Corruption Of Flesh And Spirit

Corrupit, inquit, omnis caro viam suam. Carnem hic posuit pro homine terreno, in quo carnis illecebra viam ejus corruperit. Qui si intellexisset quod munus accepisset a Deo, non utique passus esset, ut caro obstaret animae virtutibus. Itaque caro causa fuit corrumpendae etiam animae, quae velut origo et locus est quidam voluptatis, ex qua velut a fonte prorumpunt concupiscentiarum malarumque passionum flumina, lateque exundant. Quibus demergitur animae quoddam excusso gubernatore remigium, cum ipsa mens velut quibusdam tempestatibus et procellis victa loco suo cedit. Pulchre autem ait, quia homo viam naturae suae corrupit. Nam via sua in paradiso erat, in illo beatitudinum tramite, in illo virtutum flore, et in illa incorruptibili gratia, quam viam terrenis inquinavit vestigiis. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput V Source: Migne PL 14.367d-368a

'All flesh,' it says, 'corrupted its way.' 1 The flesh here stands for the earthly man, in whom the delights of the flesh have corrupted his way. If he had understood what a gift he has received from God, he would not suffer that the flesh should obstruct the virtues of the soul. Therefore the flesh is the cause of the corruption of the soul, and it is like a fount and place of pleasure, from which, like a spring bursting forth, comes a river of lust and evil passions, and broadly it pours out, by which the soul is drowned, for like a captain of oarsmen thrown overboard, so it is with reason, which, overcome by storm and tempest, falls from its place. Beautifully, then, it is said that a man corrupts the way of his nature. For his way was in paradise, in that path of beatitude, in that flourishing of virtue, and in that incorruptible grace, which way he has polluted with worldly wandering. Saint Ambrose, On Noah and the Ark, Chap 5 1 Gen. 6.12