lord Jesus came, He forgave all men

Col. Ii. that sin which none could escape, and blotted out the hand-1(. writing against fU by the shedding of His own Blood. ThisRom. v. then is the Apostle's meaning; sin abounded by the Law,20. but grace abounded by Jesus; for after that the wholeworld became guilty, He took away the sin of the wholes. John world, as John bore witness, saying: Behold the Lamb of1. 29. God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Whereforelet no man glory in works, for by his works no man shallbe justified, for he that is just hath a free gift, for he is

justified by the Bath. It is faith then which delivers byRom. Iv. the blood of Christ, for Ble88ed i . the man to whom sin iI7. remitted, and pardon granted.Farewell, my son; love me, for I also love you.

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Ambrose Letter 73 to Irenaeus