Green Baggins

The two editions of this epistle are again debated, with most scholars believing that the shorter version (thought, in this case, not much shorter!) is the original. We will base our comments on this edition. You can find the Donaldson translation here, and the Lightfoot translation here. The Greek is available here, and the PG edition is here (starts on column 685).

An outline of the epistle follows these lines: Title, I. Desire to see the Romans (ch. 1); II. Desire for martyrdom (chs. 2-5); III. Reasons for desiring martyrdom (chs. 6-8); IV. Conclusion (chs. 9-10).

Ignatius really seems to have a death wish in this letter. He wants to become food for the wild beasts. His words are: “Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.” He was, in fact, sentenced to a death by wild beasts in the Colosseum, according to tradition.

One incidental thing needs to be mentioned. I looked carefully for any evidence pro or con the Romanist claims concerning the succession of Peter at Rome. There is no mention of the leadership of the church at Rome. Neither side, therefore, can gain much fodder for their arguments.

This epistle, like the others of Ignatius, exist in two editions, a longer and a shorter. We will be looking primarily at the shorter. There are three English translations available on the web: Roberts-Donaldson, Lightfoot, and Hoole. CCEL has a beautiful Greek font edition of the letter. And the PG link is here (the letter in question starts on column 673).

An outline of the epistle can go as follows: I. Beneficent greeting (1); II. Honor the officers of the church (2-3); III. Warning against the Docetists (4-11); IV. Final Exhortations and Greetings (12-13).

There are some very interesting things to note in this letter: Presbyterianism can find historical support in chapter 2: “It is therefor necessary that, as ye indeed do, so without the bishop ye should do nothing, but should also be subject to the presbytery, as to the apostle of Jesus Christ.” Note also the strong emphasis that Ignatius places on the diaconate: “the deacons, as being [the ministers] of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, should in every respect be pleasing to all. For they are not ministers of meat and drink, but servants of the Church of God. They are bound, therefore, to avoid all grounds of accusation [against them], as they would do fire. 3. In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the son of the Father, and the presbyters as the sanhedrim of God, and assembly of the apostles. Apart from these, there is no church” (chapters 2-3).

There is no doubt that the meat of the epistle has to do with Docetism, a heresy that believed that Jesus only appeared to be human, and wasn’t actually human. Therefore, Ignatius spends a great deal of time (chapters 9-10) propounding the reality of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

As we have noted, the epistles of Ignatius have two different versions (and in some cases, three). We will be primarily looking at the shorter versions, which are generally regarded as the originals. We have three English translations available on the web: Roberts-Donaldson, Lightfoot, and Hoole. For the Greek text, go here (it has the Perseus morphology!) and here for the PG (starts on column 661-662).

The purpose of this letter is primarily encouragement. The keyword in chapter 1 is “commend:” he commends the churches to the care of Jesus Christ. As with the letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius encourages the Magnesians to obey their bishop. In the case of the Magnesians, the youth of the bishop was apparently an obstacle to respect. It should not be, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:12 (quoted in the longer version). There will be those that try to stir things up in a negative way (chapters 4-5). The church needs to be aware of them, and strive instead for harmony (chapters 6-7). Chapter 8 is the usual warning against false doctrine. We should live for Christ, and beware of what he calls “Judaizing” (chapter 10). Ignatius evidences great humility by asserting the superiority of the recipients to himself (chapter 12). The final part of the letter is another exhortation to unity based on the truth (no non-doctrinal unity asserted here! Big-tent Presbyterians take note that Ignatius believes in unity around the truth, not unity in spite of truth, or ignoring the truth).

Here is a taste of his own words. He compares believers and unbelievers to two different kinds of coins: “For as there are two kinds of coins, the one of God, the other of the world, and each of these has its special character stamped upon it, [so it is also here.] The unbelieving are of this world; but the believing have, in love, the character of God the Father by Jesus Christ, by whom, if we are not in readiness to die into His passion, His life is not in us” (chapter 5).

One thing is rather unclear (and I am not the only one to notice this). At the end of chapter 6, he says, “Let nothing exist among you that may divide you; but be ye united with your bishop, and those that preside over, as a type and evidence of your immortality.” We can, of course, understand the commands to avoid division, and to be united with the bishop. However, what do those things have to do with being a type and evidence of immortality? The original Greek might point in a different direction. Instead of “immortality,” it can be translated “incorruption.” Hoole translates it this way, as does Lightfoot. The meaning then might run this way: avoiding divisive doctrines, and instead being of one mind with the bishop is a type and evidence of incorruptibility. This makes a bit more sense to me than translating the word “immortality.”

One last word on the study of doctrine. He commands all the Magnesians to “Study, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of the Lord and the apostles” (chapter 13). In the context, it is clear that this would be an example of humility (chapter 12), as well as staying in fellowship with the bishop (the rest of chapter 13). This is certainly a vote of confidence in the theological orthodoxy of the bishop. But the point I wish to make is that the doctrines of the Lord and the apostles are the proper study of the people of God.

A few

Put quite simply, this is a stunning document, and all Christians should read it. It is the first account of a martyrdom after the writing of the New Testament, and is still generally considered to be either the best or one of the best. It is quite moving. The letter itself is from the church at Smyrna, where Polycarp was bishop, and is addressed firstly to the church at Philomelium, but secondarily to the entire church. The dating of the actual marytrdom is a matter of dispute, but most scholars seem to be coming down on a date of approximately 155-156 A.D. Polycarp knew the apostle John, and was even appointed by John to the church at Smyrna, according to Irenaeus.

We have some very rich resources for studying this letter, which you can find here. This includes no less than four English translations. I found a new website (new to me, that is!) that has the Greek text with the Perseus project morphology built in! Talk about convenient! The Patrologia volume (number 5) can be found here. The text starts at column 1029.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the text that struck me forcibly with their pathos: “And while he was praying, a vision presented itself to him three days before he was taken; and, behold, the pillow under his head seemed to him on fire. upon this, turning to those that were with him, he said to them prophetically, ‘I must be burnt alive’” (chapter 5). After he was arrested, but before they took him away to be burned, he offered them hospitality (!): “Immediately then, in that very hour, he ordered that something to eat and drink should be set before them” (the “them” are those who came to arrest him). As a result of this kindness, some repented of doing harm to this kind old man (chapter 7). The following must be quoted at length:

And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, [the proconsul] sought to persuade him to deny [Christ], saying, “Have respect to thy old age,” and other similar things, according to their custom, [such as], “Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists.” (The atheists were the Christians in such statements, LK). But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said, “Away with the Atheists” (meaning non-Christians, LK). Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying, “Swear, and I will set thee at liberty, reproach Christ;” Polycarp declared, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?” (Chapter 9)

Two chapters later, the proconsul threatens him with various tortures, but Polycarp answers as a man:

The proconsul then said to him, “Ii have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast thee, except thou repent.” But he answeed, “Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil; and it is well for me to be changed from what is evil to what is righteous.” But again the proconsul said to him, ” I will cause thee to be consumed by fire, seeing thou despisest the wild beasts, if thou wilt not repent.” But Polycarp said, “Thou threatenest me with fire which burneth for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but art ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why tarriest thou? Bring forth what thou wilt.” (chapter 11)

A beautiful account, and very inspiring. Take and read.

By now, you should know the drill. Introduction (including online resources), outline, then highlights.

Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna, and lived from 65-155 AD. He was martyred at an old age, the most moving account of which we will examine in the next post. This letter is usually dated between 120-140 AD (Roberts-Donaldson are non-committal). It is extant in some deficient Greek manuscripts, and chapters 9-14 are only available to us in Latin translation (the most important chapters of which are preserved in long citations from Eusebius). The character of this letter is not original, or particularly eloquent in and of itself. The Roberts-Donaldson introduction says “The Epistle of Polycarp is usually made a sort of preface to those of Ignatius, for reasons which will be obvious to the reader” (p. 31). In chapter 13, we learn that the church of Phillipi had requested the letters of Ignatius to be sent to them, which Polycarp agreed to do. They are even said to be “subjoined to this Epistle” (chapter 13). The same introduction also casts some doubt on the genuineness of chapter 13: “There seems considerable force in the arguments by which many others have sought to prove chap. xiii to be an interpolation.” Be that as it may, this post will assume the chapter is genuine. There is certainly no reason to believe that the letter as a whole is spurious. For English translations, we have easy access to three online: Lightfoot, Roberts-Donaldson, and Lake. The Greek can be found here in Migne. The letter itself starts on column 1005. The link to the beautiful Greek font version on the Early Christian Writings website is unfortunately unavailable at this time.

An outline of the letter is as follows: I. Encouragement of the Philippians (chapter 1); II. Exhortations (chapter 2-12); III. The Epistles of Ignatius (chapter 13); Conclusion (chapter 14). I realize that Roman numeral II in this outline is quite a bit bigger. However, all those chapters are really exhortations, ranging from virtue as a whole (chapter 2) to the duties of deacons, the young, the unmarried (chapter 5), and elders (chapter 6). There are exhortations to avoid heresy (chapter 7), especially the Docetists, it seems. Hope, patience, and the graces of the Christian life take up chapters 8-12.

The one thing that struck my notice was his humility, most evident in chapter 3: “These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because ye have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and glorified Paul.” The indications are that he either knew John the apostle, or was only one generation removed from John. So his humility is all the more remarkable. Read and be edified. For this epistle also is Scripture-saturated.