The Letters of S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan — Inside the Classic

A Bishop's Rhetorical Arsenal

Ambrose's letters are not private correspondence but public theological interventions. In the excerpt, he deploys a battery of rhetorical techniques: scriptural citation (Psalm 69, Jonah 3, Matthew 17), logical deduction ('If he is not believed so to have come, neither is He believed to have taken upon Him our flesh'), and ad hominem attack ('They have proved themselves to be truly Manichees'). He also uses collective witness, invoking 'our brethren and fellow-presbyters, Crescens, Leopardus, and Alexander' who helped expose the heretics. The letter concludes with a formal subscription list of bishops who concurred—Eventius, Maximus, Felix, Bassianus—underscoring that this is an official synodal condemnation, not a personal note. Readers should watch for how Ambrose shifts between intimate address ('Lord and brother most beloved') and institutional authority.

The Texture of Translation

The 1881 translation, revised by Rev. H. Walford, bears marks of its era. Sentences are long and periodic: 'And fitting it is that these men should despise widowhood, which is wont to keep fasts, for they regret that they should have been mortified by these for any time.' The translator expands abbreviations for screen-readers and standardizes punctuation, as noted in the transcriber's preface. Scriptural references appear in sidenotes, and footnotes are accumulated at the end. This apparatus means that reading the letters involves constant cross-referencing—a practice the 19th-century editors assumed their audience would undertake. The text also preserves variant spellings ('shew' for 'show') and inconsistent hyphenation, which can momentarily disorient a modern reader but also authenticates the historical distance.

Doctrinal Stakes in the Excerpts

The central controversy in the provided excerpt concerns the body: Christ's incarnation, virginity, widowhood, and fasting. Ambrose insists that Christ 'was crucified for us in truth, He is in truth our Redeemer,' countering those who 'deny that Christ came in the flesh.' He links the denial of virgin birth to a rejection of real incarnation, which he equates with Manichaean dualism. The opponents—Jovinian and his associates—are accused of teaching 'excess' and despising fasting. Ambrose's defense of asceticism is grounded in Paul's example ('I chastised my body') and Old Testament precedents (Nineveh's deliverance). A reader unfamiliar with fourth-century heresies may need to consult the index or footnotes to grasp why these issues were so charged; the translation's apparatus is designed to supply that context.

Reading Across the Gaps

The excerpts offer only fragments of a single letter, but they reveal patterns likely recurring throughout the collection: Ambrose's habit of weaving scripture into argument, his reliance on typology (Anna as a model widow), and his combative stance toward perceived error. The letter's structure—doctrinal exposition, refutation, appeal to authority, subscription—suggests a formal episcopal genre. Readers should note that the full collection spans 39 sections and over 200,000 words, covering topics from biblical exegesis to church discipline. The editorial note warns that 'scriptural references in sidenotes have not been corrected or changed,' implying possible inaccuracies. Approaching the letters as a first-time reader means accepting that the translation and apparatus are themselves historical artifacts, shaping how Ambrose's voice reaches us.

To read these letters attentively is to engage simultaneously with a fourth-century bishop's mind and a Victorian scholarly project. The translation's notes, indices, and textual notes are not optional extras but integral to understanding Ambrose's arguments and their context. A first reader might begin by sampling letters on different topics—virginity, the Trinity, church discipline—to gauge the range of his concerns, while always checking the footnotes for scriptural references and historical names. The letters reward patience: each citation is a thread leading into a larger tapestry of patristic thought.

The rain kept time with Ambrose’s careful arguments, his patient rulings on widowhood and fasting. I found myself wondering about the private lives behind such measured public words. Later, shuffling my shelves, I pulled down The Correspondence of Madame, Princess Palatine, Mother of the Regent; of Marie-Adélaïde de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne; and of Madame de Maintenon, in Relation to — Themes and Context. Different century, but the same quiet tension between conviction and compromise.