And I will betroth you unto me forever; yea, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
You have made a wise decision to seek an answer to the question whether there is some difference in God’s love of those who have had faith since childhood and of those who believed in the course of youth or later years. Holy Scripture has not failed to note this problem, nor has it left your matter untouched. Indeed, the Lord our God said meaningfully to the prophet Joel, “Lament with me over my spouse in sackcloth and for the husband of her youth,” while he wept either for the synagogue that formerly, in her virginity, had been espoused to the Word of God, or perhaps for a soul that had fallen from grace. Her offense had led her into serious crimes so that she became hated. And, having been cast aside because of her stain of impurity and the foul marks of wickedness and the stains of unbelief, she became an object of pity and a person despised, far removed from the grace of that spouse who had been worthy to hear the words “I will espouse thee to me in faith and justice and mercy.”
First, he [God] betrothed her [Israel] in Abraham (or rather, in Egypt) so that he may have an everlasting spouse. Second, on Mount Sinai in the betrothal, he gave her the equity and judgment of the law and the compassion added to the law, so that whenever she should sin she would be given up into captivity; whenever she should show penitence, she would be brought back to [her] homeland, and she would gain compassion…. By his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, he [Jesus] betroths [her] not in the equity of the law but rather in faith and the grace of the gospel.
How great is God’s mercy! A prostitute fornicates with many lovers, and because of her offense is handed over to the beasts. After she returns to her husband, she is said not at all to be reconciled to him but rather to be betrothed. Now notice the difference between God’s union and that of men. When a man marries, he turns a virgin into a woman—that is, a nonvirgin. But when God joins with prostitutes, he changes them into virgins.
The sixth degree of chastity is that he not be deluded by the alluring images of women even when asleep. For although we do not believe that this delusion is sinful, nonetheless it is an indication of a desire that is still deeply ingrained. It is evident that this delusion can occur in a number of ways. For each person is tempted, even while asleep, according to how he behaves and thinks while awake. Those who have known sexual intercourse are led astray in one way, those who have had no part in union with a woman in another way. The latter are usually disturbed by simpler and purer dreams, such that they can be cleansed more easily and with less effort. But the former are deceived by filthier and more explicit images until, gradually and according to the measure of chastity for which each is struggling, even the mind that has fallen asleep learns to hate what it used to find pleasurable, and, through the prophet, the Lord grants it what is promised to brave men as the highest reward ...
A betrothed woman was chosen, so that Christ’s church might already be symbolically indicated as bride, according to the words of the prophet Hosea: “I will make you my bride in justice and right; I will make you my bride in mercy and benevolence, and I will espouse you in fidelity.” Thus John says, “He who has a bride is the bridegroom.” And blessed Paul: “I have promised you to one bridegroom, to present you to Christ as a chaste virgin.” She is truly a bride who regenerates the new infancy of Christ by a virginal birth.
