LETTER XXXV. 

In this Letter S. Ambrose continues his comment on the passage of S. Paul, especially on the 'groans of creation.'

AMBROSE TO HORONTIANUS.

1. My former Letter was a reply to your inquiry; this is a part of my answer, supplemental not contradictory to the former. In reviewing the latter part of the passage I was struck, I confess, with his adding,  we know that every creature groaneth, seeing that previously he had said without any addition,  The creature was made subject to vanity. For he said not every creature, but,  the creature was made subject. And again he says,  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. But in the third place he adds that  every creature groaneth together. 

2. Now what does this addition mean? It means haply that every creature is not  subject to vanity, and therefore every creature will not be  delivered from the bondage of corruption. For why should that be delivered which is free and secure from the subjection of vanity and the bondage of that corruption? But they all groan together not in their own but in our pangs, and haply are in travail together of the Spirit of Salvation, the Spirit of sweetness, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, that in the redemption of the human race they may attain to a common joy and gladness. So then either because of their charity they all groan for our labour, or for us as a member of their body, whose head is Christ. But you may understand this as you please, either as we have said, or simply that every creature groans and travails together.

3. And now let us consider what follows.  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of the body.  We are taught in the previous passage what the adoption of sons is; therefore, in order to explain its meaning, to that passage we must recur.

4.  He who through the Spirit, says S. Paul,  mortifies the deeds of the body shall live. Nor is it surprising that he should live, since he who has the Spirit of God, becomes the son of God. Wherefore he is the son of God that he may receive not the spirit of bondage, but the spirit of adoption of sons; to the intent that the Holy  Spirit may bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. But this is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, that He it is Who cries in our hearts,  Abba Father, as it is written to the Galatians. There is also the great testimony that we are the sons of God; namely that we are  heirs of God and 

 joint heirs with Christ. Now he is joint heir with Him, who is glorified together with Him, and he is glorified together with Him who by suffering for Him suffers together with Him.

5. And in order to encourage us to suffer, he adds that all things which we suffer fall far below and are not worthy to be compared with the recompense of our labours, the reward of future good, which shall be revealed in us, when we shall be formed anew after the Image of God, and shall be worthy to behold His Glory face to face.

6. And to exalt the greatness of this future revelation, he adds that the creation also waits for this revelation of the sons of God, which now is made subject to vanity, not willingly, but in hope, because it hopes for the reward of its ministry from Christ, or else because it also will be  delivered from the bondage of corruption, and received into  the glorious liberty of the sons of God, that there may be one liberty of the creation and of the sons of God, when their glory shall have been revealed. But now, so long as this revelation is delayed, the whole creation groans together, looking for the glory of our adoption and redemption, already travailing with that Spirit of salvation, and willing to be delivered from the servitude of vanity.

 7. And to this the Apostle has conjoined the groans of the saints, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, for they groan also. Of their own merits they are indeed secure, but since the redemption of the whole body of the Church is still future, they suffer together with it. For seeing that the members of this our body still suffer, shall not the other members, although higher, sympathize with the suffering members of one and the same body?

8. And this, I suppose, is why the Apostle has said that the  Son Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, for they who still labour are not yet subject, and in these perhaps Christ still thirsts, in these is still hungry, in these is still naked, in that they do not fulfil the word of God, nor put on Christ, Who is the Garment of believers, and the Robe of the faithful. They also in whom He is sick still need medicine, and therefore are not yet subdued, for this subjection is of strength not of weakness : again, in those who are strong and obey the commands of God, the Son of God is subject. But now His travail is greater in those who do not succour those who are toiling, than in those who still require aid themselves. And this is the pious and true meaning of the subjection of the Lord Jesus, Who will subject Himself, to the intent  that God might be all in all. 

 9. We have received the Apostle's meaning, let us now consider who are they that  have the first-fruits of the Spirit. With this view let us inquire what is intended under the name of first-fruits or of beginning,  Thou shalt not delay, it is said,  to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors; further on,  The first of the first-fruits of thy lands thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. First-fruits and tenths are different, first-fruits are of greater merit, an act of pious consecration. And on this account Abel pleased God, for he delayed not to offer his gift, but offered of the first-fruits of his flock. Although some suppose that there is a difference between  04-14  14. 1 primitias. first-fruits and first-born  04-15  15. 2 primogenita. , in that on gathering in the crops, the beginning, so to speak, of all kinds in the threshing floor are offered, while the first reaping of the harvest is offered to the Lord; but of this we will speak in another place. But by the offering of the first-fruits, the whole harvest appears to be sanctified, but the first-fruits themselves are the most holy.

10. In like manner the saints are the first-fruits of the Lord, and the chief are the Apostles,  for God hath set in the Church first Apostles, who have prophesied many things and preached the Lord Jesus, for they first received Him. Simeon too received Him, and the prophet Zacharias, John his son, Nathanael,  in whom there was no guile, who rested under the fig tree, Joseph also who was called just, who buried Him. These are the first-fruits of our faith, nevertheless the nature of other seeds is the same as that of the first-fruits, although in some there is less grace, for  God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 

11. You have an example in the Lord Jesus Himself. In the resurrection of the dead He is called  the first-born from the dead. The Apostle also has called Him the first-fruits;  In Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order, Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, who have believed in His coming.  His body is as truly a body as our own, nevertheless He is called the first-born from the dead, because He rose first; and He is called the first-fruits because He is holier than all the other fruits, and they by union with Him are hallowed , also. He also as  the Image of the invisible God is the Head of those found after that Image; in Him according to His Divinity there is nothing corporeal, nothing temporary; for  He is the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express Image of His Person. But in our desire to explain the meaning of first-fruits we have greatly extended the length of our letter.

12. Now the Apostles are our first-fruits, chosen from all the first-fruits of that time; to them it is said,  And greater things than these shall ye do, for the Grace of God hath poured itself into them. These, I say, groaned, waiting for the redemption of the whole body, and they still groan, because many are still toiling, who are yet tossing on the sea. Just as, if a man is reaching the higher shore, but the waves still dash up to his middle, he groans and is in travail until he be wholly out of danger. Verily he groans, who still says to us,  Who is weak, and I am not weak? 

13. We need not then to be perplexed by the words,  We, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our body,  for the sense is plain, forasmuch as they, having the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan, waiting for the adoption of sons. This adoption of sons is the redemption of the whole body, when he who is to be the son of God by adoption shall see face to face that Divine and Eternal Good; for there is the adoption of sons in the Church of God, when the Spirit cries,  Abba, Father, as it is written to the Galatians. But this will be perfected when all shall rise again in incorruption power and glory who are counted worthy to see the Face of God, for then the human race will judge itself to be truly redeemed. And so the Apostle boasts, saying,  For we are saved by hope. For hope saves, as also faith, whereof it is said,  Thy faith hath saved thee. 

14. Therefore the creature which  is made subject to vanity not willingly but in hope, is saved by hope; just as Paul too, knowing that  to die was gain to him, that he might be freed from the body and be with Christ, remained in the flesh for their sakes whom he wished to win to Christ. Now what is hope but the expectation of things future? Wherefore he says,  But the hope that is seen is not hope. 

For it is not what is seen but what is unseen that is eternal,  for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? The things that we see we seem to possess, how then can we hope for that which we already possess? Thus none of those things which we hope for can we see;  eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him. 

15. Wherefore, if that which is seen cannot be hoped for, it is not well to read as some do, 'for  04-16  16. a The difference in the original is only the punctuation; in the first case, 'Natu quod videt quis quid, et sperat:' in the second, 'Nam quod videt quis, quid et sperat? ' because any one sees a thing he also hopes for it;' unless it may be understood thus, 'for that which any one sees, why does he also hope for or expect it?' For most true it is that we hope for that which we see not, and therefore, although it seem to be absent from us, we still look for it in patience;  I   waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me. And we wait patiently, because  the Lord is good unto them that wait for Him. And it seems to agree with this, that through patience He has given it back to us. We wait for the things which we hope for, but see not. For he does much who hopes and looks for those things which are not seen, and endures because he directs his mind to that which is.

16. Now it is well said that  hope that is seen is not hope, referring to the power and honour and riches of this world. You may see a man distinguished by his retinue and equipages, but he has not hope in his equipages which are seen. Nor is hope in the firmament of heaven, but in the Lord of heaven. The Chaldaean has not hope in the stars which he watches; nor the rich man in his possessions or the avaricious man in usury; but he hath hope who places his hope in Him Whom he sees not, that is, in the Lord Jesus, Who stands in the midst of us, yet is not seen. Finally,  eye hath not seen, nor ear heard the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.    

259 EPISTOLA XXXV.

 In hac epistola quaeritur primo, cur cum in verbis Apostoli non omnis creatura dicatur corruptioni obnoxia,  1077C  congemiscere tamen omnis dicatur: postea ex iis quae ibidem sequuntur, de Spiritu adoptionis, de magnitudine praemiorum coelestium, de sanctorum gemitu, primitiis Spiritus, adoptione filiorum, ac spe salvante disseritur. 

AMBROSIUS HORONTIANO.

1. Superior epistola tuae inquisitioni respondit; haec meae responsionis portio est, quae non solvat, sed impleat superiorem. Nam dum ulteriora recenseo, movit me, fateor, quia addidit:  Scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemiscit (Rom. VIII, 20); cum in priori capitulo sine adjectione dixerit:  Quia creatura vanitati subjecta est. Non enim omnem creaturam, sed creaturam subjectam dixit. Et iterum ait:  1078A  Quoniam et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis (Ibid., 21). Tertio autem addidit quod omnis creatura congemiscat (Ibid., 22).

2. Quid sibi igitur vult ista adjectio; nisi forte quia non omnis creatura subjecta vanitati est: et quia non omnis vanitati subjecta est, non omnis a servitute corruptionis liberabitur? Quid enim liberetur, quae a subjectione vanitatis et a servitute corruptionis ejus expers atque immunis sit? Omnis autem congemiscat non in suo, sed in nostro labore, et comparturiat illum fortasse spiritum salutis, spiritum jucunditatis, exspectans adoptionem filiorum Dei; ut communem de redemptione humani generis consequatur laetitiam et exsultationem. Aut propter charitatem igitur suam omnis ingemiscit  1078B nostrum laborem, aut propter membrum sui corporis, cujus caput Christus est. Sed sive ita ut diximus, sive simpliciter subjectam creaturam omnem dixerit congemiscere et comparturire, ut voles intellige.

3. Nunc illud consideremus quod adjecit:  Non solum autem illa, sed etiam nos primitias spiritus habentes, ipsi intra nos ingemiscimus, adoptionem filiorum exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri  (Rom. VIII, 23). Quid sit adoptio filiorum superior pagina docet; et ideo exponendi sensus gratia ad superiorem recurrendum est paginam.

4. Qui spiritu, inquit (Ibid., 13), facta carnis mortificat, vivet. Nec mirum si vivat, cum Filius Dei fiat, qui habet Spiritum Dei. Adeo est Filius Dei,  1078C ut non accipiat spiritum servitutis, sed spiritum adoptionis filiorum; eousque ut testimonium spiritui nostro sanctus Spiritus reddat quod sumus filii Dei. Testimonium autem hoc est Spiritus sancti, quod ipse est qui clamat in cordibus nostris:  Abba pater, sicut ad Galatas scriptum est (Galat. IV, 6). Sed et illud grande testimonium quod filii sumus Dei; quia sumus haeredes Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi: cohaeres autem est ejus, qui conglorificatur ei: conglorificatur vero illi, qui patiendo pro ipso, compatitur ei (Rom. VIII, 16 et seq.).

926 5. Et ut nos hortetur ad passionem, adjungit (Ibid., 18) quia omnia quae patimur, minora sunt et indigna quorum pro laboribus tanta rependatur futurorum merces bonorum, quae revelabitur in nobis;  1079A cum ad Dei imaginem reformati gloriam ejus facie ad faciem aspicere meruerimus.

6. Et ut magnitudinem revelationis futurae extolleret, addidit quod et creatura hanc revelationem exspectet filiorum Dei, quae nunc vanitati subjecta est non sponte, sed in spe; quia sperat de Christo gratiam ministerii sui: vel quia et ipsa liberabitur a servitute corruptionis; ut assumatur in libertatem gloriae filiorum Dei, ut sit una libertas creaturae, et filiorum Dei, cum revelata fuerit eorum gloria. Verum nunc dum revelatio procrastinatur, congemiscit omnis creatura exspectans adoptionis et redemptionis nostrae gloriam, parturiens jam illum spiritum salutis, et volens liberari a vanitatis servitio.

7. Cui conjunxit Apostolus etiam sanctorum gemitum,  1079B qui habent primitias Spiritus; nam et ipsi ingemiscunt. Quamvis enim de suo merito securi sint, tamen quia futura est adhuc redemptio totius corporis Ecclesiae, compatiuntur. Cum enim adhuc membra patiuntur corporis sui, quomodo alia membra, licet superiora, non compatiuntur membris unius corporis laborantibus?

8. Unde puto dixisse Apostolum (I Cor. XV, 28), quia tunc et ipse Filius subjectus erit, qui ei subjecit omnia: qui enim adhuc laborant, nondum subjecti sunt, in quibus fortasse adhuc sitit Christus, adhuc esurit, in quibus nudus est; eo quod non impleant verbum Dei, non induant Christum, qui est indumentum credentium, amictus fidelium. Sed et illi in quibus aeger est, adhuc medicina indigent; et  1079C ideo nondum subditi; subjectio enim ista virtutis est, non infirmitatis: denique in fortibus et facientibus mandatum Dei, subjectus est Dei Filius. Nunc autem magis in iis laborat, qui non subveniunt laborantibus, quam in illis, qui sibi postulant subveniri. Haec est pia interpretatio et vera subjectionis Domini Jesu, qui ideo se subjiciet, ut sit Deus omnibus in omnia.

9. Sensum Apostolicum percurrimus: nunc consideremus qui sunt primitias Spiritus habentes. (Rom. VIII, 13). Et ideo Legem interrogemus quid sit quod primitiarum vel initii nomine declaraverit.  Initia, inquit,  areae et lacus tui non fraudabis (Exod. XXII, 29); et infra:  Initia primitiarum tuarum inferes in domum Domini Dei tui (Exod. XXXIV, 26). Aliae  1079D sunt primitiae, aliae decimae: primitiae majoris gratiae, sanctificationis observantissimae. Ideo placuit Abel, quia non est suum munus moratus, qui de primitivis  1080A ovium obtulit (Gen. IV, 4). Licet aliqui distantiam velint esse inter primitias et primogenita, id est, quae primo nascuntur; eo quod collectis seminibus, quasi ex omnibus initia offerantur areae: tamen de messe quod primum tollitur, id offertur 927 Domino, sed de hoc alias. Sanctificari autem videtur primitiarum munere tota areae messis, sed ipsae sanctiores primitiae sunt.

10. Similiter sancti primitiae sunt Domini, praecipue apostoli; primum enim Deus posuit in Ecclesia apostolos, qui et pleraque prophetarunt, et evangelizarunt Dominum Jesum; quia primi receperunt eum (I Cor. XII, 28). Recepit eum Simeon propheta (Luc. II, 28), Zacharias propheta, Joannes filius ejus, Nathanael, in quo dolus non erat (Joan. I, 47);  1080B et ideo sub ficu requiescebat: Joseph, qui dicebatur justus, qui sepelivit eum (Luc. XXIII, 53). Isti sunt primitiae fidei nostrae; sed tamen eadem caeterorum natura seminum, quae primitiarum, licet in aliquibus minor gratia:  Potens est enim Deus ex lapidibus filios Abrahae excitare (Matth. III, 9).

11. En tibi exemplum de ipso Domino Jesu. In resurrectione mortuorum primogenitus ex mortuis dicitur (Coloss. I, 18). Eumdem ipse Apostolus primitias significavit dicens:  In Christo omnes vivificantur, unusquisque autem in suo ordine: primitiae Christus, deinde ii qui sunt Christi, qui in adventum ejus crediderunt  (I Cor. XV, 22). Eadem in illo corporis veritas, quae in nobis: sed tamen et primogenitus ex mortuis dicitur, quia primus resurrexit: et primitiae;  1080C quia sanctior omnibus fructibus, qui etiam caeteros consortii sui fructus sanctificavit. Ipse etiam initium eorum qui ad imaginem, quasi imago invisibilis Dei (Coloss. I, 15), in quo secundum divinitatem nihil corporeum, nihil temporale; quia splendor est gloriae paternae, et imago substantiae ejus. (Hebr. I, 3). Produximus sermonem epistolarem, dum volumus quid sint primitiae significare.

12. Primitiae ergo nostrae apostoli, electi ex omnibus praesentis scilicet tunc temporis fructibus, quibus dictum est: Et majora his facietis; fudit enim se in eos gratia Dei (Joan. XIV, 12). Isti, inquam, ingemiscebant, exspectantes redemptionem totius corporis, et adhuc ingemiscunt; quia multorum est labor, qui adhuc fluctuant. Ut si aliquis ad  1080D superiora se littoris subsistat et adhuc medio corpore caedatur fluctibus, ingemiscit et comparturit, donec totus evadat. Ingemiscit utique, qui adhuc nobis dicit:  1081A  Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor (II Cor. XI, 29)?

13. Non ergo nos moveat, quod ita scriptum est:  Qui primitias Spiritus habentes, ipsi intra nos ingemiscimus, adoptionem filiorum exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri (Rom. VIII, 23); sensus enim apertus est, eo quod primitias Spiritus habentes ingemiscunt, adoptionem filiorum exspectantes: quae adoptio filiorum, redemptio totius corporis est, quando facie ad faciem quasi Dei filius per adoptionem videbit illud divinum et aeternum bonum; est enim adoptio filiorum in Ecclesia 928 Domini, quando clamat Spiritus,  Abba pater (Galat. IV, 6); sicut habes ad Galatas. Sed illa erit perfecta, quando resurgent omnes in incorruptione, honore, gloria, qui mereantur Dei faciem videre; tunc enim vere redemptam  1081B se humana judicabit conditio. Unde Apostolus gloriatur dicens:  Quia spe salvi facti sumus (Rom. VIII, 24). Solvat enim spes, sicut et fides, de qua dicitur:  Fides tua te salvum fecit (Luc. XVIII, 42).

14. Ergo creatura quae non sponte, sed in spe vanitati subjecta est (Rom. VIII, 20), spe salvatur, sicut et Paulus, cum sciret lucrum sibi esse mori, ut cum Christo esset solutus corpore, permanebat in carne propter eos quos Christo acquireret (Philip. I, 21). Spes autem quid est, nisi futurorum exspectatio? Unde ait:  Spes autem quae videtur, non est spes (Rom. VIII, 21). Non enim quae videntur, sed quae non videntur aeterna sunt:  Nam quod videt quis, quid sperat? Videmur enim tenere ea, quae videmus: quomodo ergo quae tenemus, speramus? nihil igitur  1081C eorum quae sperantur, videtur:  Oculus enim  non vidit, nec auris audivit, quae praeparavit Deus diligentibus eum (I Cor. II, 9).

15. Ergo si sperari non potest quod videtur, non bene habent aliqui:  Nam quod videt quis quid, et sperat. Nisi forte sic:  Nam quod videt quis, quid et sperat, vel quid exspectat? Quia illud verum est, quia id speramus, quod non videmus; et ideo quamvis abesse videatur a nobis, exspectamus illud per patientiam:  Exspectans enim  exspectavi Dominum, et respexit me (Psal. XXXIX, 2). Ideo ergo exspectamus patienter, quia  bonus est Dominus sustinentibus eum (Thren. III, 25). Et videtur convenire, quia reddidit per patientiam: Exspectamus quae speramus, et non videmus. Multum enim facit, qui sperat ea et  1081D exspectat, quae non videntur; et propterea quod intendat mentem ad illud omne quod est, sustinet.

16. Pulchre autem dicitur:  Spes autem quae videtur, non est spes (Rom. VIII, 24); de potestatibus istius saeculi, de dignitatibus, de divitiis. Vides nescio quem fascibus praeeminentem et curribus, nihil habet spei  1082A in curribus, qui videntur. Nec in ipso coeli elemento spes est, sed in Domino coeli. Nec Chaldaeus in stellis spem habet, quas observat; nec dives in possessionibus, nec avarus in usuris: sed ille spem habet, qui in eum spem suam ponit, quem non videt, id est, in Domino Jesu, qui medius nostrum stat, et non videtur (Joan. I, 26). Denique  oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, quae praeparavit Dominus diligentibus eum.