Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2278
Ambrosiaster commenting on 2 Timothy 1:6-7 reflects on the grace of God received in the presbyterial ordination. The "Commentaries do the Pauline Epistles", written in Rome, the 370s or 380s.
2 Tim 1:6-7: "Qua de causa conmoneo te, ut recrees donum dei, quod est in te per inpositionem manuum mearum; non enim dedit nobis deus spiritum timoris, sed virtutis et dilectionis et sobrietatis."
1. propterea se parentum eius sinceritatem fidei significat memorasse, ut fortiorem hunc faceret. quis enim laudem illorum audiens, quorum in eo ipso particeps est, non crescat addens animum huiusmodi viribus? sic ergo recreat in se donum gratiae dei acceptum per ordinationem presbyterii, dum animum suum confovet mentis alacritate gaudens in semetipso, sicut in novitate ordinationis gaudetur.
2. denique subiecit: nec enim, inquit, dedit nobis deus spiritum timoris, sed virtutis. innovatus enim homo exit de timore, accipiens spiritum laetitiae propter iustificationem, quia omnis iniustus in timore est, non fortis, sed infirmus, non in dilectione, sed in odio, nec in mentis sobrietate, sed errore saucius. si autem his caruerit, per fidem et fortis et dilectus et sobrius erit.
 
(ed. Vogels 1969: 297)
 
2 Tim 1:6-7: "For which cause I admonish you, that you stir up the grace of God which is in you, by the imposition of my hands. For God has not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sobriety."
1. [Paul] points out that he remembers sincerity of faith of [Timothy's] ancestors in order to make him stronger. Who, hearing the praise of those whose share he has in himself, would not rise having received in soul this way new strenght? So he renews in himself the grace of God received through presbyterial ordination when he warms up his spirit by cheerfulness of mind, being joyful in himself, just as one is joyful when the ordination is still fresh.
2. Then he adds: "For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power. For a renewed man quits fear receiving the spirit of joy on account of justification because every unjust person is in fear, he is not strong but weak, he is not in love but in hate, and he is not sober in mind but smitten with error. But if he liberates from these things, he will be strong, loving and sober by faith.
 
(trans. M. Szada)

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome
City
  • Rome

About the source:

Author: Ambrosiaster
Title: Commentary to the Letters of Paul, Commentaries to the Pauline Epistles, Commentaria in Pauli epistulas
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
"Ambrosiaster" is a name given in the scholarship (probably since the 17th-century edition of the Maurines) to the author of the Commentaries to the Letters of Paul which where attributed to Bishop Ambrose of Milan throughout the Middle Ages. Some proposed to identify Ambrosiaster with one of the known authors but none of these identifications is supported by compelling evidence. From the remarks scattered in the Commentaries we can deduce that he lived in Rome during the pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384). As he sometimes speaks disapprovingly about the Roman deacons, it is possible that he was himself a presbyter (Hunter 2017). The Commentaries follow a Latin translation of the Pauline epistles common in Italy before the Vulgate revision. The Commentaries survived in the several revisions. Their editor Vogels distinguishes three recensions in the commentary to the Romans, alpha, beta and gamma, and two recensions, alpha and gamma, for the remaining letters. The text given here takes into account both revisions.
Also the Quaestiones Veteris and Novi Testamenti, transmitted under the name of Augustine, are now unanimously attributed to Ambrosiaster.
 
Edition:
H.I. Vogels ed., Ambrosiaster, Commentarius in xiii Epistulas Paulinas, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Lationorum 81, Wien 1966–9
Bibliography:
D.G. Hunter, "The Significance of Ambrosiaster," Journal of Early Christian Studies 17 (2009), 1-26
D.G. Hunter, "Rivalry between Presbyters and Deacons in the Roman Church: Three Notes on Ambrosiaster, Jerome, and The Boasting of the Roman Deacons," Vigiliae Christianae 71 (2017), 495–510
S. Lunn-Rockliffe, Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, Oxford 2007
A. Merkt, "Wer war der Ambrosiaster?" Wissenschaft und Weisheit 59 (1996) 19-33
A. Polliastri, "Ambrosiaster", in: Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, ed. A. Di Berardino, Downers Grove 2013

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
    Act of ordination
      Ritual activity - Imposition of hands
        Theoretical considerations - On priesthood
          Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2278, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2278