Letter 84

From: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan To: The Church at Milan Date: ~389 AD Context: A powerful social letter — part sermon, part treatise — on the obligations of wealth, condemning the hoarding of resources and asserting that the earth's goods belong to all people in common by natural law. Ambrose to the faithful. "The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1). Not to you. Not to any landlord. To God. And God created it for all, not for some. When the rich man hoards grain while the poor starve, he is not exercising his property rights — he is committing theft. Yes, theft. For what you possess beyond your need is taken from those who lack what they need. The bread in your storeroom belongs to the hungry. The coat in your closet belongs to the naked. The gold in your strongbox belongs to the destitute. You are not giving when you give to the poor; you are returning what was always theirs. I know this teaching offends the wealthy. Let it offend. The gospel offends — it offended from the beginning. "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6:20) was never a comfortable doctrine for those with full barns and empty consciences. I do not say that property is unlawful. I say that property is a stewardship, not an absolute right. The man who owns land holds it in trust for the common good. The man who accumulates wealth beyond what his needs require is a trustee who has embezzled from his beneficiaries. Nature produced all things for common use. It is greed that created private property, and it is justice that demands private property be used for the common good. The rivers are for everyone. The air is for everyone. The sun shines on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Who gave you the right to fence off what God left open? Give. Give generously. Give until it hurts. And when it hurts, rejoice — because you are finally paying the debt you have owed from the beginning. Farewell.

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