Christian grace and pagan virtue : the theological foundation of Ambrose's ethics PDF
Preview Christian grace and pagan virtue : the theological foundation of Ambrose's ethics
Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue OXFORD STUDIES IN HISTORICAL THEOLOGY Series Editor David C. Steinmetz, Duke University Editorial Board Irena Backus, Université de Genève Robert C. Gregg, Stanford University George M. Marsden, University of Notre Dame Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University Gerhard Sauter, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Susan E. Schreiner, University of Chicago John Van Engen, University of Notre Dame Geoffrey Wainwright, Duke University Robert L. Wilken, University of Virginia THE UNACCOMMODATED CALVIN THE PASSIONS OF CHRIST IN HIGH-MEDIEVAL Studies in the Foundation of a Theological Tradition THOUGHT Richard A. Muller An Essay on Christological Development Kevin Madigan THE CONFESSIONALIZATION OF HUMANISM IN REFORMATION GERMANY GOD’S IRISHMEN Erika Rummell Theological Debates in Cromwellian Ireland Crawford Gribben THE PLEASURE OF DISCERNMENT Marguerite de Navarre as Theologian REFORMING SAINTS Carol Thysell Saint’s Lives and Their Authors in Germany, 1470–1530 REFORMATION READINGS OF THE APOCALYPSE David J. Collins Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg Irena Backus GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS ON THE TRINITY AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD WRITING THE WRONGS In Your Light We Shall See Light Women of the Old Testament among Biblical Christopher A. Beeley Commentators from Philo through the Reformation John L. Thompson THE JUDAIZING CALVIN Sixteenth-Century Debates over the Messianic THE HUNGRY ARE DYING Psalms Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia G. Sujin Pak Susan R. Holman REVIVING THE DEAD LETTER RESCUE FOR THE DEAD Johann David Michaelis and the Quest for Hebrew The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Antiquity Early Christianity Michael C. Legaspi Jeffrey A. Trumbower ARE YOU ALONE WISE? AFTER CALVIN Debates about Certainty in the Early Modern Church Studies in the Development of a Theological Tradition Susan E. Schreiner Richard A. Muller EMPIRE OF SOULS THE POVERTY OF RICHES Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) and the Christian St. Francis of Assisi Reconsidered Commonwealth Kenneth Baxter Wolf Stefania Tutino REFORMING MARY MARTIN BUCER’S DOCTRINE OF Changing Images of the Virgin Mary in Lutheran JUSTIFICATION Sermons of the Sixteenth Century Reformation Theology and Early Modern Irenicism Beth Kreitzer Brian Lugioyo TEACHING THE REFORMATION CHRISTIAN GRACE AND PAGAN VIRTUE Ministers and Their Message in Basel, 1529–1629 The Theological Foundation of Ambrose’s Ethics Amy Nelson Burnett J. Warren Smith Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue The Theological Foundation of Ambrose’s Ethics . J WARREN SMITH 2011 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smith, J. Warren, 1964– Christian grace and pagan virtue : the theological foundation of Ambrose’s ethics / J. Warren Smith. p. cm. — (Oxford studies in historical theology) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-19-536993-9 1. Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan, d. 397. 2. Christian ethics. I. Title. BJ1212.S63 2010 241′.0414092—dc22 2010009159 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For My Wife and Friend Kimberly Conner Doughty Whose patience and encouragement daily mirror the constancy of God’s grace. God did not create [man and woman] as strangers but made them from one and the same fl esh, indicating the strength of the union between them. They were destined to be joined to one another side by side, as they walked together looking toward the goal of their journey. —St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage 1.1 This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface , ix Prolegomena: The Ritual Context for Ambrose’s Soteriology , 3 PART I The Loss of Harmonic Unity: Ambrose’s Account of the Fallen Human Condition 1. The Soul: Ambrose’s True Self , 11 2. Essential Unity of Soul and Body: Ambrose’s Hylomorphic Theory , 29 3. The Body of Death: The Legacy of the Fall , 43 PART II Raised to New Life: Ambrose’s Theology of Baptism 4. Baptism: Sacrament of Justifi cation , 69 5. Resurrection and Regeneration , 125 6. Baptismal Regeneration: Participation in the New Humanity , 159 7. The New Desire of the Inner Man , 199 Epilogue , 223 Notes , 225 Bibliography , 287 Scripture Index , 309 Subject and Name Index , 313 This page intentionally left blank Preface The Project: Ambrose as Moral Theologian This book examines a moment in the history of Christian moral theology. The setting is Milan in the later fourth century and the central theological voice to which we will be listening is that of Ambrose. As such, this project is concerned with two metaethical questions in the study of Christian thought—fi rst, the relationship of theology and ethics, and second, the infl uence of pagan virtue theory upon Christian moral discourse—and it proceeds by using Ambrose’s teachings to examine how the community of the Church shapes the Christian’s belief about right conduct and the proper ordering of life. As Wayne Meeks has put it, Christian ethics’ explanation of why we act or should act a certain way is derived from 1 our Christian sense of who we are. “Who we are” is mediated by the ecclesial community through its catechesis, its interpretation of Scripture in sermons and treatises, its canonization of sacred texts, the enforcement of corporate discipline, and above all, in its liturgy and sacraments, especially baptism, the sacrament of initiation into the Christian community. This process of formation occurs in what Stanley Hauerwas calls “communities of character” that establish and inculcate those norms of conduct and moral sensibilities and habits 2 that infl uence private and social conduct. Yet for the Christian the question “Who are we?” is inesca- pably a theological one. For the identity of the ecclesial community
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