The Relations of Ambrose and the Emperors as Evidenced in his Letters

Abstract

There are three possible theories on the relations between Church and State. Of course, there are modified versions, or combinations of these theories, but the basic theories are these three. One theory advances the State as the end of man’s activity and the ruler over the Church. The second, less popular, theory is that the Church should rule the State, The third thesis proposes the two societies as two independent, though inter-related, agencies functioning in different spheres. |The purpose of this thesis is to determine which one of these theories Ambrose favored and to prove it by his actions as recorded in his known letters. These actions are fully described for us in his Letters. Where there is an absence of material in the Letters one could go to the other published works of Ambrose to learn what his opinion was, but, in this dissertation, we are limiting the study to source material found in the Letters. With no exceptions, all cases of Church-State relationship here considered are based on the account in the Letters. At times when incidents were brought up in the Letters and left unsettled, other works of Ambrose and his contemporaries were consulted; however, all examples are chosen from the Letters.