Friday, August 31, 2012

A Voice from the Past - Ambrose

A man's disposition ought to be undefiled and sound, so that he may utter words without dissimulation and possess his vessel in sanctification; that he may not delude his brother with false words nor promise aught dishonourable. If he has made such a promise it is far better for him not to fulfill it, rather than to fulfill what is shameful.

Ambrose, 337-397 AD, Duties of the Clergy, Book III, Chapter X11, 76 (The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume X, Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by H. De Romestin, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1997, p. 80)

How do we maintain honesty in a world full of deceit? What are the boundaries?

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