Gurukul Lutheran Theological College & Research Institute

Topic: St. Ambrose and St. Jerome

Course Facilitator : Rev. Dr. D. Arthur Jayakumar
Presented By : Adakho Lokho, M.Th. I Date: 30th August, 2012

Introduction

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan who regarded his call to be validly genuine was a man of integrity.
He is considered the father of liturgical hymnology. He dealt with heresies, influenced the
Emperors against paganism, subjected the State to the Church, produced theological writings and
emphasized on monasticism. In the like manner, St. Jerome was a monastic leader,
controversialist, and above all translator of the Vulgate. He was an exceptionally effective writer,
writing letters and commentaries. Both Ambrose and Jerome exercised a wide influence both in
their lifetime and afterwards with their exceptional calibers. The paper is an attempt to deal with
Ambrose and Jerome: their lives, works, and contributions.

1. St. Ambrose (340-397)

Ambrose was born in Gaul about 340. He came from a Roman noble family which had a long
Christian pedigree. His father held high military office and was the Prefect of the Roman
province of Gallia, which included Britain, Gaul and Spain. Ambrose’s family was closely
knitted and developed a strong love and respect for each other. 1 Educated in Rome for a civil
career, his talents, integrity, and likableness led to his appointment, about 374, as governor of a
considerable part of northern Italy, with his residence in Milan, then an imperial capital. 2 At the
election of a successor to the Arian Bishop Auxentius, who had died, a riot broke out in the
cathedral of Milan between the Arians and the Catholics, and Ambrose entered the cathedral to
stop the fighting. A child in the congregation suddenly cried out ‘Ambrose Bishop,’ and the cry
was immediately taken up by all present both, Arians and Catholics unanimously desiring his
appointment. For several days Ambrose resisted the demand of the people, even fleeing from the
city. When the Emperor Valentian I too expressed his wish that he should be appointed, he
consented and was baptized.3 His bishopric in Milan in Italy made him famous (He was elected
bishop even before he was baptized). 4 He then gave up his government job. 5 He gave up his
wealth to the poor and the Church. He then devoted all his time to the study of theology in order
to fit himself for his new work. He became a most acceptable preacher. Above all, he possessed
to the full the Roman talent for administration, and he soon became the first ecclesiastic of the
West and an excellent example of what a Bishop should be. 6 Ambrose put bishops above kings
and subjected the State to the Church. He died in 397.7

2. His Works and Contributions

1
Geoffrey Hanks, 70 Great Christians: The Story of the Christian Church (Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2011),
48.
2
Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970), 128.
3
A. P. Hares, A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, 2nd ed. (Mysore: C.L.S., 1952), 186, 187.
4
Theodore Huggenvik, An Outline of Church History (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1946), 67.
5
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 48.
6
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 129.
7
Huggenvik, An Outline of Church History, 67.

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2.1. Development of Liturgy

He wrote hymns that influenced the liturgy of the medieval Church. He is commonly regarded as
the “father of liturgical hymnology.” Twelve of his compositions have remained in use right up
to this century, including “O Speldour of God’s Glory Bright, and O Trinity, Most Blessed
Light.”8 Best known of his use of antiphonal singing, that is, the singing of verses from the
Psalms alternately by two choirs. Women undoubtedly participated in the congregational
singing, while the boys in liturgical music began in the sixth century. 9 He was the first Father to
advocate the invocation of angels as intercessors.10

2.2. Attempts against Heresy

Strongly attached to the Nicene Faith, Ambrose made no compromise with the Arians, and
resisted all their attempts to secure places of worship in Milan- an effort in which the Empress
Justina, mother of Valentinian II, aided them. In the same spirit, he opposed successfully the
efforts of the heathen party in Rome to obtain from Valentinian II the restoration of the Altar of
Victory in the Senate chamber, and other privileges for the older worship. 11 Ambrose also
criticized Apollinaris, who taught that Jesus in humanity was not perfect. He criticized him by
saying that even in His humanity, Jesus was perfect in Himself to redeem the whole man.12

2.3. Subjection of the State

When the Emperor Theodosius visited Milan and attended Mass in the cathedral, and having
presented his offering, contrary to the use in Milan, he remained within the sanctuary, but was at
once asked by Ambrose to take his place among the laity, as the sanctuary was reserved for the
clergy, the Emperor obeyed.13 His greatest triumph was in the case of the Emperor Theodosius.
In 390, when emperor Theodosius brutally quelled a riot in Thessalonica by slaughtering seven
thousand people, Ambrose excommunicated him and forced him to repent publicly. Theodosius
consented to his pastor’s demand. For a whole year, he put on sackcloth and ashes and went
through the process to be restored.14 In fact, his defense of the Church’s rights laid the foundation
for Church-state relations in the medieval Western Europe.15

2.4. Release of Prisoners

8
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 48
9
Robert G. Clouse, Richard V. Pierard & Edwin M. Yamauchi, The Story of the Church (London: Angus Hudson
Ltd, 2002), 63.
10
Hares, A History of the Christian Church,187.
11
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 129.
12
B.J. Kidd, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church. Vol. II 313-461 A.D. (New York: SPCK,
1938), 147.
13
Hares, A History of the Christian Church, 187.
14
E. Glenn Hinson, The Early Church: Origin to the Dawn of the Middle Ages (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996),
216.
15
Clouse, The Story of the Church, 50.

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When the Barbarians began to sell their prisoners of war as slaves Ambrose ransomed many of
them, and d when he had spent all his money he melted down his sacred vessels to obtain money
for their relief, and when accused of sacrilege replied: “The Church has treasure not to hoard but
to use for her children. If the blood of Christ redeemed their souls, should not the vessels which
held that blood be used to redeem their bodies?’16

2.5. Theological Writings

Ambrose was a theological writer of such reputation that the Roman Church reckons him as one
of its “Doctors”-or authoritative teachers. His work in this field was largely a reproduction of the
thoughts of Greek theologians, though with a deeper sense of sin and grace than they. He wrote
on Christian ethics, in full sympathy with the ascetic movement of the time. 17 His works also
include an Exposition on the Psalms, Commentaries on St. Luke’s Gospel and the Pauline
Epistles, on Faith,, on the Holy Ghost, on the Sacraments and Duties. Some ninety of his letters
have been preserved.18

2.6. His Influence

Under his influence, Emperor Theodosius (379-395)/ Emperor Gratian (373-383) 19, refused the
title of Pontifex Maximus, the title of the high priest of paganism, destroyed the Altar of Victory
at Rome, deprived the College of Pagan Priests of the right to receive legacies of land, and
stopped their support from public funds.20 His preaching in the cathedral at Milan was
instrumental in bringing Augustine to the knowledge of Christianity that later resulted in his
salvation. He influenced and baptized Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. 21 He did much by his sermon
De Virginibus, to foster the ideal of monasticism among his people and to encourage the
movement. Milan, under St. Ambrose’s direction became in its turn a centre of the monastic life,
and with the progress of the movement came inevitable opposition. 22 He upheld high standards
for priests, exalted the Virgin Mary, and persuaded many women to take a vow of virginity.23

3. St. Jerome (347-420)

Jerome was born of wealthy Christian parents in Stridon, a town on the Dalmatian border
(modern Croatia).24 Around the age of twelve, he went to Rome and studied Greek, Latin,
Rhetoric and Philosophy under Aelius Donatus. He allegedly spent his Sundays in the catacombs
translating the inscriptions. In 366, at the age of nineteen, he offered himself for baptism in
Rome itself.25 He moved in 370 to Aquileia in Italy, where he joined a number of young men in a
16
Hares, A History of the Christian Church, 187.
17
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 129.
18
Hares, A History of the Christian Church, 187.
19
A.P. Hares says it is Theodosius while Geoffrey Hanks and Earle E. Cairns say it is Gratian.
20
Hares, A History of the Christian Church, 149.
21
Earle. E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1996), 138.
22
Philip Hughes, A History of the Church, vol. I (London: BPCC Wheatons Ltd, 1948), 142.
23
Clouse, The Story of the Church, 50.
24
Huggenvik, An Outline of Church History, 83.
25
Robert Schnucker, “Jerome,” in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by J.D. Douglas
and Earle E. Cairns (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,1987), 528.

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religious community who were intent on leading an ascetic life. The experiment lasted for three
years. Jerome’s uncontrollable tongue and his passionate temperament caused some strained
relationships and forced him to withdraw. He also appears to have fallen out with his family who
evidently disapproved of his monastic practices. 26 About 373, he went to the East, and spent
some time living as an ascetic in the Syrian desert near Chalcis in Palestine for four or five years.
He left his ascetic existence and went to Antioch, where he heard the lecture of Apollinaris of
Laodicea on scripture and was ordained by bishop Paulinus, recognized by Rome as an orthodox
bishop. He then went to Constantinople, studied under Gregory of Nazianzus; and while he was
there, he translated some of the work of Eusebius, Origen and others. In 382, he journeyed to
Rome. He became the friend and secretary of Pope Damasus. He praised the ascetic life of
monasticism and decried the lax moral life of the Christians in the city. He was most successful
in winning the female sex. Nevertheless, due to rumors about his relationship with them and the
accusation that his harsh asceticism caused the death of one of them, he left Rome after the death
of Pope Damasus and in 386 made his home in Bethlehem for the rest of his life. There he
oversaw a men’s monastery and continued to serve as the spiritual advisor to some of the women
who followed him from Rome to establish a convent. 27 It was in Rome that he developed an
interest in language and classical literature, reading such as authors as Cicero 28 and Virgil29,
which in later life influenced his writings.30

4. Slippery Paths

Like many teenager when free from parental control, Jerome faced all the temptations of a
cosmopolitan city and could not cope. He soon found himself in the grip of passions and fell on
the ‘slippery path’ of youth, though he gives no further expiation of what happened.

5. His Early Religious Experience

At Antioch he was overtaken with a severe illness and in a dream saw himself before the throne
of God where he was accused of not being a Christian but a disciple of Cicero, ‘for where your
heart is there your treasure is’. When the Judge ordered him to be flogged, Jerome pleaded for
mercy and on promise never to read worldly books again, was released. The effect was dramatic,
and he began an even more zealous study of Christian books than before. 31 He now turned to the
Scriptures, studying Hebrew and preached in season and out of season the merits of monastic
life.32

6. Influence on Early Monasticism

26
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 52.
27
F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, eds., Dictionary of the Christian Church (Massachusetts: Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc., 2007), 867.
28
Cicero, Roman writer, statesman, and orator. Although he had a distinguished political career, he is best known as
Rome's greatest orator and as a man of letters.
29
Virgil, Roman poet, author of the masterpiece the Aeneid, the most influential work of literature produced in
ancient Rome.
30
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 51.
31
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 52.
32
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 159.

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Jerome was a pilgrim from the West who came to the East and became easterner by remaining in
the East on spiritual exiles for the sake of the more perfect life. Around his life may be written
the whole history of early Roman monasticism. His first experience of monasticism was the first
five years he spent as a solitary in the desert to the east of Antioch. From the desert, Jerome
returned to Rome, and for the next few years he was the centre round which the monastically-
minded of the old capital-women of noble families for the most part gathered. In this circle all
the stark austerity of the life of the desert found wiling adepts, under the learned direction of
Jerome. There was the inevitable conflict with the less ascetically inclined relatives, and with the
still less ascetic Roman clergy, and in the end, St. Jerome and his followers left the city, to
establish themselves once and for all at Bethlehem (386). 33 Here Jerome, as head of the
monastery, made his headquarters till his death in 420.34

7. Criticism

When the Vulgate was published, it was greeted with howls of protest and he was accused of
tampering with the inspired words of the Gospels. At the same time he had managed to win a lot
of enemies among the clergy of Rome, mostly for his criticism of the expensive and worldly
habits, and decided to leave the city.35

8. His Works

Jerome translated into Latin important works of Eusebius, Origen, and Pachomius, the founder of
cenobitic (communal) monasticism. He also compiled On the Lives of Illustrious Men, which
contained biographies of pagan and Christian writers (including himself). In 382 Jerome started
to revise the Old Latin version of the Bible, and the result was a more accurate translation based
upon the original languages of the Bible. Jerome produced learned commentaries on both the Old
Testament and New Testament. At the urging of Pope Damasus, Jerome translated the Bible into
Latin. He began the translation in 382 and completed in 384. It became known as the ‘Vulgate’
meaning ‘Common’. It was made available to the western Churches, the long desired goal of
Damasus.36 Although the Vulgate (the language of the people) was not immediately accepted, it
later became the preferred version of the medieval church, and some of Jerome’s renderings
affected the course of Catholic theology. For instance, at the time of reformation Luther
discovered that Jerome had mistranslated the word for ‘repentance’ as ‘penance.’ The Council of
Trent in 1546 decreed the Vulgate the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. 37 He
corresponded with a number of individuals about their spiritual problems, especially exhorting
them to follow after chastity.38

9. Controversial Endeavors

33
Hughes, A History of the Church, 142.
34
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 159.
35
Hanks, 70 Great Christians, 52.
36
A. Kenneth Curtis, J. Stephen Lang & Randy Petersen, The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History
(Secunderabad: Authentic India, 2010), 46.
37
Clouse, The Story of the Church, 50.
38
Hanks, 70 Great Christian, 54.

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He attacked opponents of asceticism like Jovinian, critics of relic-reverence like Vigilantius, and
those who, like Helvidius, held that Mary had other children than our Lord. He condemned
Origen, whom he once admired. He wrote in support of Augustine against the Pelagians.
Pelagians denied Saint Augustine's doctrines of predestination and original sin. 39 He "Dialogue"
against the Luciferians40 dealt with a schismatic sect whose founder was Lucifer, Bishop of
Cagliari in Sardinia. The Luciferians refused to approve of the measure of clemency by which
the Church, since the Council of Alexandria, in 362, had allowed bishops, who had adhered to
Arianism, to continue to discharge their duties on condition of professing the Nicene Creed.41

10. His Influence

His translation is important in that he set the example of working from the original languages.
Jerome’s scholarship extends its influence into our day. He further anticipated the Reformers in
advocating the acceptance by the Church of the Hebrew canon of scripture. Martin Luther who
knew Latin and Greek quoted the Vulgate throughout his life. 42 He persuaded many women to
take a vow of virginity.

Conclusion

Ambrose’s and Jerome’s contribution to the Church was invaluable and should not be obscured.
Their scholarship and grasp of languages were unsurpassed in the early Church. They engaged
themselves in necessitating the production of true one faith. Hymns and Bible had in some way,
originated from their works. Their scholarship extends its influence into our day. Biblical,
historical and translation works and the presence of heresies have not come to an end. It is still a
must that all these works be carried out for the continuance of Christian mission and the
expansion of God’s Kingdom.

Bibliography

Cairns, Earle. E. Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.

Clouse, Robert G. Richard V. Pierard & Edwin M. Yamauchi. The Story of the Church. London:
Angus Hudson Ltd, 2002.
39
Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 159. Pelagius denied Saint Augustine's doctrines of predestination and
original sin.
40
A schismatic sect whose founder was Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia. The Luciferians refused to approve
of the measure of clemency by which the Church, since the Council of Alexandria, in 362, had allowed bishops,
who had adhered to Arianism, to continue to discharge their duties on condition of professing the Nicene Creed.
41
Kidd, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church, 173- 176.
42
Curtis, The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History, 47.

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Cross, F.L. and E.A. Livingstone. eds. Dictionary of the Christian Church. Massachusetts:
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2007.

Curtis, A. Kenneth. J. Stephen Lang & Randy Petersen, The 100 Most Important Events in
Christian History. Secunderabad: Authentic India, 2010.

Hares, A. P. A History of the Christian Church of the First Six Centuries, 2nd ed. Mysore: C.L.S.,
1952.

Huggenvik, Theodore. An Outline of Church History. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House,

1946).

Hinson, E. Glenn. The Early Church: Origin to the Dawn of the Middle Ages. Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1996.

Hughes, Philip. A History of the Church, vol. I. London: BPCC Wheatons Ltd, 1948.

Kidd, B.J. ed. Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church. Vol. II 313-461 A.D. New
York: SPCK, 1938.

Schnucker, Robert. “Jerome.” In The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church.
Edited by J.D. Douglas and Earle E. Cairns. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,1987.

Walker, Williston. A History of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1970.