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    TRANSLATIONS OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURESERIES IGREEK TEXTS 57

    THE EPISTLESOF

    ST. IGNATIUS,BISHOP OF ANTIOCII

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    First published 1900.Re-issue, 19 19.

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    vi PREFACEwhile for the external history of the period ProfessorRamsay's Church in the Roman Empire has been foundinvaluable. In treating of the theology of Ignatius thewriter has found much that is suggestive in the ablemonograph of Von der Goltz {Texte u?id U?itersucJi-ungen, Bd. xii.), although he has not always been ableto subscribe to the author's conclusions.The writer is indebted to Dr. Swete, Regius Professorof Divinity at Cambridge, for much kind advice un-grudgingly given; to the committee of the S.P.C.K. forthe interest they have shown in the work, and for someuseful criticisms; to the Rev. W. L. E. Parsons, ofSelwyn College, who has read through the translation,and to others.

    NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITIONA few slight changes and additions have been made

    both in the introduction and in the notes ; but in itsmain features the present edition is a reprint of theformer.

    NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITIONThe call for a fresh edition of this little book, which

    is now set up in a new form, has rendered necessary amore thorough revision of the introduction and notesthan was possible in preparing it for the second edition.In the eighteen years which have elapsed since its firstappearance new light has been thrown on many of thequestions dealt with. Several of the notes have beenre-written and also certain sections of the introduction.

    new Additional Note, in place of the original Add.Note 2, has been inserted, in which the question of theChristian Ministry has been more fully dealt with. Onthe other hand, a few curtailments have been madeelsewhere. In other respects the present edition is areprint of the earlier edition.

    J. H. S.

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    CONTENTSINTRODUCTION:

    1. THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY UPON THE 1GNA-EPISTLES 9

    2. GENUINENESS AND DATE 13. ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 204. ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER ... .24

    I. THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS . . 38II. THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS . . 53HI. THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS . . 62IV. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS ... 70V. THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 81VI. THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN/EANS . 90

    VII. THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP . . .102ADDITIONAL NOTES:

    1. THE HERESIES IN THE CHURCHES OF ASIA . I IO2. THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIANMINISTRY 1133. THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. IGNATIUS 120

    INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES . . .126GENERAL INDEX 129

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    ST. IGNATIUSINTRODUCTION.

    i. THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY UPONTHE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.Around the letters bearing the name of St. Ignatiusthere has been waged a literary controversy that has

    extended from the time of the revival of learning to thenineteenth century. The subject is of special interestto Englishmen, as the discussion of the genuineness ofthese letters found a place in the religious controversiesof England in the seventeenth century, and the decisionof the question has on three occasions been associatedwith the names of English scholars, i. e. ArchbishopUssher and Bishop Pearson in the seventeenth century,and Bishop Lightfoot in the nineteenth century. Duringthe Middle Ages there were current in Europe seventeenletters connected with the name of St. Ignatius. Fourof these embrace the spurious correspondence with St.John and the Virgin. They include(i) Two letters from Ignatius to St. John.

    (ii) A letter from Ignatius to the Virgin.(iii) A letter from the Virgin to Ignatius.The letters only exist in Latin, and were most prob-

    ably composed in that language. An attempt has beenmade to claim the authority of St. Bernard in support oftheir genuineness, because in one of his sermons he saysthat Ignatius ' saluteth a certain Mary in several epistles,which he wrote to her, as Christ-bearer.' But the word

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    INTRODUCTIONquandam} 'a certain (one),' shows that he is speakingof some less famous person than the Virgin, the referencebeing, doubtless, to Mary of Cassobola, to whom oneof the letters of the Long Form is addressed. As theobject of the forger was undoubtedly to do honour tothe Virgin, Lightfoot is inclined to connect the letterswith the outburst of Mariolatry which took place in theeleventh and following centuries. The forgery wasspeedily disposed of as soon as the revival of the studyof antiquity began.The remaining thirteen epistles, known as the LongerForm, include a longer version of the seven letters of thepresent collection, together with six additional letters, i. e.Mary of Cassobola to Ignatius, Ignatius to Mary ofCassobola, to the Tarsians, to the Philippians, to theAntiochenes, and to Hero. This Longer Form is con-tained in several Greek MSS. and also in a Latin versionof which the MSS. are numerous. The six additionalletters are also found attached to the seven letters ofthe present collection not only in the Greek MSS., butalso in the Latin, Syriac, Armenian and Coptic transla-tions. The Latin version was printed in 1498, and wasfollowed in 1557 by the publication of the Greek text.Neither of these editions contained the letter of Maryof Cassobola to Ignatius, which appeared, however, insubsequent editions.

    It was not long before the suspicions of students werearoused. They could not fail to be struck by the widedivergence of the text of Ignatius in the current editionsfrom the quotations of early Christian writers, such asEusebius (c. a.d. 310 325) and Theodoret (a.d 446).It was noticed further that Eusebius only makes mentionof seven letters, and that no others but these are referredto by Christian writers for some considerable period afterthe time of Eusebius. Internal evidence confirmed thesesuspicions by pointing out obvious anachronisms andmistakes in the letter^. At the same time the prejudices

    1 The omission of this word in some MSS. assisted the miscon-ception of the passage. But there is no doubt that it forms a paitof the true text.

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    THE LITERARY CONTROVERSYof Protestant writers, and especially of those who favouredPresbyterian views, were excited against the letters, be-cause their presentation of Church order conflicted withtheir own views. On the one hand it was recognized bythe Jesuit Petavius, that the epistles were interpolated,and on the other hand many Protestant writers wereprepared to believe that they included some genuineletters of Ignatius. Vedelius, a professor at Geneva,published an edition of the letters in 1623, in which heattempted to separate the genuine from the spuriousletters. The seven letters mentioned by Eusebius wereplaced in one class, and the remaining five, which heregarded as spurious, were formed into a second class.He also maintained that the seven letters containedinterpolations, and in proof of this he showed that theinterpolator had made use of extracts from the ApostolicalConstitutions.The genuineness of the Long Form was commonlyaccepted by English writers of eminence before Ussher'stime, and we find the letters in that form quoted byHooker and Bishop Andrewes. The question, however,was prominently brought forward by the controversies ofthe day. Episcopacy was being vehemently attacked bythe Puritans. This attack reached its climax in thefamous Smectymnuus controversy (so called from theinitials of the names of the five Presbyterian divines), inwhich Bishop Ha ! l defended, and the Presbyteriansattacked, the government of the Church by bishops. Inthis controversy Ussher w s induced to take a part. Inhis pamphlet TJic Original of Bishops and Metropolitans,he made use of the evidence of the Ignatian epistles,carefully confining, however, his quotations to thepassages in which the interpolated version agrees withthe genuine text. Ussher's pamphlet was replied to bythe poet Milton in his treatise Of Prelatical Episcopacy,published in 1641. He attacks the genuineness of theIgnatian epistles and says, ' To what end then shouldthey cite him as authentic for episcopacy, when theycannot know what is authentic of him ? ' But Ussherhad already engaged in the task of rescuing the genuine

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    i2 INTRODUCTIONepistles from the interpolated and spurious additions ofthe current text. He had examined the quotations ofIgnatius found in the writings of Robert Grosseteste,Bishop of Lincoln (c. a.d. 1250), and two other Englishwriters, John Tyssington and William Wodeford, whowrote in the fourteenth century and were members ofthe Franciscan house at Oxford, to which Grosseteste lefthis books. These quotations, he found, differed fromthe common text of Ignatius and agreed with the quota-tions found in Eusebius and Theodoret. This led himto conclude that there might exist somewhere in Englandmanuscripts containing this purer text of the epistlesThe result was the discovery of two Latin MSS. of theepistles. The first of these was found in the library ofGonville and Caius College, Cambridge. This MS., ofwhich Ussher procured a transcript, was written byWalter Crome, D.D., a former Fellow, being completedin the year 1441, as we learn from a note in Crome'sown handwriting, while another note in the same handon a fly-leaf states that the MS. was presented to theCollege in a.d. 444 'on the feast of St. Hugh.'The second MS. came from the library of RichardMontague or Montacute, Bishop of Norwich It has,however, disappeared since Ussher's time, although wepossess a collation of its readings contained between thelines or in the margin of Ussher's transcript of the CaiusMS. This transcript is now in the libiary of DublinUniversity.Of these two MSS. the second appears to be the

    earlier and the more accurate. In fact Lightfoot thinksthat it closely represents the version as it came from thetranslator. Ussher found that the quotations of Ignatiusin the works of Grosseteste were taken from the Latinversion preserved in these two MSS., and further studyled him to believe that Grosseteste was himself the trans-lator. Such a view is consistent with the interest shownby the great Bishop of Lincoln in Greek learning and inthe translation of Greek authors. Moreover we knowthat among the books of which Grosseteste caused atranslation to be made were the writings of Dionysius

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    THE LITERARY CONTROVERSY 15strated the genuineness of the seven letters in the formedited by Voss, as against the claims of the Curetonianletters, and this conclusion has been generally acceptedby modern scholars.The author of the Long Form probably wrote inSyria in the latter half of the fourth century. He hasbeen identified by Harnack and Funk with the compilerof the Apostolic Constitutions. His doctrinal positionis not altogether clear. Funk regards him as an Apolli-narian, Lightfoot as slightly leaning to Arianism. Hisobject appears to have been to present, in the name ofa primitive father, a conciliatory statement of doctrineto which men of all parties might assent (Lightfoot).The Curetonian Syriac version is probably due to thecareless abridgment of the letters by some scribe, andrepresents ' neither epitome nor extract, but somethingbetween the two.' x Lightfoot is inclined to assign it tothe sixth century.

    2. GENUINENESS AND DATE.' There are no epistles in early Christian literature

    whose existence receives such early and excellent attest-ation as does that of the Ignatian epistles from the epistleof Polycarp ' (Harnack, CJironoIogie, p. 400). The epistleof Polycarp to the Philippians was written some fewweeks after the letttrs of Ignatius, and before the newsof the martyrdom of Ignatius had reached Smyrna. Itcontains two references to Ignatius (cc. 9, 13). In thelatter passage the writer says : ' The letters of Ignatiussent to us by him, and all the rest which we had by us,we have sent to you, as you enjoined. They are attachedto this letter.' This description corresponds with ourpresent collection. Two letters were addressed toSmyrna, one to the Church, the other to Polycarp.Four others were written from Smyrna. The bearer ofthe letter to the Philadelphians, which was written fromTroas, would probably pass through Smyrna. Thus itwould be possible for copies of all the letters to be in

    1 Lightfoot, I. p. 325.

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    i8 INTRODUCTIONwith Pontius Pilate (cf. Acts iv. 27, also Justin, Dial.103, but absent from later writers), the inclusion of thebaptism of Jesus by John (Eph. 18, Smyrn. 1), whencompared with the oldest form of the Apostles' Creed,from which these clauses are absent, point to a periodquite early in the second century.

    3. The relation of these epistles to the books of theNew Testament is a further indication of their earlydate. The manner in which the Gospel facts and say-ings are quoted points to an early period at which thewritten Gospels had not attained the unique pre-eminenceheld by them later on in the second century. There isno reference in the epistles to written Gospels, and inone case the author quotes from an extra-canonicalsource. See Smyrn. 3. This would show that oraltradition was still appealed to.

    4. Lightfoot sees a further indication of early date inthe passage Smyrn. 8, from which he concludes that theEucharist still formed part of the Agape, whereas inJustin's time {. i. 65, 67) the two were separate. Butthis interpretation of Smyrn. 8 is open to criticism (seenote on passage), and the argument cannot be pressed.The objections to the genuineness of these epistlesare mainly concerned with their presentation of Churchgovernment and their witness to episcopacy. But theorganization, as here presented, while it exhibits mon-archical episcopacy as fully established, and regardsthe bishop as the source of all ministerial authority, 1also shows indications of its early date.

    1. The picture presented of the bishop points to anearly period when the area over which he exercised hisrule was the congregation rather than the diocese, andwhen he was ' the pastor of a flock, like a vicar of amodern town, in intimate relations with all his people.' 2Hence too we find that the body of presbyters are inimmediate and regular contact with him and assist himas a 'council ' 3 in the work of administration.

    Smyrn. 8.Gore, Church and Ministry\ p. ioj..Magn. 6, Trail. 3, Philad.'S.

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    GENUINENESS AND DATE 192. A study of the types of authority to which Ignatius

    likens the authority of the bishop and the presbytersalso affords an indication of early date. The fact thathe regards the bishop as the representative of the Lord,while the presbyters represent the Apostles, indicatesthat he is writing at a time when the memory of theLord's earthly life was fresh in the minds of men. Inthe bishop's office he sees a type of authority like thatwhich was in the world when Christ went about in Hisministry attended by the Apostles.

    3. Had these epistles been forged in the latter halfof the second century, as Renan supposed, we shouldhave expected them to reflect the conception of theministry which is prominent in Christian writings of thatperiod. Now in the writers of the latter half of thesecond century we find the bishops continually appealedto as the depositaries of Apostolic tradition. Thebishops have received from the Apostles ' the gift oftruth.' This conception is found in the Clementinewritings, in Hegesippus and in Irenseus. But it is notthe conception upon which the Ignatian epistles dwell.Yet if these letters had been written in the latter halfof the second century it is unlikely that his languagewould have shown so little trace of the ideas currentat that time.The other objections urged on the ground of supposedanachronisms, such as the word ' leopard' (Rom. 5) andthe phrase ' Catholic Church ' (Smyrn. 8), are dealt within the notes.

    Each of the letters exhibits the same clearly markedindividuality, and is connected by close and subtle linkswith the others. The Epistle to the Romans, however,stands apart from the others. It is of a purely personalcharacter and deals with his coming martyrdom. Henceit contains no allusion to the subjects which occupy solarge an amount of attention in other epistles, vizChurch order and heresy. Its silence on these pointsis of value in refuting the idea that the letters are a lateforgery having as their object the promotion of Episco-pacy. On that assumption it is difficult to see why the

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    ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 21Professor Ramsay 1 suggests, that 'he belonged to aSyrian family, strongly affected by Western civilization,which had discarded native names.' It is clear fromthe nature of his punishment that he cannot have beena Roman citizen, in which case he would have beensent, like St. Paul, to Rome for trial, and, if condemned,would have been beheaded. 1 rom the scattered hintswhich the letters give, e.g. Rom. 9, 'born out of duetime,' and the expression, 'last (of all)/ found in Eph.21, Trail. 13, Smyrn. 11, we may conclude that hisconversion was late in life. From Origen and Eusebius(see preceding section) we have learnt that he wassecond bishop of Antioch, being preceded by Euodius,and that he suffered martyrdom in the time of Trajan.The Acts recording his martyrdom exist in two forms,the Antiochene and Roman Act-, but both are quitelate and untrustworthy. With their rejection we areleft without any knowledge of the circumstances of histrial and condemnation, and the oft-quoted interviewwith Trajan becomes destitute of authority. From theepistles themselves we infer that Ignatius, like othermartyrs before him (Eph. 12), who had been condemnedto the beasts by the provincial governors, was beingsent to Rome to suffer in the arena of the Coliseum.This great amphitheatre, built by the Flavian emperors,A\as the scene of these brutal sports on a gigantic scale,and it is a well-attested fact that criminals from theprovinces were used for this purpose. 2 From Polyc.Phil. 1, 9 we gather that other prisoners accompaniedIgnatius, at least during a portion of his journey. Hisescort consisted of a maniple of soldiers, whom onaccount of their harsh treatment he compares to 'tenleopards' (Rom. 5). His letters reveal the true martyr-spirit. He declares that he is a willing victim. 3 Hisdeath will speak more clearly to the world than everhis words have done in life. ' If you be silent andleave me alone,' he writes to the Romans, ' I shall

    1 Ch. in R. Empire, p. 440, note.2 See Ramsay, Ch. in R. Empire, p. 3173 Rom. 4.

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    22 INTRODUCTIONbecome a word of God, but, if you desire my flesh,then shall I be again a mere cry.' * To the people ofSmyrna he says, ' Near to the sword, near to God ; incompany with wild beasts, in company with God. Onlylet it be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we maysuffer together with Him.' 2 'It is,' he wTrites to Poly-carp, ' the part of a great athlete to suffer blows andbe victorious.' 3 The route taken by his guards wasprobably overland by the Syrian and Cilician Gates toSmyrna, Troas, and Philippi, and thence to Rome. Atsome point in the journey the road branched in twodirections, the southern route following the line of thegreat trade highway through Tralles, Magnesia, andEphesus, while the more northern lay through Phila-delphia and Sardis. The latter was the route followedby the Roman guards, and after a stay at Philadelphia(Philad. i, 6, 7, 8), Ignatius reached Smyrna, where hewas hospitably received by the Church and its bishop,Polycarp. Meanwhile messengers appear to have in-formed the churches lying on the southern route of themartyr's approaching visit to Smyrna, and accordinglydelegates were sent to Smyrna to meet him fromEphesus, Magnesia, and Tralles. Their arrival appearsto have greatly cheered Ignatius, and he accordinglyaddressed a letter to each of the churches from whichthey came, acknowledging their attentions and givingthem practical counsel upon the dangers to which theywere exposed. 4 At the same time he wrote a letter tothe Church at Rome. The Roman Christians had heardof his journey from certain members of the Syrianchurch who had preceded him (Rom. 10), and he fearsthat some of their more influential members may exertthemselves to procure a respite. He entreats them notto hinder him from ' attaining unto God,' and expressesin exuberant and passionate language his desire formartyrdom. The next halting-place at which we hearof him is Troas, from which he wrote the three remain-ing letters, to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrnaeans,

    1 Rom. 2. 2 Smyrn. 4. :; Polyc. 3.* On the heresies attacked, see Add. Note I.

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    ST. IGNATIUS THE MARTYR 23and to Polycarp. All these letters were written afterhe had received the news that the persecution in Syriahad ceased. He accordingly asks that delegates shouldbe sent to Antioch with congratulations. From Polyc. 8we learn that he was on the point of sailing to Neapolis.The next mention of him is in Polycarp's letter to thePhtlippians (cc. 9, 13), in which he asks for tidings ofIgnatius, who had passed through their city. Polycarpalso states that he is sending them, at their request,a packet of the letters of Ignatius. This is the last wehear of him. His fame as a martyr spread throughthe East, and his letters were translated into Syriac,Armenian, and Coptic. Around his life and deaththere grew a wealth of legend. His name Theophorusgave rise to two such legends. One of these, not foundbefore the end of the ninth century, evidently under-stands the name to mean ' the God-borne,' and repre-sents Igmitius as the child whom our Lord took inHis arms (Mark ix. 36, 37).Another story, which comes from the Western Churchand had a much more limited circulation, is foundedupon the other sense of the name Theophorus, ' God-bearer.' It is narrated by Vincent of Beauvais, whotells us that ' when his heart was cut into small pieces,the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was found inscribedin golden letters on every single piece, as we read; 'forhe had said that he had Christ in his heart.'

    Various traditions connect him with one or other ofthe Apostles. Theodoret speaks of him as having1 received the grace of the high-priesthood at the handof the great Peter.' In the Apostolic Constitutions heis represented as having been ordained by St. Paul.Another and more widely-spread tradition representedhim as a disciple of St. John.A story is told us of the episcopate of Ignatius by thehistorian Socrates, who wrote c. a.d. 440. He narrates(//. E. vi. 8) how Ignatius 'saw a vision of angels,praising the Holy Trinity in antiphonal hymns, and leftthe fashion of his vision as a custom to the Church atAntioch.' Lightfoot thinks that this tradition may be

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    2 A INTRODUCTIONtraced to his language in such passages as Trail. 5, inwhich he speaks of his power to grasp heavenly thingsand the orders of angels, and also 10 his language inEph. 4, Rom. 2, where he bids his readers form intoa chorus and sing to the Father through Jesus Christ.The Acts of his martyrdom x gave currency in Eastand West to the story of his interview with the EmperorTrajan, a story which, as we have seen, has no inde-pendent authority apart from the spurious Acts in whichit is contained. The same Acts in like manner per-petuated the varying traditions of East and West as tothe disposal of the reliques. In the latter part of thefourth century his festival was kept in Syria and Greeceon October 17, and the grave containing his reliqueswas shown in the Christian cemetery at Antioch. Itwas on one of these annivetsaries that the great preacher,Chrysostom, while a presbyter at Antioch, delivered anoration on the martyr, in which he shows evident tokensof a belief in the translate of the reliques from Rometo Antioch. In the fifth century the reliques weretransferred with great pomp, by order of the Emperor,the younger Theodosius, to the old Temple of Fortune,known henceforth as the Church of Ignatius. The dateof his festival came to be transferred to December 20th,which was probably the date^ of the translation of thereliques to their new resting-place. In later times thisanniversary was kept as a public festival at Antioch,and was celebrated with rites of great magnificence.

    In the West, December 17th was at first kept as theday of the martyrdom, but finally this date was assignedto the translation of the reliques, and the festival of themartyrdom was kept on February 1st.

    4. ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER.The splendid example of the Christian martyr-spirit

    was not the only legacy of Ignatius to the Church. Inthe epistles which have come down to us he has pre-sented to us the picture of a lofty, spiritual character,

    1 On these Acts of the martyrdom, see Add. Note 3.

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    26 INTRODUCTIONand the power of demons, present points of contact withthe religious ideas of the heathen world, as we know itin the first and second centuries, and are such aswould naturally attract a convert from heathenism.And further, if we could trust the later tradition, whichis not impossible so far as dates are concerned (thoughworthless in itself), that St. John was the teacher ofIgnatius, we should find a natural explanat'on of theclose relationship between his thought and that of theJohannine writings.As compared with later teaching, the theology ofIgnatius, like that of the other 'Apostolic Fathers.'exhibits in some respects an immature and undevelopedcharacter. It was only slowly that men came to soundthe depths of the teaching of St. Paul and St. John,and to grasp the eternal relations of the truths revealedin time. Hence we find in Ignatius a use of doctrinalterms, which would have been avoid jd by the moreexact theology of a later age. Instances are the phrases,'the blood of God,' 1 'the passion of my God,'2 and theword ' unoriginate,' 3 which, as applied to our Lord,might seem to deny the Eternal Generation. There isalso an absence of any references to the work of theSon of God in the world before the Incarnation (except,perhaps, in Magn. 8), and of the doctrine of His agencyin Creation such as we find in St. Paul. While Ignatiusapplies to Him the title ' Logos' or 'Word,' 4 and else-where speaks of Him as 'the Mind of the Father,' 5 and' the unerring Mouth whereby the Father spake ; ' ,!while, moreover, he asserts the Divine Sonship, andonce uses the phrase, ' the Only Son,' 7 yet he nowherespeaks of the eternal relations of this Divine Sonshipto the Fatherhood of God, beyond the mere fact of theSon's pre-existence with the Father. 8 How far thehuman nature was complete, whether Christ had ahuman soul, how the two natures are united in OnePerson, these are questions which lie outside the scope

    1 Eph. . 2 Rom. 6. 3 Eph. 7.4 Magn. S. 5 Eph. 3. Rom. 8.7 Rom. tnser. * I'olyc. 3, Magn. 6.

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    ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 27and grasp of the teaching of Ignatius. Nor again dot he epistles present us with a theology of the Cross, orattempt to sound the depths of St. Paul's teaching uponthe Death of Christ. The idea of 'justification' isfound only in two passages, i.e. Rom. 5 and Philad. 8,and only in the latter of these is it used in connectionwith the Passion. The word 'propitiation' does notoccur, and there is only one mention of ' forgivenessin connection with repentance, in Philad. 8. It is notmaintained that Ignatius ignored the teaching associatedwith such language. His repeated references to theCross and Passion imply the contrary. But his par-ticular contribution to Christian thought and teachinglay in another direction, and he was content accordinglyto repeat, without developing, the simple language ofhis time upon the Death of Christ.

    Such are some of the limits within which the teachingof these epistles moves. But when we come to theirpositive contents, we find that they witness to a Churchtradition which is singularly full and varied, and, aboveall, they present a view of the Person of Jesus Christ,which is richer and more complete than anything tobe found in the writings of the other ' ApostolicFathers.'

    With regard to the former of these, the witness of theepistles to the Church tradition of their time, we mayquote the language of Dr. Harnack {Clironologie, p. xi).Speaking of the epistles of St. Clement and St. Ignatius,he says : ' He who diligently studies these letters cannotfail to perceive what a fulness of traditions, subjects ofpreaching, doctrines, and forms of organization alreadyexisted in the time of Trajan, and in individual churcheshad attained a secure position.' Among the contents ofthis Church tradition, we may notice the reference to theThreefold Name in Magn. 13 (cf. Eph. 9, Philad. inscr. ).When we come to the historical facts of the Lord'searthly life, we find, first of all, a clear and emphaticwitness to the Virgin-birth. 'The virginity of Mary andher child-bearing ' formed two of the 'three mysteries,'' wrought in the silence of God,' but now ' to be

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    28 INTRODUCTIONproclaimed aloud.' * Against the Docetic heretics he isnever weary of emphasizing, in language that presentsthe appearance of bang derived either from liturgicalformulae or short creed-like statements,- the Virgin-birth,the Davidic descent, the baptism by John, the crucifixionunder Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, and theresurrection. See esp. the two passages, Trail. 9, Smyrn.r,2. He mentions the star seen at the birth of JesusChrist, 3 and dwells upon the in'ercourse of the Lord,after His Resurrection, with the Apostles. 4 Of interesttoo is the reference to the descent into Hades in Magn.9 (cf. Philad. 5, 9). He nowhere speaks of the actualfact of the Ascension, although it is presupposed inMagn. 7. But, for the purposes which he had in hand,it did not possess the same immediate interest as thefacts of the Birth, Passion, and Resurrection, whichwitness to the reality of the Lord's human nature. Thereferences to the Second Coming of the Lord are veryslight. See Eph. 15, and compare the expression inRom. 10, 'patient abiding for Jesus Christ.' Ignatiusspeaks of the Holy Spirit in language which plainlyshows that he regarded Him as distinct from the Fatherand the Son Cf. Magn. 13. He speaks of Him as'from God,' 5 and regards the miraculous conception ofJesus Christ as wrought through His agency. 6 Else-where he dwells upon His work of sanctification in theChurch. See especially the striking passage in Eph. 9,and cf. Philad. inscr., Magn. 15. In Philad. 7. Ignatiusclaims to have receive! personal revelations from theSpirit.

    In two passages Ignatius refers to ordinances of theApostles. In Magn. 1 3 the readers are bidden to standfast 'in the ordinances of the Lord and the Apostles.'In Trail. 7 they are urged to be ' inseparable from JesusChrist and the bishop, and the ordinances of theApostles.'When we come to examine the relation of these lettersto the Canon of Scripture, we find very strong traces of

    Eph. 19 See p. 17. 3 Eph. 19.4 Smyrn. 3 5 Philad. 7. 6 Eph. 18.

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    ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 29the influence of the thoughts and ideas preserved for usin the books of the New Testament, but comparativelyfew traces of actual quotation from any of the writers ofthe New Testament. The cast of thought shows strongaffinities with the ideas of the Johannine writings andthe. later epistles of St. Paul, especially St. Paul's Epistleto the Ephesians. But it is difficult to prove thatIgnatius is in any passage quoting from the FourthGospel. The contrasts between life and death, Godand the prince of this world, and the emphasis onknowledge and faith, truth and love, move in the samecircles of ideas as the Fourth Gospel. Again, the refer-ence to Christ as 'the Door' (Philad. 9), the phrases'the bread of God/ 'living water' (Rom. 7), lastly thewords in Philad. 7, 'the Spirit is from God. Forit knoweth whence it cometh and whither it goeth,'present striking parallels to the language of the Gospel,and suggest that either Ignatius was famili.ir with theGospel, or that he had lived in surroundings where theideas and teaching represented in our present Gospelwere current. Lastly, there is the possibility alreadyreferred to above (p. 26), that Ignatius had been adisciple of St. John. For the suggested parallel withJohn xii. 3 found in Eph. 17, see note on that passage.The allusions of Ignatius to the actions and words ofthe Lord exhibit a tradition most closely akin to thatfound in St. Matthew's Gospel, with which these epistlesexhihit more numerous parallels than with any other. T. writing. In no passage does he allude definitelyto written gospels, though Philad. 5 seems to point toa collection of apostolic writings In one instance * hequotes from an apocryphal source, whether written ortraditional wre cannot tell. For the passage Eph. 19,see notes. With the epistles of St. Paul there are manyparallels pointing to the author's acquaintance withthem, though without actual quotation. In Eph. 12the author directly speaks of St. Paul and his epistles.For further parallels with books of the New Testament,see Index of Scriptural passages. We may say in con-

    1 Smyrn. 3.

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    3o INTRODUCTIONelusion that the epistles point to a period in which theNew Testament writings, though current, had not super-seded the oral tradition of the Church, as an authorityand standard of teaching.

    For his attitude towards the Old Testament, see Magn.8 10, Philad. 5, 8, 9, with notes.

    Ignatius' conception of the Christian faith is morestriking than that of any sub-apostolic writer. He startsnot from Creation or the Old Testament but from therevelation of God in Christ. In Christ's appearing Godhas revealed Himself in man, the Eternal in time, theSpiritual in the material. 1 The antithesis of 'spirit' and' flesh,' which is conceived of as reconciled in Christ,runs through the whole theology of Ignatius.- Thewhole earthly life of Christ has a place in the mysteryof redemption, which has a significance for the wholeCreation. 3 Thus he speaks of ' the virginity of Mary,and her child-bearing, likewise also the death of theLord,' as 'three mysteries to be proclaimed aloud.' 4It is the Person and not merely the teaching of Christ,which is of importance. He is ' our God,' ' my God,'1 God in man,' though never apparently called Godabsolutely without some"* defining words. 5 The con-troversial purpose of the letters leads Ignatius to layspecial stress upon the reality of the human nature ofChrist. The Docetas, whom he is attacking, conceivedof the existence of Christ in a purely metaphysical way,as a spiritual or ideal existence. Against this viewIgnatius sets the historical Christ, whose appearing inhuman form becomes the medium of God's revelationand alone guarantees its truth to man. Hence heemphasizes the facts of His earthly life. The Comingof the Saviour, His Passion and His Resurrection are thethree points which distinguish the Gospel from all earlierteaching. 6 Through the Cross, Death, and Resurrection

    1 See esp. Eph. 7, Polyc. 3.2 Cf. Eph. 8, Magn. 1, 13, Polyc. 2.3 Trail. 9, Smyrn. 6. 4 Eph. 19.5 Cf. Eph. inscr., 1, 7, 18, Rom. iriser., Smyrn. I, Polyc. 8.r' Philad. 9, cf. Magn. 11.

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    ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 31he seeks to be justified. 1 Especially prominent is theplace which he assigns to the Passion. In the inscrip-tions to two letters (Philad., Trail.) he speaks of theChurches addressed, as 'rejoicing in the Passion' and'at peace in flesh and spirit through the Passion of JesusChrist.' 2 The Blood of Christ reveals God's love. 3 InSmyrn. 6 he speaks of Christ as suffering ' for our sins,'and in Eph. 18 he associates Baptism with the cleansingpower of the Passion. 4 In addition to these incidentalallusions, he shows acquaintance in one passage 5 withthe ideas represented in the Epistle to the Hebrews.Christ is 'the High Priest, Who has been entrusted withthe Holy of Holies,' but Ignatius immediately connectsthis thought with that of Christ as the 'Door' of theFather, a conception which wre find in John x. 9. InPhilad. 8, 11, he speaks of being delivered from 'everybond,' and being 'ransomed' by the grace of JesusChrist. In these respects he echoes the traditionallanguage of his time. The ideas, however, which chieflyoccupy his thoughts are that the Death and Resurrectionof Christ have annihilated death, have freed man fromthe power of evil, 6 and have given him the assurance ofeternal life through union with God in Christ. Christ,Our life,' 7 has passed through death, and life is assuredto those who believe in Him and are united with Him.Hence Christians are ' branches of the Cross.' 8 Thushis teaching presents points of contact with St. John, andwith the later, rather than the earlier, teaching of St.Paul. St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians exhibits thenearest point of contact between Ignatius and St. Paul.In this connection notice especially the language of Eph.19, 20 upon 'the new man,' and of Trail. 11 upon 'theone Body.'The reconciliation of the antithesis between 'flesh'and 'spirit' through the union of God and man in Christis realized practically by Christians in the life of faith

    1 Philad. 8. 2 Cf. Eph. inscr.3 Trail. 8, Rom. 7. 4 Cf. also Trail. 1 1, Rom. 6.5 Philad. 9. E|>h. 19, Philad. 8.7 Eph. 3, Smyrn. 4. 8 Trail. 11.

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    ST. IGNATIUS AS A TEACHER 33times spoken of as presbyters and sometimes as ' bishops 'upiscopf).1 We find a similar use of terms when we passbeyond the New Testament. The local ministry consistsof 'bishops and deacons' (Didache), or ' presbyters and"deacons' (Polycarp, ad Philipp. 5, 6), while Clement ofRome sometimes speaks of 'presbyters' and sometimesof ' bishops,' when he is referring apparently to the sameoffice. But in no case do we read of a single ' bishop 'as the resident head of a local community. On theother hand, in the position of St. James at Jerusalem(Acts xii. 17, xv. 2, xxi. 18) we have what appears to bean anticipation of the functions (though the name doesnot appear) of the ' bishop ' of the Ignatian epistles,seeing that St. James is represented as head or presidentof a body of presbyters who control the local affairs ofthe Church and through whom all communications withthe Church take place. This position, however, appearsto have been peculiar to Jerusalem. Elsewhere theApostles appear to have exercised a general superin-tendence over the churches which they had founded,and in the Pastoral Epistles we find Timothy and Titusreceiving a commission (probably temporary) from St.Paul to act as ' apostolic delegates ' and to ordain clergyand administer discipline in the churches of Ephesusand Crete. In the Didache we hear also of itinerantapostles, prophets, and teachers, who visit the localchurch, and directions are given that, if a prophet wishesto settle among them, he is to be accorded a position ofpre-eminence. At the same time injunctions are giventhat ' bishops and deacons ' are to be held in honour1 for they also minister to you the ministry of prophetsand teachers.' In this picture we see a survival of thehonour and esteem in which the special gifts of missionaryapostles and Christian prophets were held, and a dis-position to rank on a lower level the local ministry ofoffice.- But as the Apostles and early missionaries

    1 For a fuller discussion, see Additional Note 2.2 On the value of the testimony of the Didache, see Dean Robinson

    in Essays on the Early History of the Church and Ministry^ p. 68.C

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    34 INTRODUCTIONpassed away, and the gift of prophecy became rare, 1 thelocal ministry absorbed many of the permanent functionsexercised by these earlier ministries. These new con-ditions are reflected in the Ignatian epistles.

    (i) There is no trace of the itinerant ministry ofapostles and prophets which we find in the Didache,and we read only of the local threefold ministry ofbishops, priests, and deacons.

    (ii) At the head of each church thjre is a singlebishop, who is superior to the presbyters, though closelyassociated with them. The bishop alone can give therequisite authority for the performance of ministerialacts. 2 The monarchical character of his office is clearlyshown by the comparison of the bishop to ' the Father 'or ' Jesus Christ,' while the presbyters represent theApostles. On this comparison see antea, p. 19.

    (iii) The bishop's office is localized and he is perman-ently attached to the local church. Ignatius mentionsthe bishops of the cities of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles,Philadelphia and Smyrna. Of a diocese, in the latersense of the word, there is no trace, 3 and the bishop'sauthority is not, like that of the Apostles, of a general,undefined character, but is limited to a particularchurch.Thus in the Ignatian Epistles we find the three ordersof bishops, priests, and deacons. The bishop's office

    appears for the first time under the name by which it hassince been known in history, although, as we have seen,there is something like an anticipation of the positionoccupied by him in the presidency of St. James in theChurch of Jerusalem.

    There are a few other facts which may be noticedabout the ministry in the Ignatian Epistles.

    1 Ignatius, however, claims the gift of prophecy in Philad. 7.See note.

    2 Smyrn. 8.3 In Rom. 2 Ignatius calls himself ' bishop of Syria,' and else-

    where he refers to the 'Church of Syria' and its connection withhimself. CI. Eph. 21, Magn. 14, Rom. 9, Trail. 13. Probablythere was only one Christian centre in Coele-Syria at this time, inwhich case ' Syria' is a synonym of Antioch. See note Rom. 2.

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    ST. IGNATIUS AS TEACHER 351. Closely associated with the bishops, and forming a

    ' spiritual coronal ' about him, are the presbyters, andwith them the deacons. The bishop's authority, thoughmonarchical, 'is very far from being autocratic.' 1 In hisadministration the presbyters form a 'council' 2 aroundhim as 'the strings to a harp.' 3 The writer is scarcelyless emphatic in asserting the duty of obedience to thepresbyters than he is to the bishop. If the bishop repre-sents the Lord, the presbyters represent the Apostles. 4Ignatius bids his readers be subject to the bishop ' asunto the grace of God,' and to the presbytery 'as untothe law of Jesus Christ.' 5

    Similarly he bids his readers obey the deacons. Thethree orders together form a central authority, so that' without these there is no church deserving the name.' 6

    2. Ignatius tells us little of the source of the bishop'sauthority or of the way in which such authority wasdelegated to him. He speaks of the bishops as repre-senting the authority of Christ, though never as succeedingto the Apostles. On the other hand, he compares thepresbyters to the Apostles, though he is thinking of theApostles in their relation to Christ during His ministryand not as they were after the Ascension, when theythemselves became the representatives of Christ. 7 Theonly passage in which it has been suggested that Ignatiusclaims apostolic authority for the bishop's office is Trail.7, where he urges them to be 'inseparable from Jesus

    ^Christ and the bishop and the ordinances of the Apostles.'In this last phrase Lightfoot sees a reference to theinstitution of episcopacy (see note on the passage).Similarly in Trail. 12 Ignatius bids them 'severally,and especially the presbyters, refresh the bishop to thehonour of the Father and of Jesus Christ and of theApostles.'

    3. The language of the epistles does not support theview of Ramsay and others, that episcopacy is insisted

    ' Lightfoot, I, p. 397. 2 See an/ca, p. 1 8.3 Eph. 4. 4 Magn. 6, Trail. 2, 3, Smyrn. 8.5 Magn. 2. Trail. 3.7 See Gore, Church and Ministry, pp. 303, 304.

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    3 INTRODUCTIONon so strongly in these letters because Ignatius recog-nized it as a new and valuable institution, which hedesired to see established everywhere. 1 From othersources, indeed, it would seem that a representative ofthe episcopal order was not established in every citychurch at this time, as in the case of Philippi, in writingto which Church Polycarp only makes mention of theirpresbyters and deacons. 2 But when we study the Igna-tian epistles themselves, we see no trace of an idea thatthe episcopal office is of recent introduction. The writerspeaks of the ' bishops established in the furthestquarters.' 3 Without the three orders of bishops, pres-byters, and deacons ' there is no church deserving thename.' 4 Nor can we draw any argument from theabsence of any mention of the bishop in the Epistleto the Romans. That epistle is of a purely personalcharacter, and it is written with reference to the actionof certain members of the Church of Rome, who wereanxious to procure a respite for Ignatius. He nowheresalutes or makes mention of any of the officers of theChurch in that city, whether bishop, presbyters, ordeacons. Hence no argument can fairly be drawn fromthe absence of all mention of the ministry in the RomanChurch, in favour of the idea that the Church at Romedid not possess a representative of one of the threeorders, i.e. a bishop.The repeated insistence by Ignatius on the duty ofobedience to this threefold ministry was occasioned bythe danger arising in his day from the heretical andseparatist tendencies of the Docetic and Judaic parties.But it has its roots in that idea of the Church and itsunity which we have already described. The sameprinciple, the union of ' flesh ' and ' spirit,' of outwardand inward, appears in his language upon the Eucharistin Philad. 4, Smvrn. 6, 8. On the one hand, he usesclear and definite language as to the nature of the giftreceived in the sacrament. The Eucharist is ' the fleshof Christ,' ' the gift of God,' ' the medicine of immor-

    1 Ch. in R. Emf., pp. 370 foil. Polyc, Phil. 5.:i Eph. 3. * Trail. 3.

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 39the Father, foreordained before the ages to be con-tinually for abiding and unchangeable glory; united andchosen out by a passion truly suffered, 1 through thewill of the Father and Jesus Christ our God; to theChurch which is at Ephesus [in Asia], worthy of con-gratulation, heartiest greeting in Jesus Christ and in joythat is without reproach.

    I. I welcomed in God your dearly loved name, 2 whichis yours by nature 3 [in an upright and just mind] byfaith and love towards Christ Jesus our Saviour. Beingimitators of God, you were kindled into action by theblood of God, and perfectly fulfilled a task whichaccorded with your nature. For when you heard 4 thatI was come from Syria in bonds for the Name andhope common to us all, and that I was hoping by yourprayer to attain my purpose of fighting with wild beastsat Rome, that through my attaining I may be enabledto be a disciple, you were anxious to visit me. Ireceived therefore your numerous body 5 in the nameof God in the person of Onesimus, whose love surpassesRom. xv. 29, Eph. i. 23, etc. It denotes, in the language of St.Paul and St. John, the whole sum of the Divine attributes. Outof the Divine fulness each man receives the gifts and graces neededfor the spiritual life. The word 'fulness,' as also the words'blessed,' 'foreordained,' 'glory,' 'chosen out,' 'the will [of theFather],' are perhaps reminiscences of the opening verses of St.Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.

    1 The words ' truly suffered ' are an allusion to the Docetic error.2 The word ' name ' is used in the sense of ' character.'3 This character was due to natural gifts rather than training oraccidental circumstances. The words in brackets have been added

    by Lightfoot from the abridged Syriac version, having probablyfallen out at a time earlier than any existing copies of theGreek text.

    4 Probably at the point where Ignatius' guards took the northernroute through Philadelphia, instead of the southern route throughTralles, Magnesia, and Ephesus, messengers were sent to informthose Churches of Ignatius' approaching visit to Smyrna.

    5 In receiving their bishop Onesimus, Ignatius received thewhole Church which he represented.

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    4o THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANSwords, who is, besides, in the flesh your bishop. I praythat you may love him with a love according tc JeusChrist, and that you may all be like him. For blessedis He Who granted unto you, worthy as you are, topossess such a bishop.

    II. Concerning my fellow-servant Burrhus, 1 who byGod's appointment is your deacon and is blessed inall things, I pray that he may remain here unto thehonour of yourselves and the bishop. And Crocus,who is worthy of God and of you, whom I receivedas a pattern of the love borne by you, has relieved mein all thingsmay the Father of Jesus Christ in likemanner refresh 2 himalong with Onesimus and Bur-rhus and Euplus and Fronto, in whose presence mylove saw you all. May I have joy of you all continually,if I be worthy. So then it is fitting in every way toglorify Jesus Christ Who has glorified you, that inone obedience you may be perfectly joined together,submitting yourselves to the bishop and to the pres-bytery, and may in all things be found sanctified.

    III. I do not command you, as though I weresomewhat. For even though I be bound in the Name,I have not yet become perfected in Jesus Christ. Fornow I am making a beginning of discipleship, and Iaddress you as my fellow-disciples. 3 For it were meetfor me to be anointed by you 4 for the contest with

    1 For Burrhus, cf. Philad. n, Smyrn. 12, from which we seethat the request of Ignatius was granted.

    2 Probably a reminiscence of 2 Tim. i. 16.3 The word used here() is understood by Light-foot and Zihn to mean 'school-f. Hows.' The word is not foundelsewhere, but Lightfoot adduces in illustration a Latin word found

    in inscriptions, ' compedagogita, ? which is used in the plural todenote slaves trained in the same school or under the same master.The master in this ca-e is Christ.

    4 Tuie anointing of the athlete was the work of the trainer.Cf. Rom. 3. In both passages the idea is that the Church alluded

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 41faith, admonition, patience, long-suffering. But sincelove does not suffer me to be silent concerning you,I have therefore hastened to exhort you to set yourselvesin harmony with the mind of God. For even JesusChrist, our inseparable Life, is the Mind of the Father,as also the bishops, established in the furthest quarters, 1are in the mind of Jesus Christ.

    IV. Hence it is fitting for you to set yourselves inharmony with the mind of the bishop, as indeed youdo. For your noble presbytery, worthy of God, is fittedto the bishop, as the strings to a harp. And thus bymeans of your accord and harmonious love Jesus Christis sung. 2 Form yourselves one and all into a choir, thatblending in concord, taking the key-note of God, youmay sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christto the Father, that He may hear you and recognize bymeans of your well-doing that you are members of HisSon. Therefore it is profitable for you to live inunblameable unity, that you may be also partakers ofGod continually.

    V. For if I in a short space of time had such inter-course with your bishop, not after the common way ofmen, but after the spirit, how much more do I con-to had encouraged and instructed, by example and precept, themartyrs of Christ. Ephesus was, in Ignatius' phiase, ' the highwayof martyrs' (c. 12). Prisoners condemned to the wild beasts inthe Roman amphitheatre, coming from the East, would in mostcases sail from the port of Ephesus to Ostia. Ramsay {Ch. inR. Emp., p. 318) shows that the route taken by Ignatius Masunusual.

    1 Ignatius is introducing the great theme found in all his epistles,the importance of unity. Christ is at one with the Father ; thebishops, however distant from each other, are at one with JesusChrist. In the phrase 'furthest quarters,' 'Ignatius would becontemplating regions as distant as Gaul on the one hand andMesopotamia on the other' (L'ghtfoot).

    2 Jesus Christ is the theme of their song For the metaphor,cf. Philad I, and Rom. 2.

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 43to bear about with them the Name, while they practisecertain other deeds unworthy of God. These you mustneeds avoid as wild beasts. 1 For they arc mad dogs,biting stealthily, against whom you must be on yourguard, for their bite is hard to heal. There is onePhysician, of flesh and of spirit, 2 originate and un-originate, 3 God in man, true Life in death, son ofMary 4 and Son of God, first passible and thenimpassible, Jesus Christ our Lord.VIII. Let no man then deceive you, as indeed youare not deceived, for you are wholly given to God. Forwhen no evil desire is implanted in you, which cantorment you, then are you living after a godly manner.I devote myself to abasement for your sakes, 5 I sur-

    1 Cf. Smyrn. 4, Philad. 2.2 On the antithesis of 'fledi' and 'spirit' in these epistles, see

    Introd. 4. The word 'spirit' expresses here the Divine natureof Christ. We may compare 2 Clem. c. 9, 'Christ the Lord . . .being first spirit, then became flesh.' The human element isexpressed by the word 'flesh.' For this balanced antithesis, cf.Polyc. 3.

    3 The terms employed by Ignatius are yewurjTOs and ayevv-qros.[gnatius is using the words to express little more than 'createdand uncreate.' Such language, however, points to an early periodof doctrinal statement', and could not have been used in later dayswithout incurring the charge of heresy, as it would have seemedto deny the Divine generation of the Son. 'The conception of aDivine Sonship was realized by the Church before the conceptionof a Divine generation' (Swete, Apostles' Creed, p. 28). Hencethe use of such language by Ignatius at a time when there was noexact definition of theological terms involves nothing inconsistentwith the Nicene Creed, and affords no proof that he denied thepre-existence of Christ. This latter finds expression in Magn. 6and Polyc. 3. See further Lightfoot's Excursus, vol. ii. pp. 90, foil.

    4 The whole of this passage is aimed at the Docetic error, whichdenied the realily of the Incarnation.

    5 Literally, ' I am your offscouring.' The same word, ,s used by St. Paul in I Cor. iv. 13. It is a word used of con-demned criminals of the lowest classes, who were sacrificed asexpiatory offerings in times of plague or other visitations, to avertthe wrath of the Gods. It thus includes the two ideas of ' self-devotion ' and 'abasement.'

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 45God and shrine,1 bearing Christ and your holy treasures, f+tf~*/fully arrayed in the commandments of Jesus Christ.And in your rejoicings I too have part, and am sufferedto associate with you by letter, and to rejoice with youthat you love nothing pertaining to man's outward life, 2but God only.

    X. And for the rest of men pray unceasingly 3forthere is in them hope of repentancethat they mayattain unto God. Suffer them therefore to learn dis-cipleship at least from your works. In face of theiroutbursts of wrath be meek ; in face of their boastfulwords be humble ; meet their revilings with prayers ;where they are in error, be steadfast in the faith 4 ;in face of their fury be gentle. Be not eager to retaliateupon them. Let our forbearance prove us their brethren.Let us endeavour to be imitators of the Lord, striving whocan suffer the greater wrong, 5 who can be defrauded,who be set at naught, that no rank w^H nf thn Dnvil -hp

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    46 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANSthe band of those Ephesian Christians, who were, besides,continually of one accord l with the Apostles 2 in thepower of Jesus Christ.X1L I know who I am and to whom I write. I ama condemned man, you have obtained mercy. I amsubject to peril, you are established secure. You arethe highway of those who are being conducted by deathunto God. 3 You are initiated into the mysteries alongwith Paul, 4 who was sanctified and well approved, whois worthy of congratulation ; in whose footsteps may I

    1 Or with Zahn's reading, 'consorted with.'8 In addition to St. Paul, who had resided and taught at Ephesus,"

    there may be a reference to St. John, whom a tradition, dating fromthe last quarter of the second century, represents as residing in hislater years at Ephesus. See Irenieus, adv. liter. III. i. ;Polycrates, quoted by Eusebius, H. E. v. 24 ; Clement of Alexan-dria, Quis dives salvetur, c. 42 ; cf. Tertullian, adv. Marc. iv. 5.On the evidence of a statement attributed to Papias in somerecently recovered fragments of Philip of Side (fifth century) to theeffect that the Apostle John was slain by the Jews, this residence atEphesus has been called in question by some recent scholars, and itis certainly surprising that Ignatius in his letter to the Ephesiansnowhere expressly refers to St. John. See for a discussion of thewhole question Stanton, Gospels as Historical Documents, I. 162 f.

    ,

    213 f. St. Peter's first epistle is addressed to Asiatic Christians, andSt. Andrew and St. Philip are represented in early tradition ashaving lived in these regions.

    8 Ephesus was 'a highway of martyrs. ' Criminals were frequentlyreserved for the shows and hunting scenes in the amphitheatre, andthe provinces were resorted to for the supply of victims. TheChristians would be treated as common criminals, unless they wereRoman citizens. Such bands of prisoners from the East wouldpass along the great route which reached the sea at Ephesus, andwould thence be shipped to Ostia, the port of Rome.

    4 A metaphor derived from the ancient mysteries and suggestedby the language of St. Paul, who constantly uses the word of theGospel, and in Phil. iv. 12, speaks of himself as 'initiated' (A.Y.' I am instructed '). Ignatius is speaking of their intercourse withmartyrs. Among these was St. Paul, who had resided and taughtat Ephesus. The notices in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim. i. 3,2 Tim. i. 18, iv. 13, 20) represent the Apostle as traversing thesesame regions and, like Ignatius, journeying to Troas on his wayto Rome for his final trial and martyrdom On the silence ofIgnatius as to St. John's residence at Ephesus, see note on c. II.

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 47be found closely following, when I attain unto God ;who makes mention of you in every letter l in ChristJesus.

    XIII. Be diligent therefore to come together moreoften to render thanks 2 to God and to give glory. Forwhen you frequently assemble together, the forces ofSatan are overthrown and the destruction which he isplanning is undone by the harmony of your faith.Nothing is better than peace, by which all warfare ofheavenly and earthly foes is brought to naught.

    XIV. None of these things escapes your notice, ifyou hold fast perfectly your faith and love in JesusChrist, for these are the beginning and the end of life.The beginning is faith, the end is love. And the twoblending in unity are God, and all else follows on these,ending in perfect goodness. No man who professesfaith lives in sin, nor if he possesses love, does he livein hatred. The tree is manifest by its fruit. 3 In likemanner they who profess to be Christ's, shall be appaientby their deeds. For at this time the ^Vork 4 is no merematter of profession, but is seen only when a man isfound living in the power of faith unto the end.XV. It is better to keep silence and to be than to

    talk and not to be. 5 It is good to teach, if the speakeract. Now there was One Teacher, Who spake and it

    1 The words 'in every letter' are difficult. Pearson tianslates' throughout his letter,' and refers it to the Epistle to the Ephesians.There are, however, references to the Ephesian Christians and toEphesus in several of St. Paul's epistles, e.g. Rom. xvi. 5 ; I Cor.xv. 32, xvi. 8, 19 ; 2 Cor. i. 8 sq. ; 1 Tim. i. 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 18, iv. 12.2 Eit. 'come together for thanksgiving.' The wordis here probably used generally, but indirectly refers to theEucharist.

    3 See Matt. xii. 33 ; cf. Luke vi. 44.4 For 'the Work 'in the sense of 'the preaching and practiceof Christianity,' see Rom. 3, and cf. Acts xv. 38, Phil. ii. 30. Cf.also John. iv. 34, vi. 29, xvii. 4.; ' Probably he is thinking of the quiet demeanour of their bishop.

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    48 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANScame to pass. 1 And the deeds which He has done insilence are worthy of the Father. He who is trulymaster of the spoken word of Jesus is able also to listento His silence, 2 that he may be perfect, and so mayact by his speech, and be understood by his silence.Nothing is hidden fiom the Lord, but even our secretsare brought nigh unto Him. Let us therefore do allthings in the assurance that He dwells within us, thatwe may be His shrines 3 and He Himself may dwell inus as God. For this is indeed true and will be mademanifest before our eyes by the services of love whichas our bounden duty we render unto Him.XVI. Be not deceived, my brethren. They that

    corrupt houses 4 shall not inherit the kingdom of God.If then they who did such deeds after the flesh wereput to death, how much more if a man by his evilteaching corrupt God's faith for which Jesus Christ wascrucified. Such a man, becoming defiled, shall gointo unquenchable fire, and in like manner he thatheareth him.XVII. For this cause 5 the Lord received the oint-

    ment 6 upon His head, that He might breathe the odour1 He applies to Christ's work the words which the .-almist used

    (Ps. xxxii. [xxxiii.] 9) of God's action in Creation.2 Instances of this silence are the thirty years' retirement before

    His public ministry, His withdrawal from popular demonstrations,His retirement for prayer, and His silence at his trial.

    3 Cf. I Cor. iii. 16, 17, vi. 19, 2 Cor. vi. 16, Rev. xxi. 3. andsee Philad. 7.

    4 Suggested by the passages quoted in the preceding note. The'corrupters of houses' refer to those who pollute their hearts andbodies by evil.

    5 The words refer to what follows, ' that He might breathe,' etc.6 This refers to the anointing at Bethany. See Mark xiv. 3 sq.,

    Matt. xxvi. 6 sq., John xii. 2 sq. Zahn and Lightfoot find theparallelism to 'breathe upon the church' in the words recordedby St. John only, ' the house was filled with the odour of theointment.' They infer accordingly from the passage a knowledgeby Ignatius of St. John's narrative. But it is more probable that

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 51to lose their power ; l the ignorance of wickedness beganto vanish away ; the overthrow of the ancient dominionwas being brought to pass, 2 since God was appearingin human form unto newness of ]]J__eternal. Thatwhich had been perfected in the mind of God wascoming into being. Hence all things were disturbed,because the overthrow of death wa>s being planned.XX. If Jesus Christ permit me through your prayer,

    and it be God's will, in my second treatise, which I amabout to write unto you, 3 I will go on to set forth theDivine plan, which I began to expound, with referenceto the new nin, 4 Jesus Christ, consisting in faith inHim and love toward Him, in His Passion and Resur-rection, especially if the Lord make any 5 revelation tome. I Meet in common assembly in grace, every one ofyou, man by man, in one faith and in one Jesus Christ,Who is according to the flesh of the stock of David, theSon of man and Son of God, so that you may obeythe bishop and the presbytery with a mind free from,distraction; breaking one bread, 6 which is the medicineof immortality, the antidote preserving us that we shouldnot die but live for ever in Jesus Christ.

    1 .Magic and witchcraft were widely prevalent in the Empirethroughout the first four centuries. Cf. Acts xix. 19 for an accountof its prevalence at Ephesus. The emperor Hadrian, in a letterwritten to Servianus about 134 A.D., says with reference to thecity of Alexandria: 'There is no ruler of a synagogue there, noSamaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, asoothsayer, a quack.' The idea that the power of witchcraft wasbroken by the coming of Christ is commonly found in the Fathers.

    - Lightfoot's reading has been adopted.{ There is nothing to show that this design was ever carried out./ 4 For the 'new man,' cf. 1 Cor. xv. 45, 47. Lightfoot suggests

    that Ignatius may have understood Eph. iv. 24 to refer to Christ.' Zahn's emendation has been adopted.6 For the phrase, cf. Acts ii. 46, xx. 7, etc., I Cor. x. 16. The

    reference is to the Eucharist, which is the bond of unity betweenChrist and His members. See Smyrn. 8, Philad. 4. With thefollowing words cf. John vi. 53, 54.

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    52 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANSXXL I am devoted to you 1 and to those whom you

    sent to Smyrna for the honour of God. It is fromthence, moreover, that I am writing to you with thanks-giving to the Lord, and with love for Polycarp as wellas for yourselves. Remember me, even as Jesus Christremembers you. Pray for the Church which is inSyria, whence I am being led in bonds to Rome, thoughI am the last among the faithful there ; according as Iwas deemed worthy to be found destined for the honourof God. Farewell in God the Father and in JesusChrist our common Hope.

    1 Lit. 'I am a sncrifice for you.' The \vr rd , usedhere, occurs again, Smvrn. 10, Polyc. 2, r7. it closely resemblesthe word used in c. 8. Bui the prominent idea is simply 'devotionto, and love for, another.' The word may be illustrated by anotherword of similar formation,, Mike-minded,' which is foundnot only in Phil. ii. 20, but also in the LXX version of Ps. liv. [1\\]14 (translated in the P.-B. *. ' my companion '). Others, however,see in the phrase a fuller significance, ' I give my life for you,' andfind in it an allusion to his coming martyrdom. Cf. for the ideaI John iii. [6. Athanasius [de Inc. 9) uses ihe word of our Lord'ssacrifice.

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    II. THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS.[Magnesia by the Mseander was about fifteen Roman miles

    south-east of Ephesus. The foundation of the Church thereprobably dates from St. Paul's residence at Ephesus (Acts xix.io26). The Magnesian Christians, like the Ephesians, on hearingof Ignatius' visit to Smyrna, had sent delegates to that city, in-cluding representatives of all three orders of the ministry (c. 2).Ignatius writes to acknowledge their interest in him. As in otherepistles, he urges the imporiance of unity and the duty of obedienceto the ministry, especially warning them against presuming uponthe youthfulness of their bishop (c. 3). In cc. 8 10 he deals witha form of Judaistic error, against which he warns them, without,however, implying its actual existence at Magnesia (cf. cc. II, 12,14). There are incidental allusions to Docetism (cc. 9, II). Seefurther Add. Note I.]

    Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that hasbeen blessed by the grace of God the Father in ChristJesus our Saviour, in Whom I salute the Church whichis in Magnesia by the Maeander, and wish her in Godthe Father and in Jesus Christ heartiest greeting.

    I. When I learned that your godly love shows itselfin a most orderly demeanour, 1 I rejoiced and resolvedto address myself to you in the faith of Jesus Christ.For having been granted a title of the highest reverence, 2in my bonds which I wear I sing the praises of thechurches,3 and I pray that in them there may be unionof flesh and spirit,4 which belong to Jesus Christ, our

    1 /'. e. tl eir submission to authority.2 Probably the title of ' a prisoner of Jesus Christ.' Cf. Ej h.

    iii. 1, iv. 1, Philem. 1, 9.3 Cf. Eph. 4, Rom. 2. Here, as there, Ignatius 'compares

    himself to some gay reveller ; his fetters are his holiday deco a-tion.' Lightfoot.

    4 Cf. Rom. inscr. and below, c. 13. On Ignatius' conceptionof the unity of the Church, see Introd. 4. The source of theChurch's unity, as of its life, is Christ Himself. See below,'union with Jesus and the Father.' Cf. Trail. 11.

    53

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    54 THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANScontinual Life, an union in both faith and loveforthere is nothing better than thatand, more than all,union with Jesus and the Father. In Him we shallendure all the malicious attacks of the prince of thisworld, 1 and, escaping from them, shall attain unto God

    II. Since therefore I have been permitted to seeyou in the person of Damas, your godly bishop, andthe worthy presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius, andmy fellow-servant, the deacon Zotion, of whom may Ihave joy, because he is subject unto the bishop as untothe grace of God, and to the presbytery as unto the lawof Jesus Christ 2

    III. And for yourselves, it is fitting that you tooshould not treat lightly the youth of your bishop, butconsidering the power of God the Father, 3 pay him allreverence. For in like manner I have perceived thatthe holy presbyters have not presumed upon hisseemingly youthful state,4 but yield place to him as toone who is prudent 5 in God, or rather not to him, butto the Father of Jesus Christ, even to Him Who isBishop of all men. 6 So then for the honour of Him,

    1 See note Eph. 17.2 'The bishop is here regaided as the dispenser of blessings;

    the presbyters as the representatives and guardians of order.' LlGHTFOOT. The sentence is unfinished.3 i. e. the authority bestowed on him by God.4 The words have been variously translated.The rendering given above follows Pearson and Lightfoot. Others,

    seeing in the words an allusion to episcopacy as a newly-createdinstitution, translate 'not recognizing the seemingly newly-createdoffice. ' But, apart from the fact that the language of Ignatius lendsno countenance to the view that he regarded episcopacy as a newinstitution, the words will not admit of this rendering. Zahnrenders 'the ordination of a young man,' but this puts a strain onthe words. The translation above ijdve-; good sense. Damasoutwardly appeared youthful, but showed a wisdom beyond hisyears.

    5 The reading of the Armenian Version has been followed.6 Cf. Rom. 9. Polyc. inscr. See I Pet. ii. 25.

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    5 6 THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANSmentioned I beheld in faith your whole number, andhave welcomed them, I urge you, be diligent to do allthings in godly concord, the bishop presiding after thepattern x of God, and the presbyters after the pattern ofthe council of the Apostles, with the deacons also whoare most dear to me, seeing they are entrusted with aservice under 2 Jesus Christ, Who before the ages waswith the Father, and appeared at the end. 3 Therefore *seeking to conform yourselves to the ways of God, 4 *-reverence one another, and let no man look upon hisneighbour after the flesh, but in Jesus Christ love oneanother continually. Let there be nothing among youwhich shall be able to divide you, but be united withthe bishop, and with them that have the rule over youfor a pattern and lesson of incorruption.VII. As therefore the Lord did nothing without the

    1 Reading, which has the support of the Syriac andArmenian Versions. The Greek text, Latin Version, and theLonger Greek text read, ' in the place of.'There are two types of authority to which Ignatius likens the

    authority of the bishop, both being suggested by the memory ofthe Lord's earthly ministry. (i) The bishop represents theauthority of the Father, to whom Christ, as Son of Man, duringHis earthly life yielded obedience (cf. Tiall. 3, Smyrn. 8, andpresent passnge). (2) The bishop represents the authority ofChrist over His Apostles (cf. Trail. 2). In Magn. 13 we findboth comparisons.The presbyters are regularly compared to the Apostles. Cf.Trail. 2, 3 ; Smyrn. 8.The deacons are also compared to Jesus Christ, but in Hisrelation as Son of Man to the Father. See present chapter andTrail. 3 (note).The word ' council ; is suggested by primitive Church custom.The bishop sat in the centre, with the presbyters forming a'corona' about him (cf. c. 13). Cf. Trail. 3, Philad. 8. In App.Const, ii. 28 the presbyters are called 'the council of the Church.'

    2 Or ' a service in which Jesui Christ ministered.' (Cf. Matt.xx. 28, Mark x. 45. Cf. Trail. 3 ) For the rendering given, cf.2 Cor. xi. 23, I Tim. iv. 6.

    3Cf. Ileb. i. 2. _4 Cf. Polyc. 1 note.

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    Till: EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS 57Father 1 [being united with Him 2 ], neither of Himselfnor by the Apostles, so neither do you act in anythingapart from the bishop and presbyters. Neither attemptto persuade yourselves that anything is right which youdo of yourselves apart. But in common let there beone prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, inlove, in joy that is without blame, which 3 is Jesus Christfor there is naught better than He. Gather yourselvestogether, all of you, as unto one shrine, even God, 4 asunto one altar, even One Jesus Christ, Who proceededfrom One Father, 5 and is in One and returned to One.

    VIII. Be not deceived by strange doctrines nor byancient fables, 6 seeing that they are profitless. For if,until now, we live after the rule of Judaism, 7 we confess

    1 Cf. John viii. 28.2 Cf. Smyrn. 3. Some authorities omit the words.3 The relative refers to the whole clause. ' This perfect unity

    is Jesus Christ.' Lightfoot. In place of the relative, whichthe Latin Version reads, the Greek text has 'there is one JesusChrist.'

    4 The rendering given follows the text of Lightfoot, and adoptshis reading, for 0eoG of the Greek text and Latin Version ;'one shrine, even God,' instead of 'one shrine of God.' Withthis reading God is compared to the shrine, and Jesus Christ tothe altar-court, through which in the Jewish Temple access wasgained to the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. The idea is thatChrist is the means of access to the Father. The whole passage isan appeal for unity, which can only come through being in JesusChrist, Who is Himself in the Father. For the word altar, cf.Eph. 5, Trail. 7, Philad. 4. See also Heb. xiii. 10. For thewhole idea of the passage cf. Heb. ix. 6 sq.

    5 The reference is to His earthly mission. The language of thispassage recalls John i. 18, xiii. 3, xvi. 28.

    6 Cf. 1 Tim. i. 4, iv. 7, lit. i. 14, iii. 9. In those passages, asalso in the present passage, the reference is probably to Rabbinicfables and the allegorical interpretations of Jewish history. SeeHort {[udaistic Christianity, p. 135 sq. ). In the expressions ofthis epistle and of that to the Philadelphians there is nothing whichnecessarily points to a mixture of Gnosticism and Judaism asLightfoot supposes. See further Add. Note 1.

    7 Cf. Gal. i. 13, ii. 14. By 'the rule of Judaism.' Ignatiusmeans the observance of Jewish rites,

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    58 THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANSthat we have not received grace. 1 For the Divineprophets lived a life in accordance with Christ Jesus. 2For this cause too they were persecuted, being inspiredby [His] grace, so that unbelievers 3 might be fully con-vinced that there is One God Who manifested Himselfthrough Jesus Christ His Son, Who is His Word,4coming forth from silence, Who in all things did thegood pleasure of Him that sent Him. 5

    IX. If therefore those who lived in ancient observ-ances attained unto newness of hope, no longer keepingthe Sabbath, 6 but living a life ruled by the Lord's day, 7

    1 Cf. Gal. ii. 21, v. 4. The Pauline contrast of 'grace' and' law ' underlies the passage.

    2 For these references to the Old Testament prophets cf. Philad.5, 8, 9. These Judaistic teachers set up the authority of the OldTestament against the Gospel, and refused to accept anything inthe latter which was not prophesied in the former. Ignatiusmaintains that the teaching of the prophets anticipated, and wascompleted by, the perfect revelation of God in Christ. For thisPauline thought, cf. Rom. i. 2, iii. 21. Cf. also I Pet. i. 10, andthe present epistle c. 9 (end).3 i. e. unbelievers of a later age, who would be struck by thefulfilment of prophecy.

    4 The Greek text and Latin version both read 'His EternalWord, not coming forth from silence.' The reading translated isthat of the Armenian Version, which though translated from theSyriac, is ultimately derived from a very ancient Greek text. Itoccurs also in the earliest known quotation of these words bySeverus of Antioch (c. 513518). It suits the context better thanthe other reading, pointing a contrast with the preceding phrases,and it agrees with Ignatius' language elsewhere (cf. Eph. 19).Lightfoot thinks that the other reading was due to an alteration ofthe text in the fourth century. Both the Gnosiics and Marcellusused language of the Divine generation of the Son similar to thatof Ignatius. But the resemblance is only apparent, as the contextshows that Ignatius is speaking of the coming forth of the Word inthe Incarnation, and the question of the pre-existence of the Worddoes not come within the scope of the passage.

    5 Cf. John viii. 29.6 Cf. Coloss. ii. 16. They are not to fall back into a Jewishmode of life, represented here by the Sabbatical observances of the

    Judaistic party.7 i.

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    THE EJPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS 59whereon our life too had its rising through Him andHis deathwhich x some deny, a mystery through whichwe have received the power to believe, and therefore weendure, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ,our only Teacher how shall we be able to live apartfrom Him? 2 For the prophets also became Hisdisciples, and awaited in the Spirit 3 His coming toteach them. And therefore He, for Whom they rightlywaited, came and raised them from the dead. 4

    X. Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kind-ness. For if He should follow us in acting accordingto our acts, we are indeed undone. Therefore, becom-ing His disciples, let us learn to live in a way befittingChristianity. For he who is called by any other namebesides this, is not of God. Lay aside, then, the evilleaven 5 which has become stale 6 and bitter, and turn

    trast between the formal observance of the Sabbath and the newspirit which marked the Christian observance of the weeklyfestival of the Resurrection. For ' the Lord's day,' cf. Bainabas,15. 'We keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which alsoJesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended intothe Heavens.'

    1 The passage ' which . . . our only teacher ' is perhaps besttaken, with Zahn, as a parenthesis. It is a passing allusion to theDocetoe. In letters so closely connected in point of time as theIgnatian Epistles, it is only natural that the writer should showsigns of the thoughts which were engaging his attention at thetime. The danger arising from Docetism gives a certain colouringto the whole language of Ignatius upon the Passion of Christ, evenwhere he is not directly assailing the error.

    2 Cf. c. 10 and Phi lad. 8, 9.:{ For the idea, cf. I Pet. i. II.4 The belief in the descent of Chiist into Hades and His [reaching

    there, based probably upon the passage I Pet. iii. 19, 20, waswidespread in the second and third centuries, and was accepted bythe heretic Marcion (Iren. I. 27. 2). The clause ' He descendedinto Hell ' is not found in any baptismal creed before that ofAquileia, quoted by Rufinus, circa 400 A.I). , though it may goback much earlier (Swcte, Apostles' Creed, pp. 61, 62). A similarclause is found in the Dated Creed of Sirmium in 359 A.n.5 Cf. 1 Cor. v. 7. 6 Cf. for the idea, Ileb. viii. 13.

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    6o THE EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANSto the new leaven, 1 which is Jesus Christ, lie saltedin Him, 2 that no one among you wax corrupt, for byyour savour you shall be proved. It is outrageous toutter the name of Jesus Christ and live in Judaism.For Christianity believed not in Judaism, but Judaismin Christianity, in which people of every tongue believedand were gathered unto God.XL I write not this, my beloved, because I havelearned that some of you are in such evil case, but asone who is less than you, I desire to put you on yourguard that you fall not into the snares of vain teaching,but be fully convinced of 3 the birth and passion andresurrection, which came to pass in the time of thegovernment of Pontius Pilate 4events which truly andcertainly were brought to pass by Jesus Christ, ourHope, from which Hope may none of you ever goastray.

    XII. May I have joy of you in all things, if I beworthy. For even though I am a prisoner, I amnothing in comparison with one of you who are free.I know that you are not puffed up, for you have JesusChrist within yourselves. 5 And I know that when Ipraise you, you feel the greater shame, for it is written,1 The righteous man is his own accuse)'' 6

    XIII. Be diligent therefore to be confirmed in the1 Matt. xiii. $$, Luke xiii. 21.2 Matt. v. 13, Mark ix. 50, Luke xiv. 34. Cf. Lev. ii. 13.3 This confession, couched in an anti-Docetic form, may indicatethat Ignatius feared the danger of Docetism at Magnesia. Or

    possibly he is thinking of the dangers threatening other churches,and so gives an anticipatory warning to the Magnesians.4 The date of the Crucifixion is inseited here, as in the Creed,

    in order to emphasize the historical truth of the fact, and connectit with the general history of the period. Tacitus, in his accountof the Christians, mentions Pilate {Afni. xv. 44).5 Cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5.6 Prow xviii. 17. LXX. The Hebrew gives quite a differentsense.

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    III. THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS[Tralles was situated on the high-road which passes from

    Ephesus through Magnesia and Laodicea to the East. It wasabout seventeen or eighteen miles from Magnesia, which is almostmidway between Ephesus and Tralles. Like Magnesia, Trallesprobably owed its ( Muistianity to the preaching of St. Paul's disciples.The Trailians had sent their bishop to meet Ignatius at Smyrna,and he writes to thank them. He takes occasion to warn themagainst false teaching and separatism, without, however, accusingthem personally of these errors. The main part of the epistle(cc. 6 1 1) contains a strong protest against a Docetic error, of whichwe see a more strongly-developed for in in the heresy attacked in theEpistle to the Smyrnaeans. At the same time he urge-; upon themthe duty of outward unity and obedience to their Church officers,as their best security against error. Of special interest in thisconnection are cc. 3, 7. There is no mention of the Judaic errorcondemned in the Epistle to the Magnesians.]

    Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that isbeloved by God, the Father of Jesus Christ, to the holyChurch which is at Tralles in Asia, 1 elect and worthyof God, having peace in flesh and spirit 2 through thepassion of Jesus Christ, is our hope through theresurrection unto Him ; which Church I salute in thefulness of God, after the Apostolic manner, 3 and bidher heartiest greeting. ,v*f* M 'Sr

    I. I have learned that you exhibit a mind which isblameless and unwavering in patient endurance, notfrom habit but naturally. For so your bishop, Polybius,

    1 i.e. the Roman province of Asia.2 The text is in some confusion, the Greek text and Armenian

    Versions reading 'blood' for 'spirit.' Probably, however, thelonger Greek recension has preserved the correct reading, 'spirit.'The Armenian version omits ' through the passion.' This wouldgive the sense 'being at peace through faith in, and union with,the flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ.'3 i. e. in the Apostolic epistles.

    62

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    THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 63has informed me, who by the will of God and JesusChrist has been with me at Smyrna, and has so greatlyshared my joy in my bonds in Christ Jesus, that inhim I beheld your whole number. So then I welcomedyour godly kindness manifested through him, and gaveglory to God, when I found you to be, as I had learned,followers of God.

    II. For whenever you are subject to the bishop asunto Jesus Christ, you appear to me to be living not'the ordinary life of men, but after the manner of thelife of Jesus Christ, 1 Who died for our sakes, thatbelieving in His death you might escape death. It isnecessary therefore that you should act, as indeed youdo, in nothing without the bishop. But be subject alsoto the presbytery, 2 as unto the Apostles of Jesus Christour Hope. For if we live in Him we shall be found[in Him]. 8 Those, too, who are deacons of the mys-teries 4 of Jesus Christ must in every way be pleasingunto all. For they are not deacons of meats anddrinks, 5 but are servants of the Church of God. Sothen they must be on their guard against blame 6 asagainst fire.

    III. In like manner 7 let all reverence the deacons as1 Cf. Magn. 7. 2 On this comparison see note on Magn. 6.3 Lightfoot's reading lias been followed.4 This probably refers to their work as teachers, rather than to

    their assistance at the Eucharist. St. Paul similarly uses 'mystery'in the sense of a revealed truth. (Cf. e.g. Rom. xvi. 25.) Thepassage which follows treats of the duties of the deacon's office,not of the respect which is due to him.

    5 The original duties of the deacon's office (Acts vi. 2) involveda considerable amount of attention to mere external business, sucha* the distribution of alms. Yet there was a higher aspect of theoffice, as from the first we find the dea


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