Ambrose: the rules of art

Friday, March 12, 2010
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”
    “The son of David,” they replied.
    He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
    —Matthew 22:42-45 (NIV)
Quotation:
    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; 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.
    ... St. Ambrose of Milan (339-397), letter to Justus, A.D. 381, The Letters of S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Oxford, J. Parker, 1881, p. 27 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have placed beauty of language in Your word that we may recognize the marks of Your truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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