Letter 68

From: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan To: Emperor Valentinian II Date: ~386 AD Context: A letter written during the basilica crisis, in which Ambrose addresses the constitutional question of whether the emperor has jurisdiction over church buildings, articulating the principle that became foundational for Western church-state relations. Ambrose, Bishop, to the Emperor Valentinian. The question you have put to me — whether the emperor has the right to the basilicas — requires a direct answer. The emperor has every right within the empire. The roads, the courts, the armies, the treasury — all are under his authority, and no bishop disputes it. But the basilicas belong to God, and God has entrusted them to his bishops, not to his emperors. "Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God" (Matthew 22:21). The Lord himself drew the line, and I will not allow anyone to erase it — not even an emperor. You may say: "But the emperor is within the Church." True. He is within it — not above it. In matters of the faith, the emperor is a son of the Church, not its master. He submits to its discipline like any other Christian, receives the sacraments from its ministers, and is bound by its canons. This is not a diminishment of imperial authority. It is its proper ordering. The emperor who recognizes the limits of his power is stronger than the one who claims unlimited authority, because the first has legitimacy and the second has only force. Your father understood this. He never claimed jurisdiction over the Church's internal affairs. He left matters of faith to the bishops and matters of state to the magistrates. That was the settlement that kept the peace. I beg you to honor it. Do not allow the Arian faction at court to convince you that handing over a basilica is a small concession. It is a precedent, and precedents, once set, cannot be unset. If the emperor can give a church to the Arians today, he can give it to the pagans tomorrow. The basilica remains mine — which is to say, it remains Christ's. I will not surrender it. And I trust that you, most faithful Emperor, would not truly wish me to. Farewell.

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