Ambrosiaster's Doctrine of Justification

 

When discussing justification in church history, one of the most often-discussed writers is the Latin exegete Ambrosiaster, who wrote a commentary on the Pauline Epistles. His views on justification have been receiving attention once again due to the controversy surrounding Anthony Rogers' livestream on "Sola Fide in the Fathers", causing Sam Shamoun (who has in the last year abandoned the true Gospel of Christ for the false gospel of Romanism) to bring on William Albrecht and Perry Robinson (who I will engage with more in this article). 

My main point is that while Ambrosiaster's doctrine of justification is not exactly the same as the traditional Reformed Protestant doctrine, it is close to it a number of areas.

Here are the main passages brought forward where Ambrosiaster speaks of "faith alone":

1) "For the mercy of God had been given for this reason, that they should cease from the works of the law, as I have often said, because God, taking pity on our weaknesses, decreed that the human race would be saved by faith alone, along with the natural law" (Commentary on Rom. 1:11, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament, 6:23)

2) "God has decreed that a person who believes in Christ can be saved without works. By faith alone he receives the forgiveness of sins" (Commentary on 1 Cor. 1:4b, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 7:6)

3) "For if the law is given not for the righteous but for the unrighteous, whoever does not sin is a friend of the law. For him faith alone is the way by which he is made perfect. For others mere avoidance of evil will not gain them any advantage with God unless they also believe in God, so that they may be righteous on both counts. For the one righteousness is temporal; the other is eternal" (Commentary on Rom. 2:12, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 6:65)

4) "They are justified freely because they have not done anything nor given anything in return, but by faith alone they have been made holy by the gift of God" (Commentary on Rom. 3:24, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 6:101)

5) "Paul tells those who live under the law that they have no reason to boast basing themselves on the law and claiming to be of the race of Abraham, seeing that no one is justified before God except by faith" (Commentary on Rom. 3:27, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 6:103)

6) "How then can the Jews think that they have been justified by the works of the law in the same way as Abraham, when they see that Abraham was not justified by the works of the law but by faith alone? Therefore there is no need of the law when the ungodly is justified before God by faith alone" (Commentary on Rom. 4:5, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 6:112)

7) "righteousness apart from works: Paul backs this up by the example of the prophet David, who says that those are blessed of whom God has decreed that, without work or any keeping of the law, they are justified before God by faith alone" (Commentary on Rom. 4:8, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 6:113)

Quotes numbers #3 and #7 show that Ambrosiaster understands "works of the law" as having a broader scope than merely circumcision and ceremonial laws, but also to the "moral" law as well, contrary to the claims of Roman Catholic apologists and proponents of the New Perspective on Paul. Notice in particular Ambrosiaster excludes "any keeping of the law" from the grounds of man's justification before God (quote #7). 

Someone will likely point out that Ambrosiaster says we're "made holy" in quote #4. However, it is possible that he is contradicting himself here, since elsewhere he says things like this:

"This he says, that without the works of the law, to an impious person (that is, a Gentile) believing in Christ, his faith is imputed for righteousness, as it was to Abraham" (Commentary on Romans 4:5, PL 17:82-83)

In fairness, one can show that Ambrosiaster thought of faith as the basis for justification rather than the instrument whereby receive the imputed righteousness of Christ. Yet he still says in the quote above, that faith is "imputed for righteousness" ("for" implying that faith itself is not the "righteousness" here spoken of). 

Here is what Gerald Bray, in an essay on Ambrosiaster's interpretation of Romans, says concerning his doctrine of justification by faith:

"On the great theological theme of justification by faith, Ambrosiastr is clearer and more detailed than any patristic writer...He states quite clearly that righteousness belongs to God alone, and that it is revealed in the gospel by God's gift of justifying faith to man..Ambrosiaster did not have to face the complex issues surrounding justification by faith alone that confronted Martin Luther, but there can be no doubt that the two men are on the same wavelength...Ambrosiaster is as clear as can be that faith is not only incompatible with works, it is also the only basis for our salvation." (Gerald Bray, "Ambrosiaster", in Reading Romans Through the Centuries: From the Early Church to Karl Barth, pgs. 25, 29)

"Ambrosiaster’s understanding of justification shows that the doctrine of sola fide did not disappear after first-century NT Christianity." (Dongsun Cho, "Ambrosiaster on Justification by Faith Alone in His Commentaries on the Pauline Epistles", Westminster Theological Journal, volume 74 (2012), pg. 290)