The following comes from:
Ali Bonner, The Myth of Pelagianism (British
Academy Monographs; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 188-90
Ambrosiaster on grace
Interpreting Rom. 11:6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer
on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace,
Ambrosiaster described two aspects of this unearned grace, both of which were a
generalised grace given to all humanity. The first was God’s forgiveness of
mankind’s sins, and the second was the aspect of God’s kindness that sought to
heal people; Ambrosiaster described grace as something offered.264 God’s grace
did not control any individual since it could be rendered void.265 Ambrosiaster
consistently used the word ‘grace’ to refer to the universal gift of God’s
forgiveness of mankind’s sins and Christ’s advent.266 He (p. 189) described the
action of grace as ‘to goad’ (conpungere), and ‘to help’ (adiuuare).267
Faith was something to which Paul provoked people (‘to provoke’, lacessere)
through his teaching and through example.268 Ambrosiaster glossed the word
‘grace’ as Paul’s teaching.269
Ambrosiaster consistently assumed that grace was something given
to those who were worthy of receiving it, and that individuals controlled
whether or not they were worthy. Just as Evagrius had done, Ambrosiaster used
reflexive personal pronouns to make clear the individual’s control over whether
or not he received grace.270 He stated explicitly that grace was merited.
Commenting on Rom. 16:20, he said of Paul: ‘The grace which he promised he will
give them by coming to them, he now prays that they will have. For if they
merit to receive that grace, then he is already with them in hope.’271 Clearly
for Ambrosiaster the concept of meriting grace was acceptable.
Ambrosiaster used the word ‘grace’ to refer to Christ’s wiping
away of mankind’s sins and the resultant reconciliation between man and God.272
He also used it to denote salvation in a context in which he at the same time
asserted that (p.190) this salvation lay in the control of the autonomous human
will; grace was given to those who already believed:
[Christ] Through whom also we have
access to this grace, in which we stand and rejoice in our hope of sharing the
glory of God. It is clear that through Christ we have access to the grace
of God. For he is the arbitrator between God and men, who, raising us up with
his teaching, made those of us who stand in his faith hope for the gift of
God’s grace. And as a result of this we stand, because before we were prone on
the ground, but believing, we have been raised upright, rejoicing in the hope
of the glory which he has promised to us.273
Ambrosiaster’s interpretation of 1
Cor. 4:7: What do you have that you have not received? made no reference
to grace or to being given virtue. He explained the passage as Paul referring
to the fact that the Corinthians had not received anything good other than
Paul’s own teaching, in the context of argument about which teachers the
Corinthians should accept.274
Notes for the Above:
(264) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas
Paulinas, on Rom. 11:6 (ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 365), ‘But if it is by
grace, then it is not on the basis of works. It is clear that because grace
is the gift of God, it is not a reward due for works, but is granted freely by
reason of the mercy which intervenes. Otherwise grace would not be grace.
It is true that if it is a reward it is not grace; but because it is not a
reward, it is undoubtedly grace, since to grant pardon to sinners is nothing
other than grace, granted to those who are not asking for it but offered to
them so that they might believe. Grace therefore has two aspects to it, because
it is a characteristic of God, who abounds in mercy, so that it also seeks out
those whom it heals gratuitously’; ‘Si autem gratia, iam non ex operibus. Manifestum
est, quia gratia donum Dei est, non debita merces operibus, sed gratuita
ratione misericordia interueniente concessa. Alioquin gratia iam non est
gratia. Verum est, quia si merces est, non est gratia; sed quia merces non
est, sine dubio gratia est, quia ueniam peccantibus dare non est aliud quam
gratia, et his qui non requirunt, sed offertur illis ut credant. Duplex ergo
gratia est, quia hoc conpetit Deo, qui abundat misericordia, ut et requirat
quos gratis curat.’
(265) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 9:4 (ed.
Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 303), ‘Once the adopted sons of God, they have made the
affection and grace of God the Father ineffectual’; ‘Olim filii adoptati afectum
et gratiam Dei patris in irritum deduxerunt.’
(266) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 5:15–16
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 181), ‘The grace of God abounded in the descent of
the Saviour, granting forgiveness to all, when they have been raised up to
heaven in triumph . … But the grace of God in Christ has justified men not from
one sin but from many sins, by giving them remission of sins’; ‘Gratia Dei
abundauit in descensu Saluatoris, omnibus dans indulgentiam, cum triumpho
sublatis eis in caelum . … Gratia uero Dei per Christum non ex uno delicto, sed
ex multis peccatis iustificauit homines, dando illis remissionem peccatorum.’
(267) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 8:30
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 291), ‘But those whom he has predestined, he has
also called. To call is to help someone who is considering faith or to goad
whomever God might know will listen’; ‘Quos autem praedestinauit, illos et
uocauit. Vocare est cogitantem de fide adiuuare aut conpungere eum, quem
sciat audire.’
(268) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 1:13
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 33), ‘He provokes them to correct faith by the
example of the other Gentiles’; ‘Lacessit illos ad fidem rectam exemplo
ceterarum gentium.’
(269) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 1:11–12
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, pp. 27–9), ‘He wants to come to them quickly, so that
drawing them out of that tradition, he might give them a spiritual gift, so
that he might acquire them for God, making them partakers in spiritual grace . …
So that the application of spiritual grace through the preaching of the Apostle
might bring about this effect’; ‘Se autem cupere citius uenire, ut ab hac illos
traditione abstrahens spiritale eis traderet donum, ut adquireret illos Deo,
participes hos faciens gratiae spiritalis . … Vt administratio gratiae
spiritalis euangelizante Apostolo hunc praestaret effectum.’
(270) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 1:13
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, pp. 31–3), ‘He encourages them to prepare themselves, so
that hearing that a spiritual grace is to be given to them, they should make
themselves worthy to receive it’; ‘Hos ut se praeparent hortatur, ut audientes
gratiam sibi spiritalem ministrandam ad excipiendam eam dignos se efficerent.’
(271) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 16:20
(ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 491), ‘Gratiam quam promisit illis in aduentu suo,
iam optat esse cum illis. Si enim merentur accipere, iam cum illis est in spe.’
(272) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas
Paulinas, on Rom. 5:1 (ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 151), ‘Faith makes us have
peace with God, not the law. For this reconciles us to God when our sins have
been removed, which had made us God’s enemies. And because the Lord Jesus is
the minister of this grace, it is through him that we have made peace with
God’; ‘Pacem cum Deo habere fides facit, non lex. Haec enim nos Deo reconciliat
sublatis peccatis, quae nos Deo fecerant inimicos. Et quia Dominus Iesus huius
gratiae minister est, per ipsum pacificati sumus Deo.’
(273) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas Paulinas, on Rom. 5:2 (ed.
Vogels, CSEL 81/1, p. 153), ‘Per quem et accessum habemus ad gratiam istam,
in qua stamus et gloriamur in spe gloriae Dei. Manifestum est per Christum
nos aditum habere ad gratiam Dei. Ipse est enim arbiter Dei et hominum, qui nos
doctrina sua erigens sperare fecit donum gratiae Dei stantes in fide eius. Et
ideo stantes, quia prius iacuimus, credentes autem erecti sumus gloriantes in
spe claritatis quam promisit nobis.’
(274) Ambrosiaster, In epistolas
Paulinas, on 1 Cor. 4:7 (ed. Vogels, CSEL 81/2, p. 45), ‘For what do you
have that you have not received? He says that that man has not obtained
anything good from anyone else beyond what he had received from the Apostle,
and so it is pointless to complain. For what they possessed, they had received
from the Apostle. The Apostle seems to speak to one man, because he is speaking
to a part of the people’; ‘Quid autem habes quod non accepisti? Nihil
illum boni ultra dicit consecutum ab aliis quam ab eo acceperat, ideo frustra
queri. Quod enim habebant, ab Apostolo acceperant. Ad unum autem uidetur loqui,
quia ad partem plebis loquitur.’