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Kirchengeschichte (BKV)
18. Kap. Ambrosius.
Damals wurde auch Ambrosius, ein Anhänger der Häresie Valentins, durch die von Origenes verkündete Wahrheit überführt, so daß er, wie von einem Lichte innerlich erleuchtet, zur wahren Lehre der Kirche übertrat. Aber noch sehr viele andere gelehrte Männer kamen, da sich der Ruf des Origenes überallhin verbreitete, zu ihm, um einen Beweis von der Tüchtigkeit des Mannes in den heiligen Wissenschaften zu erhalten. Zahlreiche Häretiker und nicht wenige von den angesehensten Philosophen hörten mit Eifer ihm zu und ließen sich von ihm ebenso in den göttlichen Dingen wie auch in der heidnischen Philosophie unterrichten. Diejenigen, welche er für begabt erachtete, führte er nämlich auch in die philosophischen Fächer ein, indem er ihnen Unterricht in Geometrie, Arithmetik und den anderen grundlegenden Wissenschaften erteilte, sie mit den verschiedenen Systemen der Philosophen bekannt machte, deren Schriften erklärte, kommentierte und im einzelnen kritisierte, was ihm auch bei den Heiden den Ruhm eines großen Philosophen eintrug. Auch viele von den minder Begabten veranlaßte er zum Studium der allgemeinen Wissenschaften, indem er ihnen erklärte, daß sie damit eine nicht wenig nützliche Unterlage für das Verständnis der göttlichen Schriften gewönnen. Aus diesem Grunde hielt Origenes die Pflege der weltlichen Wissenschaften und der Philosophie auch für sich selbst für sehr notwendig. S. 284
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The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter XVIII.--Ambrose.
1. About this time Ambrose, 1 who held the heresy of Valentinus, 2 was convinced by Origen's presentation of the truth, and, as if his mind were illumined by light, he accepted the orthodox doctrine of the Church.
2. Many others also, drawn by the fame of Origen's learning, which resounded everywhere, came to him to make trial of his skill in sacred literature. And a great many heretics, and not a few of the most distinguished philosophers, studied under him diligently, receiving instruction from him not only in divine things, but also in secular philosophy.
3. For when he perceived that any persons had superior intelligence he instructed them also in philosophic branches--in geometry, arithmetic, and other preparatory studies--and then advanced to the systems 3 of the philosophers and explained their writings. And he made observations and comments upon each of them, so that he became celebrated as a great philosopher even among the Greeks themselves.
4. And he instructed many of the less learned in the common school branches, 4 saying that these would be no small help to them in the study and understanding of the Divine Scriptures. On this account he considered it especially necessary for himself to be skilled in secular and philosophic learning. 5
Of the early life of Ambrose, the friend of Origen, we know nothing. We learn from Origen's Exhortatio ad Martyr. c. 14, and Jerome's de vir. ill. c. 56, that he was of a wealthy and noble family (cf. chap. 23 of this book), and from the Exhort. ad Mart. c. 36, that he probably held some high official position. Eusebius says here that he was for some time a Valentinian, Jerome that he was a Marcionite, others give still different reports. However that was, the authorities all agree that he was converted to the orthodox faith by Origen, and that he remained devoted to him for the rest of his life. From chap. 23 we learn that he urged Origen to undertake the composition of commentaries on the Scriptures, and that he furnished ample pecuniary means for the prosecution of the work. He was also himself a diligent student, as we gather from that chapter (cf. also Jerome, de vir. ill. c. 56). From chap. 28 we learn that he was a confessor in the persecution of Maximinus (Jerome calls him also a deacon), and it seems to have been in Caesarea or its neighborhood that he suffered, whither he had gone undoubtedly on account of his affection for Origen, who was at that time there (cf. the Exhort. c. 41). He is mentioned for the last time in the dedication and conclusion of Origen's Contra Celsum, which was written between 246 and 250 (see chap. 36, below). Jerome (l.c.) states that he died before Origen, so that he cannot have lived long after this. He left no writings, except some epistles which are no longer extant. Jerome, however, in his Ep. ad Marcellam, §1 (Migne's ed., Ep. 43), attributes to Ambrose an epistle, a fragment of which is extant under the name of Origen (to whom it doubtless belongs) and which is printed in Lommatzsch's edition of Origen's works, Vol. XVII. p. 5. Origen speaks of him frequently as a man of education and of literary tastes and devoted to the study of the Scriptures, and Jerome says of himnon inelegantis ingenii fuit, sicut ejus ad Origenen epistolae indicio sunt (l.c.). The affection which Origen felt for him is evinced by many notices in his works and by the fact that he dedicated to him the Exhortatio ad Martyr., on the occasion of his suffering under Maximinus. It was also at Ambrose's solicitation that he wrote his great work against Celsus, which he likewise dedicated to him. ↩
On Valentinus, see above, Bk. IV. chap. 11, note 1. ↩
Greek, aireseis ↩
enkuklia gr?mmata; "the circle of those arts and sciences which every free-born youth in Greece was obliged to go through before applying to any professional studies" (Liddell and Scott, defining enk. paideia). ↩
On Origen's education, see p. 392, below. ↩