Font of Life: Ambrose, Augustine, and the Mystery of Baptism by Garry Wills

Abstract

209 Book review Both Bradshaw, an Anglican, and Johnson, a Lutheran, hold dearly the ecumenical movement and it is reflected in their scholarship . Chapter 7 provides a clear exposition of the theological positions espoused by Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and English reformers . For the uninformed, the chapter provides the nuance necessary to understand well each position and hopefully dispel large and clumsy assumptions about what any one particular reformer did or didn’t believe about the Eucharist (240). Unfortunately , the treatment of the Anglican Communion in the same chapter placed emphasis upon the ritual shifts that occurred under particular royal rulers, but seemed to lack an explanation for what might have been shifts in Eucharistic theologies. One wishes that the final chapter, “The Modern Period”, had included a word about the Anglican Ordinariate and the implications it has for ecumenical convergence. This could have been discussed alongside Summorum Pontificum (317) – another ecclesial matter having important liturgical and ecumenical ramifications . Perhaps a second edition could include this topic. Readers will garner insights about a variety of liturgical facts including the transition from chair to ambo for homilies (62), formal blessings given to those not receiving communion (66), the careful avoidance of unlearned presiders (70), Luther’s esteem for both Latin and the vernacular (254), the great advantage of a return to ancient sources, which occurred after the Reformation (290), and that 70% of the English-speaking Protestant communities use the Revised Common Lectionary (311), which brings about the added benefit for them of a rediscovered liturgical calendar. Surely this text will become a new standard within academic courses, whether broadly liturgical or specifically Eucharistic. Michael B. Wurtz, C.S.C. Pontifical Athenaeum Sant’Anselmo Rome Garry Wills Font of Life: Ambrose, Augustine, and the Mystery of Baptism New York: Oxford University Press, 2012 208 pages. Hardbound. $21.95. In Font of Life, Wills uses the baptistery of Milan as a way to explore the lives of Ambrose and Augustine and to show their significance for later developments in the history of Western 210 Antiphon 18.2 (2014) Christianity. He does not advance an overarching argument, but seeks more to act as a tour-guide. Drawing from primary sources and scholars such as Peter Brown, Mirabella Roberti, Richard Krautheimer, and Marcia Colish, Wills walks readers through the geography and history of Milan, early rites and theologies of baptism , ecclesiastical discipline, and the allegorical interpretation of scripture. The book is helpful for novice readers, but offers less to scholars who are already familiar with the secondary sources on which he draws. For Wills, Ambrose is a man of power, the model of bishop as potentate. Though he acknowledges the pastoral and theological implications of Ambrose’s actions and work, he thinks that with Ambrose, the political remains primary. When Ambrose expresses a desire to be a martyr or braces his congregation for martyrdom during a confrontation with imperial troops, Wills interprets his actions primarily as means of control. Similarly, Ambrose asserted his authority over devotion to the martyrs by raising his own churches and binding them in a single discipline. This consolidation of power helped him in his conflicts with the emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius—in which he prevailed every single time. Augustine found himself in Ambrose’s Milan teaching rhetoric at the imperial court. In later years, he depicts himself as Ambrose ’s spiritual son, converted and instructed by his wisdom and love. However, Wills argues—against Courcelle’s Recherches sur les Confessions de Saint Augustin—that this was not his view during his time in Milan. It is clear from the Soliloquia, written at Cassiciacum months before his baptism, that “Augustine wanted to discuss his personal problems with Ambrose, but the great man had no time for it” (68). Moreover, Augustine had other teachers whom he acknowledged at the time, chiefly Mallius Theodorus and the priest Simplicianus. From them, not from Ambrose’s sermons , he gained access to Neoplatonist thought. Simplicianus’ tale of the conversion of Victorinus was a particular help. Wills writes: “What [Augustine] needed now was not intellectual persuasion but a strengthening of the will… This is the kind of counsel and encouragement Augustine had hoped to get...