Part 25

23. But the Apostle has taught me something even beyond freedom itself, namely that to serve is real freedom, _Though I be free from all_, he says, _yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more_. What is that which surpasses liberty but to have the Spirit of grace, to have charity? Liberty renders us free to men, but charity renders us beloved by God. Wherefore Christ also says, _But I have called you friends_. Good indeed is charity; whereof it is said, _By love of the Spirit[188] serve one another_. Christ also became a servant that He might make all free. _His hands served in the baskets_: He Who _thought it not robbery to be equal with God, took upon Him the form of a servant_, and was made all things to all men, that He might bring salvation to all. Following this example, Paul was both, as it were, under the Law, and lived without the Law, for the benefit of those whom he desired to gain: to the weak he voluntarily became weak that he might strengthen them; _he ran so as to obtain, he kept under his body that he might be victorious over heavenly powers in Christ_.

24. To the wise man therefore even bondage is freedom; whence we may gather that even to be in power is bondage to the fool, and what is worse, while he rules over a few, he serves more and severer masters. For he serves his own passions, his own lusts, their tyranny he can escape neither by night nor day, for he carries these masters within his own breast, and suffers within himself an intolerable bondage. For there is a double bondage, one of the body, another of the soul; now the lords of the body are men, but the lords of the soul are evil dispositions and passions, from which liberty of the mind alone frees the wise man and enables him to depart from his bondage.

Sidenote: Job xiii. 19–21.

25. Let us seek therefore that truly wise man, that truly free man, who although he live under the dominion of many, says freely, _Who is he that will plead with me? from Whose sight I shall not be able to hide myself, only do Thou withdraw Thy hand far from me, and let not Thy dread make me afraid_.

Sidenote: Ps. li. 6.

26. And King David, who followed him, said, _Against Thee only have I sinned_. For being supported by the royal dignity, and being, so to speak, master of the laws, he was not subject to them but was liable to God alone, Who is the Lord of hosts.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. iv. 3, 4.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. ii. 15.

Sidenote: Job xxvii. 2.

Sidenote: Ib. xxv. 5.

27. Hear another free man; _But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self_, for I know nothing _against_ myself, ... _but He that judgeth me is the Lord_. The freedom of the spiritual man is a true freedom, because _he judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man_, because he knows himself to be subject to nothing which has any participation in the creature, but to God alone, Who only is without sin, of Whom Job also says, _God liveth Who hath taken away my judgment_, for the just man can only be judged by Him _in Whose sight the heavens are not clean, nor the light of the stars pure and clean_.

28. Will any one bring forward those verses of Sophocles which say ‘Jupiter, and no mortal man is ruler over me?’ How much more ancient is Job, how much older is David? Let them acknowledge then that they have borrowed from us the more excellent of their sayings.

Sidenote: Ps. xlv. 8.

29. Who then is wise but he who has arrived at the very mysteries of the Godhead, and has known the hidden things of wisdom to be manifested to him. He then alone is wise who has taken God as his guide, to conduct him to the secret resting-place of truth, and although but a mortal man has become by grace the heir and successor of the eternal God, and partaker, as it were, of His sweetness, as it is written, _Wherefore God, even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows_.

Sidenote: 2 Cor. vii. 5.

Sidenote: Rom. viii. 37.

30. Now if any man will examine more closely these matters, he will perceive what great assistance the wise man finds and what great obstacles the foolish, in the very same things; that to the one freedom is an aid, to the other bondage is an impediment. For the wise man rises as a conqueror, having vanquished and triumphed over lust, fear, sloth, sadness and other vices. This he does until he casts them out from the possession of his mind, driving and excluding them from all its bounds and limits, for as a cautious general he knows how to guard against the incursions of robbers, and those hostile stratagems which the wicked enemies of our soul are frequently attempting with their fiery darts; for we have both wars in peace and peace in war. Whence also he says, _Without were fightings, within were fears_. But _in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us_. He says this because he was terrified neither by straits nor persecutions, nor hunger, nor danger, nor death.

Sidenote: Gen. iv. 14.

31. But he who fears these things, who dreads death, how is he not a slave? Truly he is a slave, and that in a miserable bondage; for nothing so subjects the mind to all kind of bondage as the fear of death. For how can the abject and vile and ignoble sense raise itself up, when it is deeply sunk in the pit of corruption, through the lusts of this life. Behold, how much he is a slave: _I shall be hid_, he says, _and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me_. Therefore as a slave he received a sign, but even thus he could not escape death. Thus the sinner is a slave to fear, to cupidity, to avarice, to lust, to malice, to anger, nay, he is a greater slave than if he were set under tyrants.

32. But they are free who live by the laws. Now true law is right reason, true law not sculptured on tablets, nor engraved in brass, but impressed on the mind, and fixed in the senses; for the wise man is not under the law, but is a law unto himself, bearing the work of the Law in his heart, inscribed and formed therein by a kind of pen natural to himself. Are we then so blind as not to see the manifest characters of things, and the images of virtues? And how unworthy is it that whole nations should obey human laws, that they may become thereby partakers of liberty: but that wise men should neglect and abandon the true law of nature formed according to the image of God, and true reason, the sign-bearer of liberty; since there is so much liberty therein, that when children we are unconscious of any bondage to vice, being removed from anger, free from avarice, ignorant of lust. How miserable therefore, that we who are born in liberty should die in bondage!

Sidenote: Exod. xvii. 12.

Sidenote: Eccles. iv. 5

Sidenote: Susanna 43.

Sidenote: Judges xi. 36.

33. But this arises from the levity of our mind and the infirmity of our character; because we are occupied by idle cares, and superfluous

## actions: but the heart of the wise man, his works and deeds, ought to

be stedfast and immoveable. Moses taught us this, when his hands became heavy, so that Joshua the son of Nun could scarcely hold them up. And therefore the people were victorious when works not of a perfunctory kind, but full of gravity and virtue were being carried on, not the works of a mind unsteady, and staggering to and fro in its affections, but of one firmly rooted and established. The wise man therefore stretches out his hands, but the fool draws them together, as it is written, _The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh_, meditating on carnal more than spiritual things. But not so did that daughter of Juda, who stretched forth her hands and cried to the Lord _Thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me_. She thought it better not to sin and to incur the calumnies of her accusers, than to commit sin under the veil of impunity. And by the contempt of death she preserved her innocence. Not so, either, the daughter of Jepthah, who by her own consent confirmed and even encouraged her father’s vow concerning her own immolation.

34. For I will not produce the books of philosophers on the contempt of death, or the gymnosophists of the Indians, of whom the answer of Calanus[189] to Alexander, when he commanded him to follow him, is especially commended. ‘To what praise’ said he ‘do you consider me entitled, that you require me to travel to Greece, if I can be compelled to do that to which my will consents not?’ A reply truly full of dignity, and yet his mind was more full of liberty. He wrote this letter also.

CALANUS TO ALEXANDER.

35. “Your friends persuade you to lay hands and even constraint on the Indian philosophers, not even in their dreams beholding our works. Our bodies you may remove from place to place, our souls you cannot compel to do what they do not will, no more than wood or stone to utter sounds. A great fire burns pain into living bodies and begets corruption; on this fire we are, for we are burning alive. There is neither king nor prince who can compel us to do what we have not determined to do. Nor are we like the philosophers of Greece, who have conceived words rather than realities, in order to give celebrity to their opinions; in our case realities are associated with words and words with realities; our acts are swift and our discourses short, we enjoy a delightful freedom in the exercise of virtue.”

36 and 37. Excellent words, but still words; excellent constancy, but that of a man; excellent letter, but that of a philosopher. But amongst us, even maidens through desire of death have mounted even up to heaven by the lofty steps of virtue. Why should I mention Thecla, Agnes, or Pelagia, who sprouting forth as noble tendrils[190] have hastened to death as if to immortality? The virgin exulted among lions, and dauntlessly beheld the roaring beasts. And to compare our history with that of the Indian philosophers, what Calanus boasted in words holy Laurence proved by his acts, for he was burnt alive, and surviving the flames said, ‘Turn me and eat me.’ Nor did the youths of the race of Abraham[191] or the sons of the Maccabees strive less boldly; the former sung while in the midst of the flames, and the latter, during their punishment, asked not to be spared, but reproached their persecutor in order to enrage him more. The wise man therefore is free.

38. But what can be more sublime than holy Pelagia, who was surrounded by persecutors, but before she came into their presence said; ‘I die willingly, no man shall touch me, no one with wanton look shall defile my chastity, I will carry away with me my modesty, my honour untainted; these ruffians shall reap no profit from their insolence. Pelagia will follow Christ, no man shall deprive her of her liberty, no man shall see her free faith made captive, her illustrious chastity, her inheritance of wisdom. What is enslaved shall remain here, not amenable to any duty.’ Great therefore is the freedom of that pious virgin, who encircled by her persecutors gave way not the least in the midst of these great dangers to her integrity and her life.

Sidenote: Prov. xxix. 22. stirreth up strife. E.V.

Sidenote: S. John viii. 34.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. vi. 12, 13.

Sidenote: 1 Cor. x. 29.

39. But he is not free over whom anger reigns, for he is subject to the yoke of sin; for _an angry man diggeth out sin_, and, _Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin_. Neither is he free who is enslaved to avarice, for he cannot possess his vessel. Neither is he free who seeing his desires and pleasures, fluctuates in his devious course. He is not free who is bowed down by ambition, for he obeys the rule of another. But he is free who is able to say, _All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient, all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats._ He is free who says, _For why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?_

Sidenote: Prov. xxvi. 8.

Sidenote: Ib. 9.

Sidenote: Rom. vii. 23.

40. Liberty therefore belongs to the wise man not to the fool; for _he who binds a stone in a sling is like him who giveth honour to a fool_, for he wounds himself, and while brandishing his dart chiefly endangers his own body. Certainly as he is stung by the sling, and by the falling of the stone the evil is increased, so the fall of a fool when he is set at liberty is more rapid. Wherefore the power of a fool is rather to be retrenched than any new liberty added, for slavery is suitable for him. And therefore it is added, _As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools_. For as he is wounded by his cups, so is the fool by his deeds. The one by drinking involves himself in sin, the other by acting subjects himself to censure, and by his deeds is drawn into bondage. Paul saw himself _brought into captivity by the law of sin_, and therefore, in order to be freed, he fled to the grace of liberty.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxii. 10.

Sidenote: Prov. xiii. 24.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxviii. 4, 5.

41. Fools then are not free, for it is said to them, _Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding, whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle lest they fall upon thee. Great plagues remain for the ungodly_; for they have need of these, in order that their folly may be restrained. It is good discipline which requires this, not severity. Further, _he that spareth his rod hateth his son_: for a man’s own sins scourge him still more severely. For heavy is the weight of crime, heavy the scourges of sin; they are heavy as a sore burthen, they inflict wounds upon the soul, and make the ulcers of the mind to stink.

Sidenote: Prov. xxiv. 30.

42. Wherefore let us lay aside this grievous burthen of slavery, let us renounce sensuality, and the evil delights which bind us with the bonds, as it were, of lusts, and fetter us with chains. For these delights profit not the fool, and whoever has given himself to them from his boyhood will abide in bondage; living he will be as dead. Let sensuality then be cut down, let evil delights be pruned away, and let him who has been wanton bid farewell to his former courses. For the vine which has been cut down bears fruit, that which has been partly pruned puts forth leaves, that which has been neglected grows too luxuriantly. Therefore it is written, _Like a field is the foolish man, and like a vineyard the man void of understanding_; if you leave him alone, he will become desolate. Let us then tend this body of ours, let us chasten it, let us reduce it to subjection, let us not neglect it.

Sidenote: Rom. vi. 13.

Sidenote: Ib.

Sidenote: Ps. xiv. 6.

43. For our members are _instruments of righteousness_, they are also _instruments of sin_. If they are raised upwards, they are instruments of righteousness, that sin should not reign in them: if our body has died to sin, transgression will not reign therein, and our members will be free from sin. Let us not therefore obey its lusts, nor _yield our members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin_. If you have looked upon a woman to lust after her, your members are the instruments of sin. If you have spoken and solicited her, your tongue and your mouth are instruments of sin. If you have removed the landmarks which your fathers set up, your members are instruments of sin. If you have hasted _with swift feet to shed the blood_ of the innocent, your members are instruments of sin.

Sidenote: Prov. xiv. 7.

Sidenote: Job xxix. 15.

44. On the other hand, if you have seen a poor man, and taken him into your house, your members are instruments of righteousness. If you have rescued one who was suffering wrong, or one who was being led to execution; if you have cancelled the bond of the debtor, your members are instruments of righteousness. If you have confessed Christ (for _the lips of knowledge are the instruments of understanding_,) your lips are the members of righteousness. He who can say, _I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame, I was a father to the poor_, his members are members of righteousness.

Sidenote: Job xxxi. 33.

Sidenote: Prov. xviii. 17.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxii. 6.

45. Being therefore set free from sin, and redeemed, as it were, at the price of the Blood of Christ, let us not be made subject to the bondage of men or of passion. Let us not blush to confess our sins. Behold how free he was who could say, _I feared not the multitude of the people; that I should not confess my sin in the sight of all_. For he that confesses his sin is released from servitude, and _the just accuses himself in the beginning of his speech_. Not the free but the just man also; but justice is in liberty and liberty in confession, for as soon as a man shall confess he is absolved. Lastly, _I said I will confess my sins unto the Lord, and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin_. The delay of absolution depends on confessing, the remission of sins follows closely on confession. He therefore is wise who confesses; he is free whose sin is remitted, for he contracts now no debt of guilt. Farewell: love me as indeed you do, for I also love you.

LETTER XXXVIII. A.D. 387.

IN this letter S. Ambrose continues the subject, maintaining that the truly wise man is not only free but rich also, illustrating his statements with instances from the Old Testament.

AMBROSE TO SIMPLICIAN, GREETING.

Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. iii. 3, 4.

1. WHEN we lately pointed out, taking our theme from the epistle of the Apostle Paul, that every wise man is free, we seemed to have fallen into philosophical discussion. But afterwards, in reading the epistle of the Apostle Peter, I perceived that every wise man is also rich: and this he says without distinction of sex, for he writes that all a woman’s ornaments consist in a virtuous life, not in costly jewels, _Whose adorning_, he says, _is not that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but the hidden man of the heart_.

2. Here then are two things, both that there is a man within the man, and that he is rich who seeks not for himself the enjoyment of any riches. And he has well said, _the man of the heart_, in that the whole man of wisdom is hidden, as is wisdom itself, which is not seen but understood. No one before Peter used such an expression as, _the man of the heart_; for the outward man consists of many members, but the inward man of the heart is entirely full of wisdom, full of grace, full of beauty.

Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. iii. 4.

3. _In that_, he says, _which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price_. And he is truly rich, who can appear rich in the sight of God, in whose sight the earth is small, the world itself is narrow, but God considers him only to be rich who is rich for eternity, who lays up the fruit not of riches, but of virtues. And who is rich before God but that meek and quiet spirit which is never corrupted? Does not he appear to you to be rich, who possesses peace of mind and the tranquillity of rest? who desires nothing, is not tossed by the storms of lust, despises not old things, seeks not new, so as by his constant desire to become poor in the midst of riches?

Sidenote: Phil. iv. 7.

Sidenote: Prov. xxviii. 10.

4. That peace is truly rich, which _passeth all understanding_. Peace is rich, modesty is rich, faith is rich, for _to the faithful the whole world is a possession_. Simplicity is rich, for there are also the riches of simplicity; for she scrutinizes nothing, has no mean, no suspicious, no deceitful thoughts, but pours herself forth with pure affection.

Sidenote: Job v. 17–24.

Sidenote: Gen. xxvii. 37.

Sidenote: Job v. 26.

5. Goodness too is rich, and if a man preserve it he is fed by the riches of the heavenly inheritance. To quote also the more ancient examples of Scripture, _Happy_, it is said, _is the man whom God correcteth_. Therefore _despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty ... in famine He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; ... the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, and thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace._ For the vices of this flesh being subdued, and those passions which are wont to war against the soul, your tabernacle shall be undisturbed, your house without offence, your seed shall not fail, your posterity shall be as the smell of a fruitful field, your burial as the harvest. For while others are looking for theirs to fail, the heap of your corn will be carried ripe into the heavenly garners.

Sidenote: Ps. xxxvii. 26.

6. Fit it is that the righteous ever lendeth, while the wicked man is in want. He lendeth justice, he lendeth the commandments of God to the poor and needy; but the fool does not possess even that which he believes himself to possess. Do you suppose that he can be said to possess, who brooding over his treasure night and day, is troubled by covetous and wretched anxiety? Such a one truly wants; although to others he appears rich, to himself he is poor, because he who is still grasping after more and desiring more uses not that which he possesses. For where there are no bounds to desire, what profit can there be in riches? No man is rich who cannot carry away with him that which he has, for that which is left behind, is not our own but another’s.