As a part of my blog series about church history figures, I’ll be introducing Ambrose, a remarkable man who served as bishop of Milan from AD 374 to his death in AD 397. Read on to discover the hidden gems in the life of Ambrose.
Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin’s Son, make here Your home!
Marvel now, O heav’n and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.1
This is one of my favorite Advent hymns. Yet for years, I sang it with no notion of how old it was or who wrote it. When I learned this hymn was written in the fourth century, it gave me such a thrill to think of Christians singing this same message of praise to our Lord over such a vast span of time. The man behind this hymn is Ambrose of Milan, commemorated on December 7. His life was one of intrigue, drama, and faithfulness. He is remembered for the surprising way in which he became bishop, for boldly sacrificing the ornaments of the church to ransom kidnapped citizens, for standing up to a murderous emperor, and for preaching sermons that St. Augustine of Hippo said helped lead to his conversion.
Ambrose was born in AD 340. He was the son of a government official in Trier, a city in present-day Germany. Ambrose followed in his father’s footsteps by training as a lawyer and preparing for a life of service as a government official. By his 30s, he was serving as governor of Milan, a city in northern Italy. When the bishop of Milan died, Ambrose expected trouble. Tension between the Nicene and Arian parties at that time was acute, and conflict arose over whether the new bishop would be Arian or Nicene.
The Arian heresy is the belief that Jesus was created by the Father and is not of the same substance with the Father. In the years between the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and the Council of Constantinople in AD 381, there was ongoing controversy in the church over this question.
Ambrose attended the election of the new bishop, knowing that there would likely be rioting. As he addressed the riotous crowds, the people were enthralled with his rhetoric. The call went out from the crowd that Ambrose should be the next bishop! There was only one problem with this. Ambrose had not even been baptized yet!
At this time, Ambrose was still a catechumen. This meant that he was in the process of joining the church and had not yet been baptized. Within eight days, Ambrose was baptized, ordained, and made bishop of Milan! With such a whirlwind accession, the people of Milan were blessed that Ambrose was both wise and humble enough to know how much he still had to learn. When he became bishop, he gave away his wealth and found theology teachers to help him learn what he needed to know to effectively rule as bishop. Ambrose could read both Greek and Latin. Soon after he was elected bishop, he became one of the most learned men of his time.
Theodosius was one of the emperors who reigned while Ambrose was bishop of Milan. Theodosius was known for his fiery temper. When an official was killed in Thessalonica, Theodosius put out the order for thousands of the city’s citizens to be slaughtered in retribution. Ambrose heard of this grave sin, and when Theodosius next came to church, Ambrose met him outside on the steps and informed him that he could not enter or receive Holy Communion until he had publicly repented of his wrongs. While Theodosius could have killed Ambrose for daring to stand up to him, he knew Ambrose was right. He publicly repented and decreed that, going forward, any time he sentenced someone to death, there should be a waiting period of a month before the sentence was carried out, in case he realized he was acting in haste.
Later, as the nomadic Goths ravaged cities along the border of the Roman Empire, Milan became a center for refugees. Many refugees were captured by the Goths, who demanded a ransom from the Roman cities for the return of their citizens. Ambrose took the precious golden vessels and decorations that adorned the church and melted them down so the gold could be used to pay the ransom. The Arians in Milan hated Ambrose, simply because he was not an Arian. They tried to portray this action as sacrilegious—giving the sacred things of God into the hands of the godless Goths. Ambrose knew that his critics were only looking to find fault with him. He said,
It is far better to preserve souls than gold for the Lord. … The Church has gold not to store up, but to give to those who are in need. … Would not the Lord Himself say: “Why did you allow so many needy to die of hunger? Surely you had gold? You should have given them sustenance. Why are so many captives allowed to remain in slavery? It would be better to preserve living vessels (people) than gold ones.”2
Ambrose’s faithfulness had a far-reaching and lasting impact. His catechizing of Augustine, his fearlessness in confronting others for the sake of the Gospel, and the beauty of his hymn writing are just a few of the ways he has influenced the church for the last 1,600 years. Ambrose was able to read the writings of the Greek church fathers (such as the Great Cappadocians), and by echoing their teachings in his Latin-speaking parish, he helped the church stand firm against the threat of the Arian heresy. If you examine some of the other verses of “Savior of the Nations, Come,” you can see the carefully articulated rebuttal of Arian doctrine. Ambrose understood the catechetical power of hymnody, winsomely using his songwriting to teach sound theology in his parish.
Not by human flesh and blood,
By the Spirit of our God,
Was the Word of God made flesh—
Woman’s offspring, pure and fresh.
Then stepped forth the Lord of all
From His pure and kingly hall;
God of God, yet fully man,
His heroic course began.
God the Father was His source,
Back to God He ran His course.
Into hell His road went down,
Back then to His throne and crown.3
1LSB 332:1.
2Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy, chap. 2.137, in St. Ambrose: Select Works and Letters, eds. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, vol. 10, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1896), paraphrased.
3LSB 332:2, 4–5.