IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH (c. 35–c. 107) was a bishop and Christian saint, martyred in Rome. His name may be derived from the Latin ignis, which means "fire," but nothing is known of his origins. Origen relates that Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch after Peter, but Eusebius of Caesarea writes that he was the third bishop of Antioch after succeeding Peter and Euodius (d. around 69) and thus the predecessor of Heron of Antioch (70–107). He may have met the apostles and most probably John and Paul, but there is no confirmation of this. In his letter to the Ephesians (9.2), he calls himself theophoros, that is, "God-bearer," a man who bears in himself God and Christ. Indeed, his letters show him to be an exceptional man with an exceptional faith in Christ.

Although Ignatius lacked formal education, his rule as bishop was an illustrious one. During the persecutions of Emperor Trajan he was arrested, condemned, and ordered to be executed at Rome. Because of his high reputation, his execution in Rome would provide an example to the growing numbers of Christians in the East and at the same time an entertainment for the Romans, who delighted in witnessing the execution of prominent Christians. On his way to Rome, Ignatius was taken under the guard of ten soldiers to Smyrna, whence he wrote letters to the Christians of Ephesus, Magnesia Tralles, and Rome. From Troas he wrote letters to the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna and to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. Apparently, throughout the long and exhausting journey, he was received by the Christian communities with great respect and reverence. Finally he was executed in the Colosseum of Rome. Another tradition, originating in Antioch and recorded in the sixth century by John Malalas, holds that Ignatius suffered martyrdom in Antioch, but such information is without any historical foundation. The Eastern church commemorates Ignatius's name on December 20 and the Western church on February 1.

Most patrologists today accept the authenticity of seven letters of Ignatius. Because of Ignatius's emphasis on the importance of the office of bishop, a dispute arose among patristic scholars during the fifteenth and then during the sixteenth centuries concerning the authenticity of the letters. Although there are four versions of these letters, the dispute has settled on the authenticity of the so-called long recension and short recension. The first contains thirteen letters and the second only three (those to the Ephesians, Romans, and Polycarp). Through vigorous discussion and debate by John Pearson (1672), Joseph B. Lightfoot (1885), and others, the authenticity of the seven letters has been accepted. Most recently, J. Rius-Camps (1980) advanced the theory that a forger, availing himself of the genuine ending of the letter to the Ephesians, and through a process of interpolation and plagiarism, composed three spurious letters to the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna, and to Polycarp. The chief motive of the alleged forger, according to Rius-Camps, was to emphasize church unity and absolute obedience to the bishop. Such an elaborate hoax cannot be proved beyond dispute. The seven letters of Ignatius can still claim credibility and acceptance.

Although not a man of secular erudition, Ignatius, with his simplicity of style, his biblical language and idioms, and his emotional and passionate devotion to Jesus Christ, is one of the most attractive of the early church fathers. His great faith, humility, and willingness to suffer martyrdom for Christ are reflected movingly in his letters, which emphasize three central themes: Christ, the unity of the church under the bishop, and the Eucharist. He is probably the first father of the church to emphasize in clear terms both the divinity and the humanity of Christ: "There is only one physician—of flesh yet spiritual, born yet unbegotten, God incarnate, genuine life in the midst of death, sprung from Mary as well as God, first subject to suffering then beyond it—Jesus Christ our Lord" (Letter to the Ephesians 7.2). He is ready to die for Christ and only for him. "Of no use to me will be the farthest reaches of the universe or the kingdoms of this world. I would rather die and come to Jesus Christ than be king over the entire earth" (Letter to the Romans 6.1).

Ignatius is the first Christian writer to use the term catholic for the church, and he insists on the unity of the church under the auspices of the bishop. In his letter to the church at Smyrna he says

You should all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Follow, too, the presbytery as you would the apostles; and respect the deacons as you would God's law. Nobody must do anything that has to do with the Church without the bishop's approval. You should regard that Eucharist as valid which is celebrated either by the bishop or by someone he authorizes. Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. (8.1–8.2)

Other letters declare the bishop to be tupos, or likeness, of God the Father and charge that nothing should be done "without the bishop." This unity under the bishop must have practical applications. To the Magnesians he writes, "Hence you must have one prayer, one petition, one mind, one hope, dominated by love and unsullied joy—that means you must have Jesus Christ.… Run off—all of you—to one temple of God, as it were, to one altar, to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father, while still remaining one with him, and returning to him" (7.1–2).

Ecclesiastical unity should be expressed most especially during the Eucharist. Ignatius admonishes the Ephesians to

assemble yourselves together in common, every one of you severally, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David's race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that you may obey the bishop and the presbytery without distraction of mind; breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die but live for ever in Jesus Christ. (20.2)

To the Philadelphians, he writes: "Be careful, then, to observe a single eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and one cup of his blood that makes us one, and one altar just as there is one bishop along with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow slaves" (4.1). The message is clear: one God the Father, one Jesus Christ, one Holy Spirit, one church, one Eucharist, one altar, one bishop. Only through this kind of unity will the Christians prove themselves real disciples of Christ and will Christ dwell in them.

The impact of Ignatius's letters was great. He dispelled the notion that the new religion offered a magical way of salvation and propagated the teaching that only through real unity in the life of the church and in the sharing of the corporate eucharistic life will Christians taste the joy of salvation and become members of the kingdom of God.

Bibliography

A complete bibliography is available in Johannes Quasten's Patrology, vol. 1 (Utrecht, 1950), pp. 63ff. Texts of the letters can be found in The Apostolic Fathers, edited and translated by Joseph B. Lightfoot (1956; reprint, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1973); The Epistles of Saint Clement of Rome and Saint Ignatius of Antioch, edited and translated by James A. Kleist, S.J., "Ancient Christian Writers," no. 1 (Westminster, Md., 1946); and Early Christian Fathers, edited by Cyril C. Richardson, "The Library of Christian Classics," vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1953). Especially valuable discussions of the letters are found in John Romanides's "The Ecclesiology of Saint Ignatius of Antioch," Greek Orthodox Theological Review 7 (Summer 1961–Winter 1962): 53–77; and in J. Rius-Camps's The Four Authentic Letters of Ignatius, the Martyr, "Orientalia Christiana Analecta," no. 213 (Rome, 1980).

George S. Bebis (1987)