Letter 74

From: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan To: Emperor Theodosius Date: ~389 AD Context: A letter regarding the convening of church councils, in which Ambrose defends the principle that while the emperor may convene a council, he may not dictate its proceedings or its conclusions. Ambrose to the Emperor Theodosius. Your Clemency has proposed that a council be convened to settle certain disputed matters. I support this — councils are the proper instrument for resolving doctrinal and disciplinary questions. But I must also set forth certain principles that govern how councils operate. The emperor may convene a council. This is an ancient prerogative, and no one disputes it. Constantine convened Nicaea; your predecessors convened other great assemblies. The Church welcomes the emperor's support in bringing bishops together. But the emperor may not preside over a council's deliberations. Matters of faith are judged by bishops, not by laymen — even laymen who wear the purple. The emperor attends as a faithful son of the Church, not as its head. His soldiers provide security; his treasury provides logistics. His theology does not provide the answers. The Council of Nicaea settled the faith precisely because the bishops were free to debate and decide without imperial interference. When later emperors — Constantius above all [the Arian-sympathizing son of Constantine, who used imperial power to impose Arian formulas on the Church] — tried to dictate the outcome of councils, the result was not peace but prolonged conflict. The Church cannot accept under compulsion what it must accept by conviction. I know this principle is inconvenient for emperors who wish for swift resolution. But the faith is not a policy to be decreed; it is a truth to be discerned. And discernment requires freedom. Convene the council, most faithful Emperor. Fund it generously. Attend it humbly. And let the bishops do the work for which the Holy Spirit, not the imperial office, has equipped them. Farewell.

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