19. And yet He commands a stater to be paid that they might have their mouths closed, and so not commit sin by excess of talking. And He bids that to be given which was found in the mouth of the fish, that they might acknowledge the Word. For why was it that they who exacted what was of the Law, knew not what was the Law? For they ought not to have been ignorant of the Word of God; for it is written, Deut. xxx. 14. The Word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart. He therefore paid the whole shekel to God, who reserved no part for the world. For it is to God that righteousness, which is the moderation of the mind, is paid; to God is paid the keeping of the tongue, which is the moderation in speech. Rom. x. 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
20. The half-shekel may also be understood of the Old Testament, the whole shekel for the price of both Testaments, for according to the Law every one was redeemed by the Law, but he who is redeemed according to the Gospel, pays the half-shekel according to the Law, he is redeemed by the Blood of Christ according to grace, having a double redemption both of devotion and of Blood. For not even faith alone is sufficient for perfection, unless the redeemed also obtain the grace of Baptism, and receive the Blood of Christ. Good then is that half-shekel which is paid to God.
21. The half-shekel is not a penny[15], but is different. Again, in the penny is the image of Cæsar, in the half-shekel the image of God, for it is of one God, and formed after God Himself. Beginning from One it is infinitely diffused, and again, from the Infinite all things come back to one, as their end, for God is both the beginning and the end of all things. Wherefore arithmeticians have not called ‘one’ a number, but an element of number. And this we have said because it is written, Rev. i. 8. I am Alpha andOmega, the beginning and the ending; and, Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is One Lord.
22. Be thou then, after the likeness of God, one and the same; not sober to-day, drunken to-morrow; to-day pacific, to-morrow quarrelsome; to-day frugal, to-morrow immoderate; for each person is changed by diversity of manners and becomes another man, in whom that which he was is not recognized, while he begins to be that which he was not, degenerate from himself. It is a grievous thing to be changed for the worse. Be then as the image on the half-shekel, immutable, keeping daily the same deportment. Seeing the half-shekel, observe the image, that is, seeing the Law, observe in the Law Christ the Image of God; for He is the Image of the invisible and incorruptible God; let Him be displayed before thee as in the mirror of the Law. Confess Him in the Law, that thou mayest know Him again in the Gospel. If thou hast known Him in His precepts, acknowledge Him in works. Farewell, and if you do not think that this shekel has been committed to me unprofitably, doubt not to commit to me a second time whatever you may have to communicate.
LETTER VIII.
A.D. 381.
S. AMBROSE in this letter answers the objections raised against the Scriptures, that they were not written according to the rules of art, and illustrates his argument with various passages.
AMBROSE TO JUSTUS.
1. VERY many deny that the Sacred writers wrote according to the rules of art. Nor do we contend for the contrary; for they wrote not according to art, but according to grace, which is above all art; Acts ii. 4. for they wrote that which the Spirit gave them to speak. And yet they who wrote on art made use of their writings from which to frame their art, and to compose its comments and rules.
2. Again, in art there are principally required, a cause,a subject, and an end. When then we read that holy Isaac said to his father, αἴτιον, ὕλη, ἀποτέλεσμα. Gen. xxii. 7. Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering, which of these is wanting? For he who asks, doubts, he who answers the query pronounces and solves the doubt. Behold the fire, that is the cause, and the wood, that is ὕλη, which in Latin is ‘materia,’ what third thing remains but the end, which the son asked for, saying, Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering, and the father replied, Ib. 8. My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering?