St. Clement
PREFACE.
This volume, containing the equivalent of three volumes of the Edinburgh series of the Ante-Nicene Fathers , will be found a library somewhat complete in itself. The Apostolic Fathers and those associated with them in the third generation, are here placed together in a handbook, which, with the inestimable Scriptures, supplies a succinct autobiography of the Spouse of Christ for the first two centuries. No Christian scholar has ever before possessed, in faithful versions of such compact form, a supplement so essential to the right understanding of the New Testament itself. It is a volume indispensable to all scholars, and to every library, private or public, in this country.
The American Editor has performed the humble task of ushering these works into American use, with scanty contributions of his own. Such was the understanding with the public: they were to be presented with the Edinburgh series, free from appreciable colour or alloy. His duty was (1) to give historic arrangement to the confused mass of the original series; (2) to supply, in continuity, such brief introductory notices as might slightly popularize what was apparently meant for scholars only, in the introductions of the translators; (3) to supply a few deficiencies by short notes and references; (4) to add such references to Scripture, or to authors of general repute, as might lend additional aid to students, without clogging or overlaying the comments of the translators; and (5) to note such corruptions or distortions of Patristic testimony as have been circulated, in the spirit of the forged Decretals, by those who carry on the old imposture by means essentially equivalent. Too long have they been allowed to speak to the popular mind as if the Fathers were their own; while, to every candid reader, it must be evident that, alike, the testimony, the arguments, and the silence of the Ante-Nicene writers confound all attempts to identify the ecclesiastical establishment of “the Holy Roman Empire,” with “the Holy Catholic Church” of the ancient creeds.
In performing this task, under the pressure of a virtual obligation to issue the first volume in the first month of the new year, the Editor has relied upon the kindly aid of an able friend, as typographical corrector of the Edinburgh sheets. It is only necessary to add, that he has bracketed all his own notes, so as to assume the responsibility for them; but his introductions are so separated from those of the translators, that, after the first instance, he has not thought it requisite to suffix his initials to these brief contributions. He regrets that the most important volume of the series is necessarily the experimental one, and comes out under disadvantages from which it may be expected that succeeding issues will be free. May the Lord God of our Fathers bless the undertaking to all my fellow-Christians, and make good to them the promise which was once felicitously chosen for the motto of a similar series of publications: “Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers.”
A. C. C.
January , 6, 1885.
The Ante-Nicene Christian Library is meant to comprise translations into English of all the extant works of the Fathers down to the date of the first General Council held at Nice in a.d. 325. The sole provisional exception is that of the more bulky writings of Origen. It is intended at present only to embrace in the scheme the Contra Celsum and the De Principiis of that voluminous author; but the whole of his works will be included should the undertaking prove successful.
The present volume has been translated by the Editors.
This refers to the first volume only of the original series.
Edinburgh , 1867.
Introductory Notice
[ a.d. 100–200.] The Apostolic Fathers are here understood as filling up the second century of our era. Irenæus, it is true, is rather of the sub-apostolic period; but, as the disciple of Polycarp, he ought not to be dissociated from that Father’s company. We thus find ourselves conducted, by this goodly fellowship of witnesses, from the times of the apostles to those of Tertullian, from the martyrs of the second persecution to those of the sixth. Those were times of heroism, not of words; an age, not of writers, but of soldiers; not of talkers, but of sufferers. Curiosity is baffled, but faith and love are fed by these scanty relics of primitive antiquity. Yet may we well be grateful for what we have. These writings come down to us as the earliest response of converted nations to the testimony of Jesus. They are primary evidences of the Canon and the credibility of the New Testament. Disappointment may be the first emotion of the student who comes down from the mount where he has dwelt in the tabernacles of evangelists and apostles: for these disciples are confessedly inferior to the masters; they speak with the voices of infirm and fallible men, and not like the New Testament writers, with the fiery tongues of the Holy Ghost. Yet the thoughtful and loving spirit soon learns their exceeding value. For who does not close the records of St. Luke with longing; to get at least a glimpse of the further history of the progress of the Gospel? What of the Church when its founders were fallen asleep? Was the Good Shepherd “always” with His little flock, according to His promise? Was the Blessed Comforter felt in His presence amid the fires of persecution? Was the Spirit of Truth really able to guide the faithful into all truth, and to keep them in the truth?
And what had become of the disciples who were the first-fruits of the apostolic ministry? St. Paul had said, “The same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. ” How was this injunction realized? St. Peter’s touching words come to mind, “I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” Was this endeavour successfully carried out? To these natural and pious inquiries, the Apostolic Fathers, though we have a few specimens only of their fidelity, give an emphatic reply. If the cold-hearted and critical find no charm in the simple, childlike faith which they exhibit, ennobled though it be by heroic devotion to the Master, we need not marvel. Such would probably object: “They teach me nothing; I do not relish their multiplied citations from Scripture.” The answer is, “If you are familiar with Scripture, you owe it largely to these primitive witnesses to its Canon and its spirit. By their testimony we detect what is spurious, and we identify what is real. Is it nothing to find that your Bible is their Bible, your faith their faith, your Saviour their Saviour, your God their God?” Let us reflect also, that, when copies of the entire Scriptures were rare and costly, these citations were “words fitly spoken,—apples of gold in pictures of silver.” We are taught by them also that they obeyed the apostle’s precept, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing,” etc. Thus they reflect the apostolic care that men should be raised up able to teach others also.
Their very mistakes enable us to attach a higher value to the superiority of inspired writers. They were not wiser than the naturalists of their day who taught them the history of the Phœnix and other fables; but nothing of this sort is found in Scripture. The Fathers are inferior in kind as well as in degree; yet their words are lingering echoes of those whose words were spoken “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They are monuments of the power of the Gospel. They were made out of such material as St. Paul describes when he says, “Such were some of you.” But for Christ, they would have been worshippers of personified Lust and Hate, and of every crime. They would have lived for “bread and circus-shows.” Yet to the contemporaries of a Juvenal they taught the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount. Among such beasts in human form they reared the sacred home; they created the Christian family; they gave new and holy meanings to the names of wife and mother; they imparted ideas unknown before of the dignity of man as man; they infused an atmosphere of benevolence and love; they bestowed the elements of liberty chastened by law; they sanctified human society by proclaiming the universal brotherhood of redeemed man. As we read the Apostolic Fathers, we comprehend, in short, the meaning of St. Paul when he said prophetically, what men were slow to believe, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men … But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”
A. C. C.
December , 1884.
Clement of Rome
Introductory Note to the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
A co-presbyter with Linus and Cletus, he succeeded them in the government of the Roman Church. I have reluctantly adopted the opinion that his Epistle was written near the close of his life, and not just after the persecution of Nero. It is not improbable that Linus and Cletus both perished in that fiery trial, and that Clement’s immediate succession to their work and place occasions the chronological difficulties of the period. After the death of the apostles, for the Roman imprisonment and martyrdom of St. Peter seem historical, Clement was the natural representative of St. Paul, and even of his companion, the “apostle of the circumcision;” and naturally he wrote the Epistle in the name of the local church, when brethren looked to them for advice. St. John, no doubt, was still surviving at Patmos or in Ephesus; but the Philippians, whose intercourse with Rome is attested by the visit of Epaphroditus, looked naturally to the surviving friends of their great founder; nor was the aged apostle in the East equally accessible. All roads pointed towards the Imperial City, and started from its
Milliarium Aureum
. But, though Clement doubtless wrote the letter, he conceals his own name, and puts forth the brethren, who seem to have met in council, and sent a brotherly delegation (Chap. lix.). The entire absence of the spirit of Diotrephes (
Clement fell asleep, probably soon after he despatched his letter. It is the legacy of one who reflects the apostolic age in all the beauty and evangelical truth which were the first-fruits of the Spirit’s presence with the Church. He shares with others the aureole of glory attributed by St. Paul (
The plan of this publication does not permit the restoration, in this volume, of the recently discovered portions of his work. It is the purpose of the editor to present this, however, with other recently discovered relics of primitive antiquity, in a supplementary volume, should the
The following is the Introductory Notice of the original editors and translators, Drs. Roberts and Donaldson:—
The first Epistle, bearing the name of Clement, has been preserved to us in a single manuscript only. Though very frequently referred to by ancient Christian writers, it remained unknown to the scholars of Western Europe until happily discovered in the Alexandrian manuscript. This ms. of the Sacred Scriptures (known and generally referred to as Codex A) was presented in 1628 by Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, to Charles I., and is now preserved in the British Museum. Subjoined to the books of the New Testament contained in it, there are two writings described as the Epistles of one Clement. Of these, that now before us is the first. It is tolerably perfect, but there are many slight lacunæ , or gaps, in the ms. , and one whole leaf is supposed to have been lost towards the close. These lacunæ , however, so numerous in some chapters, do not generally extend beyond a word or syllable, and can for the most part be easily supplied.
Who the Clement was to whom these writings are ascribed, cannot with absolute certainty be determined. The general opinion is, that he is the same as the person of that name referred to by St. Paul (
The date of this Epistle has been the subject of considerable controversy. It is clear from the writing itself that it was composed soon after some persecution (chap. i.) which the Roman Church had endured; and the only question is, whether we are to fix upon the persecution under Nero or Domitian. If the former, the date will be about the year 68; if the latter, we must place it towards the close of the first century or the beginning of the second. We possess no external aid to the settlement of this question. The lists of early Roman bishops are in hopeless confusion, some making Clement the immediate successor of St. Peter, others placing Linus, and others still Linus and Anacletus, between him and the apostle. The internal evidence, again, leaves the matter doubtful, though it has been strongly pressed on both sides. The probability seems, on the whole, to be in favour of the Domitian period, so that the Epistle may be dated about a.d. 97.
This Epistle was held in very great esteem by the early Church. The account given of it by Eusebius (
Hist. Eccl.
, iii. 16) is as follows: “There is one acknowledged Epistle of this Clement (whom he has just identified with the friend of St. Paul), great and admirable, which he wrote in the name of the Church of Rome to the Church at Corinth, sedition having then arisen in the latter Church. We are aware that this Epistle has been publicly read in very many churches both in old times, and also in our own day.” The Epistle before us thus appears to have been read in numerous churches, as being almost on a level with the canonical writings. And its place in the Alexandrian
ms.
, immediately after the inspired books, is in harmony with the position thus assigned it in the primitive Church. There does indeed appear a great difference between it and
[N.B.—A sufficient guide to the recent literature of the Clementine mss. and discoveries may be found in The Princeton Review , 1877, p. 325, also in Bishop Wordsworth’s succinct but learned Church History to the Council of Nicæa , p. 84. The invaluable edition of the Patres Apostolici , by Jacobson (Oxford, 1840), with a critical text and rich prolegomena and annotations, cannot be dispensed with by any Patristic inquirer. A. C. C.]
The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
In the only known ms. of this Epistle, the title is thus given at the close.
Chapter I.—The salutation. Praise of the Corinthians before the breaking forth of schism among them.
Owing, dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous events which have happened to ourselves, we feel that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the points respecting which you consulted us;
[Note the fact that the Corinthians
asked
this of their brethren, the personal friends of their apostle St. Paul. Clement’s own name does not appear in this Epistle.]
Literally, “is greatly blasphemed.” Literally, “did not prove your all-virtuous and firm faith.”
Chapter II.—Praise of the Corinthians continued.
Moreover, ye were all distinguished by humility, and were in no respect puffed up with pride, but yielded obedience rather than extorted it,
Literally, “ye embraced it in your bowels.” [Concerning the complaints of Photius (ninth century) against Clement, see Bull’s
Defensio Fidei Nicænæ, Works
, vol. v. p. 132.]
So, in the
ms.
, but many have suspected that the text is here corrupt. Perhaps the best emendation is that which substitutes
συναισθήσεως
, “compassion,” for
συνειδήσεως
, “conscience.”
Chapter III.—The sad state of the Corinthian church after sedition arose in it from envy and emulation.
Literally, “enlargement”
It seems necessary to refer
αὐτοῦ
to
God
, in opposition to the translation given by Abp. Wake and others.
Literally, “Christ;” comp.
Chapter IV.—Many evils have already flowed from this source in ancient times.
Chapter V.—No less evils have arisen from the same source in the most recent times. The martyrdom of Peter and Paul.
Literally, “those who have been athletes.”
Some fill up the
lacuna
here found in the
ms.
so as to read, “have come to a grievous death.”
Literally, “good.” [The martyrdom of St. Peter is all that is thus connected with his arrival in Rome. His numerous labours were restricted to the Circumcision.]
Seven
imprisonments of St. Paul are not referred to in Scripture.
Archbishop Wake here reads “scourged.” We have followed the most recent critics in filling up the numerous
lacunæ
in this chapter.
Some think
Rome
, others
Spain
, and others even
Britain
, to be here referred to. [See note at end.]
That is, under Tigellinus and Sabinus, in the last year of the Emperor Nero; but some think Helius and Polycletus are referred to; and others, both here and in the preceding sentence, regard the words as denoting simply the
witness
borne by Peter and Paul to the truth of the gospel before the rulers of the earth.
Chapter VI.—Continuation. Several other martyrs.
Some suppose these to have been the names of two eminent female martyrs under Nero; others regard the clause as an interpolation. [Many ingenious conjectures might be cited; but see Jacobson’s valuable note,
Patres Apostol.
, vol. i. p. 30.]
Literally, “have reached to the stedfast course of faith.”
Chapter VII.—An exhortation to repentance.
Some insert “Father.”
Chapter VIII.—Continuation respecting repentance.
Comp.
These words are not found in Scripture, though they are quoted again by Clem. Alex. (
Pædag.
, i. 10) as from Ezekiel.
Chapter IX.—Examples of the saints.
Some read
ματαιολογίαν
, “vain talk.”
Chapter X.—Continuation of the above.
Chapter XI.—Continuation. Lot.
So Joseph.,
Antiq.
, i. 11, 4; Irenæus,
Adv. Hær.
, iv. 31.
Literally, “become a judgment and sign.”
Chapter XII.—The rewards of faith and hospitality. Rahab.
Others of the Fathers adopt the same allegorical interpretation, e.g., Justin Mar.,
Dial. c. Tryph.
, n. 111; Irenæus,
Adv. Hær.
, iv. 20. [The whole matter of symbolism under the law must be more thoroughly studied if we would account for such strong language as is here applied to a poetical or rhetorical figure.]
Chapter XIII.—An exhortation to humility.
Comp.
Chapter XIV.—We should obey God rather than the authors of sedition.
Chapter XV.—We must adhere to those who cultivate peace, not to those who merely pretend to do so.
These words within brackets are not found in the
ms.
, but have been inserted from the Septuagint by most editors.
Chapter XVI.—Christ as an example of humility.
The Latin of Cotelerius, adopted by Hefele and Dressel, translates this clause as follows: “I will set free the wicked on account of His sepulchre, and the rich on account of His death.”
The reading of the
ms.
is
τῆς πληγῆς
, “purify, or free, Him from stripes.” We have adopted the emendation of Junius.
Wotton reads, “If He make.”
Or, “
fill
Him with understanding,” if
πλῆσαι
should be read instead of
πλάσαι
, as Grabe suggests.
Chapter XVII.—The saints as examples of humility.
Some fill up the
lacuna
which here occurs in the
ms.
by “Israel.”
This is not found in Scripture. [They were probably in Clement’s version. Comp.
Chapter XVIII.—David as an example of humility.
Or, as some render, “to whom.”
Or, “when Thou judgest.” Literally, “in my inwards.” Literally, “bloods.”
Chapter XIX.—Imitating these examples, let us seek after peace.
Literally, “Becoming partakers of many great and glorious deeds, let us return to the aim of peace delivered to us from the beginning.” Comp.
Chapter XX.—The peace and harmony of the universe.
Or, “collections.”
Or, “stations.”
Chapter XXI.—Let us obey God, and not the authors of sedition.
Comp.
Or, “the presbyters.” Some read, “by their silence.”
Comp.
Some translate, “who turn to Him.”
Chapter XXII.—These exhortations are confirmed by the Christian faith, which proclaims the misery of sinful conduct.
Chapter XXIII.—Be humble, and believe that Christ will come again.
Or, as some render, “neither let us have any doubt of.”
Some regard these words as taken from an apocryphal book, others as derived from a fusion of
Chapter XXIV.—God continually shows us in nature that there will be a resurrection.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter XXV.—The phœnix an emblem of our resurrection.
This fable respecting the phœnix is mentioned by Herodotus (ii. 73) and by Pliny (
Nat. Hist.
, x. 2) and is used as above by Tertullian (
De Resurr.
, §13) and by others of the Fathers.
Chapter XXVI.—We shall rise again, then, as the Scripture also testifies.
Literally, “the mightiness of His promise.”
Comp.
Chapter XXVII.—In the hope of the resurrection, let us cleave to the omnipotent and omniscient God.
Comp.
Or, “majesty.”
Comp.
Literally, “If the heavens,” etc.
Chapter XXVIII.—God sees all things: therefore let us avoid transgression.
Literally, “abominable lusts of evil deeds.”
Chapter XXIX.—Let us also draw near to God in purity of heart.
Literally “has made us to Himself a part of election.” Literally, “sowed abroad.”
Formed apparently from
Chapter XXX.—Let us do those things that please God, and flee from those He hates, that we may be blessed.
Some translate, “youthful lusts.”
Chapter XXXI.—Let us see by what means we may obtain the divine blessing.
Literally, “what are the ways of His blessing.” Literally, “unroll.”
Comp.
Some translate, “knowing what was to come.”
So Jacobson: Wotton reads, “fleeing from his brother.”
Chapter XXXII.—We are justified not by our own works, but by faith.
The meaning is here very doubtful. Some translate, “the gifts which were given to Jacob by Him,” i.e., God.
MS.
αὐτῶν
, referring to the gifts: we have followed the emendation
αὐτοῦ
, adopted by most editors. Some refer the word to
God
, and not
Jacob
.
Comp.
Chapter XXXIII.—But let us not give up the practice of good works and love. God Himself is an example to us of good works.
Or, “commandment.” Or, “in addition to all.”
Or, “let us consider.”
Chapter XXXIV.—Great is the reward of good works with God. Joined together in harmony, let us implore that reward from Him.
Or, “labourer.”
The text here seems to be corrupt. Some translate, “He warns us with all His heart to this end, that,” etc.
Chapter XXXV.—Immense is this reward. How shall we obtain it?
Some translate, “in liberty.” Or, “of the ages.”
The reading is doubtful: some have
ἀφιλοξενίαν
, “want of a hospitable spirit.” [So Jacobson.]
Literally, “didst run with.” Literally, “didst weave.” Or, “layest a snare for.”
Chapter XXXVI.—All blessings are given to us through Christ.
Literally, “that which saves us.” Or, “rejoices to behold.” Or, “knowledge of immortality.”
Some render, “to the Son.”
Some read, “who oppose their own will to that of God.”
Chapter XXXVII.—Christ is our leader, and we His soldiers.
Literally, “in these there is use.”
Literally, “all breathe together.” Literally, “use one subjection.”
Chapter XXXVIII.—Let the members of the Church submit themselves, and no one exalt himself above another.
Literally, “according as he has been placed in his charism.”
Comp.
The
ms.
is here slightly torn, and we are left to conjecture.
Comp.
Chapter XXXIX.—There is no reason for self-conceit.
Literally, “and silly and uninstructed.” Literally, “a breath.” Or, “has perceived.” Some render, “they perished at the gates.”
Chapter XL.—Let us preserve in the Church the order appointed by God.
Some join
κατά καιροὺς τεταγμένους
, “at stated times.” to the next sentence. [
Literally, “to His will.” [Comp.
Chapter XLI.—Continuation of the same subject.
Or, “consider.” [This chapter has been cited to prove the earlier date for this Epistle. But the reference to Jerusalem may be an ideal present.]
Chapter XLII.—The order of ministers in the Church.
Or, “by the command of.” Or, “by the command of.” Literally, “both things were done.” Or, “confirmed by.” Or, “having tested them in spirit.” Or, “overseers.” Or, “servants.”
Chapter XLIII.—Moses of old stilled the contention which arose concerning the priestly dignity.
Literally, “every tribe being written according to its name.”
See
Chapter XLIV.—The ordinances of the apostles, that there might be no contention respecting the priestly office.
Literally, “on account of the title of the oversight.” Some understand this to mean, “in regard to the dignity of the episcopate;” and others simply, “on account of the oversight.”
The meaning of this passage is much controverted. Some render, “left a list of other approved persons;” while others translate the unusual word
ἐπινομή
, which causes the difficulty, by “testamentary direction,” and many others deem the text corrupt. We have given what seems the simplest version of the text as it stands. [Comp. the versions of Wake, Chevallier, and others.]
i.e., the apostles. Or, “oversight.” Literally, “presented the offerings.”
Chapter XLV.—It is the part of the wicked to vex the righteous.
Or, “Ye perceive.” Or, “For.”
Literally, “worshipped.” Literally, “serve.” Or, “lifted up.”
Chapter XLVI.—Let us cleave to the righteous: your strife is pernicious.
Such examples, therefore, brethren, it is right that we should follow;
Literally, “To such examples it is right that we should cleave.” Not found in Scripture. Literally, “be.” Or, “thou wilt overthrow.”
Or, “war.” Comp.
Comp.
This clause is wanting in the text. This clause is wanting in the text.
Comp.
Chapter XLVII.—Your recent discord is worse than the former which took place in the times of Paul.
Literally, “in the beginning of the Gospel.” [Comp.
Or, “spiritually.”
Or, “inclinations for one above another.” Literally, “of conduct in Christ.” Or, “aliens from us,” i.e., the Gentiles.
Chapter XLVIII.—Let us return to the practice of brotherly love.
Literally “remove.” Literally, “becoming merciful.”
Chapter XLIX.—The praise of love.
Comp.
[Comp. Irenæus, v. 1; also Mathetes, Ep. to Diognetus, cap. ix.]
Chapter L.—Let us pray to be thought worthy of love.
Ye see, beloved, how great and wonderful a thing is love, and that there is no declaring its perfection. Who is fit to be found in it, except such as God has vouchsafed to render so? Let us pray, therefore, and implore of His mercy, that we may live blameless in love, free from all human partialities for one above another. All the generations from Adam even unto this day have passed away; but those who, through the grace of God, have been made perfect in love, now possess a place among the godly, and shall be made manifest at the revelation
Literally, “visitation.” Or, “good.”
Chapter LI.—Let the partakers in strife acknowledge their sins.
Or, “look to.” Or, “righteously.”
Chapter LII.—Such a confession is pleasing to God.
The Lord, brethren, stands in need of nothing; and He desires nothing of any one, except that confession be made to Him. For, says the elect David, “I will confess unto the Lord; and that will please Him more than a young bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Let the poor see it, and be glad.”
Or, “sacrifice.”
Chapter LIII.—The love of Moses towards his people.
Or, “mighty.” Literally, “be wiped out.”
Chapter LIV.—He who is full of love will incur every loss, that peace may be restored to the Church.
Literally, “the multitude.” [Clement here puts words into the mouth of the Corinthian presbyters. It has been strangely quoted to strengthen a conjecture that he had humbly preferred Linus and Cletus when first called to preside.] Or, “receive.”
Chapter LV.—Examples of such love.
Literally, “and having received their prices, fed others.” [Comp.
Chapter LVI.—Let us admonish and correct one another.
Literally, “there shall be to them a fruitful and perfect remembrance, with compassions both towards God and the saints.” Or, “they unite.”
Literally, “hand.” Literally, “err” or “sin.”
Chapter LVII.—Let the authors of sedition submit themselves.
Literally, “to be found small and esteemed.”
Literally, “His hope.” [It has been conjectured that
ἔλπιδος
should be
ἔπαύλιδος
, and the reading, “out of the fold of his people.” See Chevallier.]
Junius (Pat. Young), who examined the
ms.
before it was bound into its present form, stated that a whole leaf was here lost. The next letters that occur are
ιπον
, which have been supposed to indicate
εἶπον
or
ἔλιπον
. Doubtless some passages quoted by the ancients from the Epistle of Clement, and not now found in it, occurred in the portion which has thus been lost.
Chapter LVIII.—Blessings sought for all that call upon God.
Comp.
Chapter LIX.—The Corinthians are exhorted speedily to send back word that peace has been restored. The benediction.
Send back speedily to us in peace and with joy these our messengers to you: Claudius Ephebus and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus: that they may the sooner announce to us the peace and harmony we so earnestly desire and long for [among you], and that we may the more quickly rejoice over the good order re-established among you.
Literally, “an eternal throne.” Literally, “From the ages to the ages of ages.”
[Note St. Clement’s frequent doxologies.] [N.B.—The language of Clement concerning the Western progress of St. Paul (cap. v.) is our earliest postscript to his Scripture biography. It is sufficient to refer the reader to the great works of Conybeare and Howson, and of Mr. Lewin, on the
Life and Epistles of St. Paul
. See more especially the valuable note of Lewin (vol. ii. p. 294) which takes notice of the opinion of some learned men, that the great Apostle of the Gentiles preached the Gospel in Britain. The whole subject of St. Paul’s relations with British Christians is treated by Williams, in his
Antiquities of the Cymry
, with learning and in an attractive manner. But the reader will find more ready to his hand, perhaps, the interesting note of Mr. Lewin, on Claudia and Pudens (
Mathetes
Introductory Note to the Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
ἀποστόλων γενόμενος μαθητης
. Cap. xi.
Mathetes was possibly a catechumen of St. Paul or of one of the apostle’s associates. I assume that his correspondent was the tutor of M. Aurelius. Placed just here, it fills a lacuna in the series, and takes the place of the pseudo (second) Epistle of Clement, which is now relegated to its proper place with the works falsely ascribed to St. Clement.
Altogether, the Epistle is a gem of purest ray; and, while suggesting some difficulties as to interpretation and exposition, it is practically clear as to argument and intent. Mathetes is, perhaps, the first of the apologists.
The following is the original Introductory Notice of the learned editors and translators:—
The
following interesting and eloquent Epistle is anonymous, and we have no clue whatever as to its author. For a considerable period after its publication in 1592, it was generally ascribed to Justin Martyr. In recent times Otto has inserted it among the works of that writer, but Semisch and others contend that it cannot possibly be his. In dealing with this question, we depend entirely upon the internal evidence, no statement as to the authorship of the Epistle having descended to us from antiquity. And it can scarcely be denied that the whole tone of the Epistle, as well as special passages which it contains, points to some other writer than Justin. Accordingly, critics are now for the most part agreed that it is not his, and that it must be ascribed to one who lived at a still earlier date in the history of the Church. Several internal arguments have been brought forward in favour of this opinion. Supposing chap. xi. to be genuine, it has been supported by the fact that the writer there styles himself “a disciple of the apostles.” But there is great suspicion that the two concluding chapters are spurious; and even though
The names of Clement of Rome and of Apollos have both been suggested as those of the probable author. Such opinions, however, are pure fancies, which it is perhaps impossible to refute, but which rest on nothing more than conjecture. Nor can a single word be said as to the person named Diognetus, to whom the letter is addressed. We must be content to leave both points in hopeless obscurity, and simply accept the Epistle as written by an earnest and intelligent Christian to a sincere inquirer among the Gentiles, towards the close of the apostolic age.
It is much to be regretted that the text is often so very doubtful. Only three mss. of the Epistle, all probably exhibiting the same original text, are known to exist; and in not a few passages the readings are, in consequence, very defective and obscure. But notwithstanding this drawback, and the difficulty of representing the full force and elegance of the original, this Epistle, as now presented to the English reader, can hardly fail to excite both his deepest interest and admiration.
[N.B.—Interesting speculations concerning this precious work may be seen in Bunsen’s Hippolytus and his Age , vol. i. p. 188. The learned do not seem convinced by this author, but I have adopted his suggestion as to Diognetus the tutor of M. Aurelius.]
The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
Chapter I.—Occasion of the epistle.
Literally, “trusting in what God, etc., they look down.” Or, “life.” Some read, “that you by hearing may be edified.”
Chapter II.—The vanity of idols.
Or, “purified.” Literally, “which is deceiving.” Literally, “of what substance, or of what form.” Some make this and the following clauses affirmative instead of interrogative. The text is here corrupt. Several attempts at emendation have been made, but without any marked success. Some read, “Who of you would tolerate these things?” etc. The text is here uncertain, and the sense obscure. The meaning seems to be, that by sprinkling their gods with blood, etc., they tended to prove that these were not possessed of sense.
Chapter III.—Superstitions of the Jews.
The text here is very doubtful. We have followed that adopted by most critics.
Chapter IV.—The other observances of the Jews.
But as to their scrupulosity concerning meats, and their superstition as respects the Sabbaths, and their boasting about circumcision, and their fancies about fasting and the new moons, which are utterly ridiculous and unworthy of notice,—I do not
Otto, resting on
ms.
authority, omits the negative, but the sense seems to require its insertion.
Literally, “lessening.”
Comp.
This seems to refer to the practice of Jews in fixing the beginning of the day, and consequently of the Sabbath, from the rising of the stars. They used to say, that when three stars of moderate magnitude appeared, it was night; when two, it was twilight; and when only one, that day had not yet departed. It thus came to pass (according to their
night-day
(
νυχθήμερον
) reckoning), that whosoever engaged in work on the evening of Friday, the beginning of the Sabbath, after three stars of moderate size were visible, was held to have sinned, and had to present a trespass-offering; and so on, according to the fanciful rule described.
Otto supplies the
lacuna
which here occurs in the
mss.
so as to read
καταδιαιρεῖν
.
The great festivals of the Jews are here referred to on the one hand, and the day of atonement on the other.
Chapter V.—The manners of the Christians.
Literally, “paradoxical.” Literally, “cast away fœtuses.”
Otto omits “bed,” which is an emendation, and gives the second “common” the sense of
unclean
.
Comp.
Comp.
Comp.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter VI.—The relation of Christians to the world.
Comp.
Literally, “keeps together.” Literally, “keeps together.” Literally, “incorruption.” Or, “though punished, increase in number daily.”
Chapter VII.—The manifestation of Christ.
Literally, “mysteries.” Literally, “elements.”
The word “sun,” though omitted in the
mss.
, should manifestly be inserted.
Literally, “has received to observe.” Literally, “one of men.” “God” here refers to the person sent.
[Comp.
Chapter VIII.—The miserable state of men before the coming of the Word.
Literally, “these things are the marvels and error.” Or, “known Him.”
Comp.
Literally, “in a mystery.” Literally, “all things.”
The sense is here very obscure. We have followed the text of Otto, who fills up the
lacuna
in the
ms.
as above. Others have, “to see, and to handle Him.”
Literally, “economically.”
Chapter IX.—Why the Son was sent so late.
Otto refers for a like contrast between these two times to
The reading and sense are doubtful. Both the text and rendering are here somewhat doubtful, but the sense will in any case be much the same.
Many variations here occur in the way in which the
lacuna
of the
mss.
is to be supplied. They do not, however, greatly affect the meaning.
In the
ms.
“saying” is here inserted, as if the words had been regarded as a quotation from
[See Bossuet, who quotes it as from Justin Martyr (Tom. iii. p. 171). Sermon on Circumcision.] That is, before Christ appeared.
Comp.
Chapter X.—The blessings that will flow from faith.
Thus Otto supplies the
lacuna
; others conjecture somewhat different supplements.
So Böhl. Sylburgius and Otto read, “in the earth.”
Chapter XI.—These things are worthy to be known and believed.
Some render, “nor do I rashly seek to persuade others.” Some propose to read, “and becoming a friend to the Word.” It has been proposed to connect this with the preceding sentence, and read, “have known the mysteries of the Father, viz., for what purpose He sent the Word.”
[Comp.
Or, “esteemed.” Or, “given.”
Chapter XII.—The importance of knowledge to true spiritual life.
Literally, “bringing forth.” That is, in Paradise. Literally “revealing life.” Or, “deprived of it.”
Literally, “knowledge without the truth of a command exercised to life.” See
The
ms.
is here defective. Some read, “on account of the love of life.”
Or, “true word,” or “reason.” Or, “reap.” The meaning seems to be, that if the tree of true knowledge and life be planted within you, you shall continue free from blemishes and sins.
[This looks like a reference to the Apocalypse,
Here Bishop Wordsworth would read
κλῆροι
, cites
[Note the Clement-like doxology.]
Polycarp
Introductory Note to the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
Irenæus will tell us more concerning him, his visit to Rome, his rebuke of Marcion, and incidental anecdotes, all which are instructive. The expression which he applied to Marcion is found in this Epistle. Other facts of interest are found in the Martyrdom, which follows in these pages. His death, in extreme old age under the first of the Antonines, has been variously dated; but we may accept the date we have given, as rendered probable by that of the Paschal question, which he so lovingly settled with Anicetus, Bishop of Rome.
The Epistle to the Philippians is the more interesting as denoting the state of that beloved church, the firstborn of European churches, and so greatly endeared to St. Paul. It abounds in practical wisdom, and is rich in Scripture and Scriptural allusions. It reflects the spirit of St. John, alike in its lamb-like and its aquiline features: he is as loving as the beloved disciple himself when he speaks of Christ and his church, but “the son of thunder” is echoed in his rebukes of threatened corruptions in faith and morals. Nothing can be more clear than his view of the doctrines of grace; but he writes like the disciple of St. John, though in perfect harmony with St. Paul’s hymn-like eulogy of Christian love.
The following is the original Introductory Notice :—
The
authenticity of the following Epistle can on no fair grounds be questioned. It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is also supported by the internal evidence. Irenæus says (
Adv. Hær.
, iii. 3): “There is extant an Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, most satisfactory, from which those that have a mind to do so may learn the character of his
Of Polycarp’s life little is known, but that little is highly interesting. Irenæus was his disciple, and tells us that “Polycarp was instructed by the apostles, and was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ” ( Adv. Hær. , iii. 3; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. , iv. 14). There is also a very graphic account given of Polycarp by Irenæus in his Epistle to Florinus, to which the reader is referred. It has been preserved by Eusebius ( Hist. Eccl. , v. 20).
The Epistle before us is not perfect in any of the Greek mss. which contain it. But the chapters wanting in Greek are contained in an ancient Latin version. While there is no ground for supposing, as some have done, that the whole Epistle is spurious, there seems considerable force in the arguments by which many others have sought to prove chap. xiii. to be an interpolation.
The date of the Epistle cannot be satisfactorily determined. It depends on the conclusion we reach as to some points, very difficult and obscure, connected with that account of the martyrdom of Polycarp which has come down to us. We shall not, however, probably be far wrong if we fix it about the middle of the second century.
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
The title of this Epistle in most of the
mss.
is, “The Epistle of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and holy martyr, to the Philippians.”
The title of this Epistle in most of the mss. is, “The Epistle of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and holy martyr, to the Philippians.”
Or, “Polycarp, and those who with him are presbyters.”
Chapter I.—Praise of the Philippians.
I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus Christ, because ye have followed the example
Literally, “ye have received the patterns of true love.”
Chapter II.—An exhortation to virtue.
Comp.
Comp.
Comp.
Or, “who do not obey him.”
Comp
Chapter III.—Expressions of personal unworthiness.
Comp.
The form is
plural
, but one Epistle is probably meant. [So, even in English, “letters” may be classically used for a single letter, as we say “by these presents.” But even we might speak of St. Paul as having written his Epistles
to us
; so the Epistles to Thessalonica and Corinth might more naturally still be referred to here].
Comp.
Chapter IV.—Various exhortations.
“But the love of money is the root of all evils.”
Comp.
Comp.
Some here read, “altars.”
Chapter V.—The duties of deacons, youths, and virgins.
Knowing, then, that “God is not mocked,”
Some read, “God in Christ.”
Comp.
Comp.
Πολιτευσώμεθα
, referring to the whole conduct; comp.
Some read,
ἀνακύπτεσθαι
, “to emerge from.” [So Chevallier, but not Wake nor Jacobson. See the note of latter,
ad loc
.]
Chapter VI.—The duties of presbyters and others.
Chapter VII.—Avoid the Docetæ, and persevere in fasting and prayer.
Literally, “the martyrdom of the cross,” which some render, “His suffering on the cross.”
[The original, perhaps, of Eusebius (
Hist.
iv. cap. 14). It became a common-place expression in the Church.]
Comp.
Chapter VIII.—Persevere in hope and patience.
Comp.
Comp.
Some read, “we glorify Him.”
Comp.
Chapter IX.—Patience inculcated.
Comp.
Chapter X.—Exhortation to the practice of virtue.
This and the two following chapters are preserved only in a Latin version. [See Jacobson,
ad loc
.]
This and the two following chapters are preserved only in a Latin version. [See Jacobson, ad loc .]
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter XI.—Expression of grief on account of Valens.
Some think that
incontinence
on the part of the Valens and his wife is referred to. [For many reasons I am glad the translators have preferred the reading
πλεονεξίας
. The next word,
chaste
, sufficiently rebukes the example of Valens. For once I venture not to coincide with Jacobson’s comment.]
Some think that
incontinence
on the part of the Valens and his wife is referred to. [For many reasons I am glad the translators have preferred the reading
πλεονεξίας
. The next word,
chaste
, sufficiently rebukes the example of Valens. For once I venture not to coincide with Jacobson’s comment.]
Some read, “named;” comp.
Comp.
Chapter XII.—Exhortation to various graces.
This passage is very obscure. Some render it as follows: “But at present it is not granted unto me to practise that which is written, Be ye angry,” etc.
Some read, “believes.”
Comp.
Chapter XIII.—Concerning the transmission of epistles.
Comp. Ep. of Ignatius to Polycarp, chap. viii. Or, “letters.” Reference is here made to the two letters of Ignatius, one to Polycarp himself, and the other to the church at Smyrna. Henceforth, to the end, we have only the Latin version. The Latin version reads “are,” which has been corrected as above. Polycarp was aware of the death of Ignatius (chap. ix.), but was as yet apparently ignorant of the circumstances attending it. [Who can fail to be touched by these affectionate yet entirely calm expressions as to his martyred friend and brother? Martyrdom was the habitual end of Christ’s soldiers, and Polycarp expected his own; hence his restrained and temperate words of interest.]
Chapter XIV.—Conclusion.
These things I have written to you by Crescens, whom up to the present
Some read, “in this present Epistle.” Others read, “and in favour with all yours.”
Introductory Note to the Epistle Concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp
That this Epistle has been interpolated can hardly be doubted, when we compare it with the unvarnished specimen, in Eusebius. As for the “fragrant smell” that came from the fire, many kinds of wood emit the like in burning; and, apart from Oriental warmth of colouring, there seems nothing incredible in the narrative if we except “the dove” (chap. xvi.), which, however, is probably a corrupt reading,
See an ingenious conjecture in Bishop Wordsworth’s
Hippolytus and the Church of Rome
, p. 318, C.
Bishop Jacobson assigns more than fifty pages to this martyrology, with a Latin version and abundant notes. To these I must refer the student, who may wish to see this attractive history in all the light of critical scholarship and, often, of admirable comment.
The following is the original Introductory Notice :—
The
following letter purports to have been written by the Church at Smyrna to the Church at Philomelium, and through that Church to the whole Christian world, in order to give a succinct account of the circumstances attending the martyrdom of Polycarp. It is the earliest of all the Martyria, and has generally been accounted both the most interesting and authentic. Not a few, however, deem it interpolated in several passages, and some refer it to a much later date than the
The Encyclical Epistle of the Church at Smyrna Concerning the Martyrdom of the Holy Polycarp
Some read, “Philadelphia,” but on inferior authority. Philomelium was a city of Phrygia.
The word in the original is
ποροικίαις
, from which the English “parishes” is derived.
Chapter I.—Subject of which we write.
Chapter II.—The wonderful constancy of the martyrs.
Literally, “who are more pious.” The account now returns to the illustration of the statement made in the first sentence.
Chapter III.—The constancy of Germanicus. The death of Polycarp is demanded.
For the devil did indeed invent many things against them; but thanks be to God, he could not prevail over all. For the most noble Germanicus strengthened the timidity of others by his own patience, and fought heroically
Or, “illustriously.” Or, “said to him.” Literally, “the nobleness of the God-loving and God-fearing race of Christians.”
Chapter IV.—Quintus the apostate.
Comp.
Chapter V.—The departure and vision of Polycarp.
But the most admirable Polycarp, when he first heard [that he was sought for], was in no measure disturbed, but resolved to continue in the city. However, in deference to the wish of many, he was persuaded to leave it. He departed, therefore, to a country house not far distant from the city. There he stayed with a few [friends], engaged in nothing else night and day than praying for all men, and for the Churches throughout the world, according to his usual custom.
Chapter VI.—Polycarp is betrayed by a servant.
It was the duty of the Irenarch to apprehend all seditious troublers of the public peace. Some think that those magistrates bore this name that were elected by lot.
Chapter VII.—Polycarp is found by his pursuers.
His pursuers then, along with horsemen, and taking the youth with them, went forth at supper-time on the day of the preparation
That is, on Friday.
Comp.
Or, “in.” Some read “the Lord”
Comp.
Or, “diligence.” Jacobson reads, “and [marvelling] that they had used so great diligence to capture,” etc. Or, “be silent.”
Chapter VIII.—Polycarp is brought into the city.
Jacobson deems these words an interpolation.
Or, “Cæsar is Lord,” all the
mss.
having
κύριος
instead of
κύριε
, as usually printed.
Or, “terrible.” Or, “cast him down” simply, the following words being, as above, an interpolation. Or, “sprained his ankle.” Or, “not turning back.”
Chapter IX.—Polycarp refuses to revile Christ.
Referring the words to the heathen, and not to the Christians, as was desired.
Chapter X.—Polycarp confesses himself a Christian.
Or, “an account of Christianity.”
Comp.
Or, “of my making any defence to them.”
Chapter XI.—No threats have any effect on Polycarp.
The proconsul then said to him, “I have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast thee, except thou repent.” But he answered, “Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil;
Literally, “repentance from things better to things worse is a change impossible to us.” That is, to leave this world for a better.
Chapter XII.—Polycarp is sentenced to be burned.
While he spoke these and many other like things, he was filled with confidence and joy, and his countenance was full of grace, so that not merely did it not fall as if troubled by the things said to him, but, on the contrary, the proconsul was astonished, and sent his herald to proclaim in the midst of the stadium thrice, “Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.” This proclamation having been made by the herald, the whole multitude both of the heathen and Jews, who dwelt at Smyrna, cried out with uncontrollable fury, and in a loud voice, “This is the teacher of Asia,
Some read, “ungodliness,” but the above seems preferable. The Asiarchs were those who superintended all arrangements connected with the games in the several provinces. Literally, “the baiting of dogs.”
Chapter XIII.—The funeral pile is erected.
This, then, was carried into effect with greater speed than it was spoken, the multitudes immediately gathering together wood and fagots out of the shops and baths; the Jews especially, according to custom, eagerly assisting them in it. And when the funeral pile was ready, Polycarp, laying aside all his garments, and loosing his girdle, sought also to take off his sandals,—a thing he was not accustomed to do, inasmuch as every one of the faithful was always eager who should first touch his skin.
Literally, “good behaviour.” Some think this implies that Polycarp’s skin was believed to possess a miraculous efficacy.
Chapter XIV.—The prayer of Polycarp.
Comp.
Literally, “in a fat,” etc., [or, “in a rich”]. Literally, “the not false and true God.”
Eusebius (
Hist. Eccl.
, iv. 15) has preserved a great portion of this Martyrium, but in a text considerably differing from that we have followed. Here, instead of “and,” he has “in the Holy Ghost.”
Chapter XV.—Polycarp is not injured by the fire.
Literally, “a great flame shining forth.” Literally, “breathing.”
Chapter XVI.—Polycarp is pierced by a dagger.
At length, when those wicked men perceived that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to go near and pierce him through with a dagger.
Eusebius omits all mention of the
dove
, and many have thought the text to be here corrupt. It has been proposed to read
ἐπ’ ἀριστερᾷ
, “on the left hand side,” instead of
περιστερά
, “a dove.”
Chapter XVII.—The Christians are refused Polycarp’s body.
Literally, “greatness.” The Greek, literally translated, is, “and to have fellowship with his holy flesh.”
This clause is omitted by Eusebius: it was probably interpolated by some transcriber, who had in his mind
Literally, “unsurpassable.” Literally, “fellow-partakers.”
Chapter XVIII.—The body of Polycarp is burned.
Or, “him.” Or, “more tried.” Literally, “the birth-day.” Literally, “been athletes.”
Chapter XIX.—Praise of the martyr Polycarp.
This, then, is the account of the blessed Polycarp, who, being the twelfth that was martyred in Smyrna (reckoning those also of Philadelphia), yet occupies a place of his own
Literally, “is alone remembered.”
Several additions are here made. One
ms.
has, “and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit;” while the old Latin version reads, “and the Holy Spirit, by whom we know all things.”
Chapter XX.—This epistle is to be transmitted to the brethren.
Since, then, ye requested that we would at large make you acquainted with what really took place, we have for the present sent you this summary account through our brother Marcus. When, therefore, ye have yourselves read this Epistle,
Literally, “having learned these things.” Literally, “gift.”
Chapter XXI.—The date of the martyrdom.
Now, the blessed Polycarp suffered martyrdom on the second day of the month Xanthicus just begun,
The translation is here very doubtful. Wake renders the words
μηνὸς ἱσταμένου
, “of the
present
month.”
Great obscurity hangs over the chronology here indicated. According to Usher, the Smyrnæans began the month Xanthicus on the 25th of March. But the seventh day before the Kalends of May is the 25th of April. Some, therefore, read
᾽Απριλλίων
instead of
Μαίων
. The great Sabbath is that before the passover. The “eighth hour” may correspond either to our 8
a.m.
or 2
p.m.
Called before (chap. xii.)
Asiarch
.
Chapter XXII.—Salutation.
Literally, “according as.”
These things
What follows is, of course, no part of the original Epistle.
And I again, Pionius, wrote them from the previously written copy, having carefully searched into them, and the blessed Polycarp having
Ignatius
Introductory Note to the Epistles of Ignatius
Had not the plan of this series been so exclusively that of a mere revised reprint, the writings of Ignatius themselves would have made me diffident as to the undertaking. It seems impossible for any one to write upon the subject of these precious remains, without provoking controversy. This publication is designed as an Eirenicon , and hence “few words are best,” from one who might be supposed incapable of an unbiased opinion on most of the points which have been raised in connection with these Epistles. I must content myself therefore, by referring the studious reader to the originals as edited by Bishop Jacobson, with a Latin version and copious annotations. That revered and learned divine honoured me with his friendship; and his precious edition has been my frequent study, with theological students, almost ever since it appeared in 1840. It is by no means superannuated by the vigorous Ignatian literature which has since sprung up, and to which reference will he made elsewhere. But I am content to leave the whole matter, without comment, to the minds of Christians of whatever school and to their independent conclusions. It is a great thing to present them in a single volume with the shorter and longer Epistles duly compared, and with the Curetonian version besides. One luxury only I may claim, to relieve the drudging task-work of a mere reviser. Surely I may point out some of the proverbial wisdom of this great disciple, which has often stirred my soul, as with the trumpet heard by St. John in Patmos. In him, indeed, the lions encountered a lion, one truly begotten of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Take, then, as a specimen, these thrilling injunctions from his letter to Polycarp, to whom he bequeathed his own spirit, and in whom he well knew the Church would recognize a sort of survival of St. John himself. If the reader has any true perception of the rhythm and force of the Greek language, let him learn by heart the originals of the following aphorisms:—
- Find time to pray without ceasing.
- Every wound is not healed with the same remedy.
- The times demand thee, as pilots the haven.
-
The crown is immortality.
Does not this seem a pointed allusion to
Rev. ii. 10 ? -
Stand like a beaten anvil.
Στῆθι ὡς ἄκμων τυπτόμενος .
-
It is the part of a good athlete to be bruised and to prevail.
- Consider the times: look for Him who is above time.
- Slight not the menservants and the handmaids.
- Let your stewardship define your work.
- A Christian is not his own master, but waits upon God.
Ignatius so delighted in his name Theophorus (sufficiently expounded in his own words to Trajan or his official representative), that it is worth noting how deeply the early Christians felt and believed in (
Ignatius has been censured for his language to the Romans, in which he seems to crave martyrdom. But he was already condemned, in law a dead man, and felt himself at liberty to glory in his tribulations. Is it more than modern Christians often too lightly sing? —
So the holy martyr adds, “Only let me attain unto Jesus Christ.”
The Epistle to the Romans is utterly inconsistent with any conception on his part, that Rome was the see and residence of a bishop holding any other than fraternal relations with himself. It is very noteworthy that it is devoid of expressions, elsewhere made emphatic,
See
To the Tralliaus
, cap. 13. Much might have been made, had it been found here, out of the reference to Christ the High Priest (Philadelphians, cap. 9).
The following is the original Introductory Notice :—
The epistles ascribed to Ignatius have given rise to more controversy than any other documents connected with the primitive Church. As is evident to every reader on the very first glance at these writings, they contain numerous statements which bear on points of ecclesiastical order that have long divided the Christian world; and a strong temptation has thus been felt to allow some amount of prepossession to enter into the discussion of their authenticity or spuriousness. At the same time, this question has furnished a noble field for the display of learning and acuteness, and has, in the various forms under which it has been debated, given rise to not a few works of the very highest ability and scholarship. We shall present such an outline of the controversy as may enable the reader to understand its position at the present day.
There are, in all, fifteen Epistles which bear the name of Ignatius. These are the following: One to the Virgin Mary, two to the Apostle John, one to Mary of Cassobelæ, one to the Tarsians, one to the Antiochians, one to Hero, a deacon of Antioch, one to the Philippians; one to the Ephesians, one to the Magnesians, one to the Trallians, one to the Romans, one to the Philadelphians, one to the Smyrnæans, and one to Polycarp. The first three exist only in Latin: all the rest are extant also in Greek.
It is now the universal opinion of critics, that the first eight of these professedly Ignatian letters are spurious. They bear in themselves indubitable proofs of being the production of a later age than that in which Ignatius lived. Neither Eusebius nor Jerome makes the least reference to them; and they are now by common consent set aside as forgeries, which were at various dates, and to serve special purposes, put forth under the name of the celebrated Bishop of Antioch.
But after the question has been thus simplified, it still remains sufficiently complex. Of the seven Epistles which are acknowledged by Eusebius (
Hist. Eccl.
, iii. 36), we possess two Greek recensions, a shorter and a longer. It is plain that one or other of these exhibits a corrupt text, and
Before this date, however, there had not been wanting some who refused to acknowledge the authenticity of these Epistles in either of the recensions in which they were then known to exist. By far the most learned and elaborate work maintaining this position was that of Daillé (or Dallæus), published in 1666. This drew forth in reply the celebrated Vindiciæ of Bishop Pearson, which appeared in 1672. It was generally supposed that this latter work had established on an immoveable foundation the genuineness of the shorter form of the Ignatian Epistles; and, as we have stated above, this was the conclusion almost universally accepted down to our own day. The only considerable exception to this concurrence was presented by Whiston, who laboured to maintain in his Primitive Christianity Revived (1711) the superior claims of the longer recension of the Epistles, apparently influenced in doing so by the support which he thought they furnished to the kind of Arianism which he had adopted.
But although the shorter form of the Ignatian letters had been generally accepted in preference to the longer, there was still a pretty prevalent opinion among scholars, that even it could not be regarded as absolutely free from interpolations, or as of undoubted authenticity. Thus said Lardner, in his Credibility of the Gospel History (1743): “have carefully compared the two editions, and am very well satisfied, upon that comparison, that the larger are an interpolation of the smaller, and not the smaller an epitome or abridgment of the larger. … But whether the smaller themselves are the genuine writings of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, is a question that has been much disputed, and has employed the pens of the ablest critics. And whatever positiveness some may have shown on either side, I must own I have found it a very difficult question.”
This expression of uncertainty was repeated in substance by Jortin (1751), Mosheim (1755), Griesbach (1768), Rosenmüller (1795), Neander (1826), and many others; some going so far as to deny that we have any authentic remains of Ignatius at all, while others, though admitting the seven shorter letters as being probably his, yet strongly suspected that they were not free from interpolation. Upon the whole, however, the shorter recension was, until recently, accepted without much opposition, and chiefly in dependence on the work of Bishop Pearson above mentioned, as exhibiting the genuine form of the Epistles of Ignatius.
But a totally different aspect was given to the question by the discovery of a Syriac version of three of these Epistles among the
mss.
procured from the monastery of St. Mary Deipara, in the desert of Nitria, in Egypt. In the years 1838, 1839, and again in 1842, Archdeacon Tattam visited that monastery, and succeeded in obtaining for the English Government a vast number of ancient Syriac manuscripts. On these being deposited in the British Museum,
As the result of this discovery, Cureton published in 1845 a work, entitled, The Ancient Syriac Version of the Epistles of St. Ignatius to Polycarp, the Ephesian, and the Romans , etc., in which he argued that these Epistles represented more accurately than any formerly published what Ignatius had actually written. This, of course, opened up the controversy afresh. While some accepted the views of Cureton, others very strenuously opposed them. Among the former was the late Chev. Bunsen; among the latter, an anonymous writer in the English Review , and Dr. Hefele, in his third edition of the Apostolic Fathers . In reply to those who had controverted his arguments, Cureton published his Vindiciæ Ignatianæ in 1846, and his Corpus Ignatianum in 1849. He begins his introduction to the last-named work with the following sentences: “Exactly three centuries and a half intervened between the time when three Epistles in Latin, attributed to St. Ignatius, first issued from the press, and the publication in 1845 of three letters in Syriac bearing the name of the same apostolic writer. Very few years passed before the former were almost universally regarded as false and spurious; and it seems not improbable that scarcely a longer period will elapse before the latter be almost as generally acknowledged and received as the only true and genuine letters of the venerable Bishop of Antioch that have either come down to our times, or were ever known in the earliest ages of the Christian Church.”
Had the somewhat sanguine hope thus expressed been realized, it would have been unnecessary for us to present to the English reader more than a translation of these three Syriac Epistles. But the Ignatian controversy is not yet settled. There are still those who hold that the balance of argument is in favour of the shorter Greek, as against these Syriac Epistles. They regard the latter as an epitome of the former, and think the harshness which, according to them, exists in the sequence of thoughts and sentences, clearly shows that this is the case. We have therefore given all the forms of the Ignatian letters which have the least claim on our attention.
The other Epistles, bearing the name of Ignatius, will be found in the Appendix; so that the English reader possesses in this volume a complete collection of the Ignatian letters.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
Shorter and Longer Versions
Literally, “before the ages.” These words may agree with “glory,” but are better applied to the “Church.”
Literally, “before the ages.” These words may agree with “glory,” but are better applied to the “Church.” Some read, as in the shorter recension, “grace.”
Chapter I.—Praise of the Ephesians.
Literally, “imitators;” comp.
Comp. in the Greek,
This is wanting in the Greek. Literally, “since therefore,” without any apodosis. Or, “unspeakably beloved.”
Literally, “imitators;” comp.
Comp. in the Greek,
This is wanting in the Greek. Or, “unspeakably beloved.”
Chapter II.—Congratulations and entreaties.
Or, “our most blessed deacon in all things pertaining to God.” Literally, “pattern.”
Comp.
Comp.
Literally, “pattern.”
Comp.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter III.—Exhortations to unity.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter IV.—The same continued.
Literally, “according to God.” Literally, “receiving a union to God in oneness.”
Chapter V.—The praise of unity.
Or, “already.”
Some read, “mixed up with.”
Literally, “in the assembly of sacrifices.”
Or, “believeth not” (
Chapter VI.—Have respect to the bishop as to Christ Himself.
Now the more any one sees the bishop keeping silence,
That is, “showing forbearance.”
Comp.
Or, “heresy.”
The more, therefore, you see the bishop silent, the more do you reverence him. For we ought to receive every one whom the Master of the house sends to be over His household,
Comp.
Chapter VII.—Beware of false teachers.
This clause is wanting in the Greek, and has been supplied from the ancient Latin version.
Or, “before the ages.”
Chapter VIII.—Renewed praise of the Ephesians.
It is difficult to translate
περίψημα
in this and similar passages; comp.
Literally, “and the.”
Chapter IX.—Ye have given no heed to false teachers.
Comp.
Comp.
Literally, “according to the other life.”
Chapter X.—Exhortations to prayer, humility, etc.
Literally, “permit.” The verb is here omitted in the original.
Comp.
Chapter XI.—An exhortation to fear God, etc.
Literally, “let nothing become you.”
Chapter XII.—Praise of the Ephesians.
I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am a condemned man, ye have been the objects of
Literally, “ye are the passage of.” Literally, “footsteps.”
I know both who I am, and to whom I write. I am the very insignificant Ignatius, who have my lot with
Literally, “am like to.”
Chapter XIII.—Exhortation to meet together frequently for the worship of God.
Literally, “his destruction.” Literally, “of heavenly and earthly things.”
Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise.
Chapter XIV.—Exhortations to faith and love.
Literally, “being in unity.”
Comp.
Literally, “there is not now the work of profession.”
Chapter XV.—Exhortation to confess Christ by silence as well as speech.
Chapter XVI.—The fate of false teachers.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter XVII.—Beware of false doctrines.
Comp.
Comp.
Literally, “before the ages.”
Chapter XVIII.—The glory of the cross.
Again,
περίψημα
, translated “offscouring,”
Comp.
Or, “economy,” or “dispensation.” Comp.
Literally, “before the ages.”
Chapter XIX.—Three celebrated mysteries.
Literally, “of noise.” Or, “in the silence of God”—divine silence. Literally, “to the ages.”
Literally, “of noise.” Some read, “bond.” Literally, “opinion.” Literally, “bareness.” Literally, “truth.” Literally, “an economy.” Or, “that which was perfect received a beginning from God.”
Chapter XX.—Promise of another letter.
If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially [will I do this
The punctuation and meaning are here doubtful. Literally, “by name.”
Chapter XX.—Exhortations to stedfastness and unity.
Literally, “by name.”
Chapter XXI.—Conclusion.
Some render, “May I, in my turn, be the means of refreshing you and those,” etc. Literally, “to be found for.”
Some render, “May I, in my turn, be the means of refreshing you and those,” etc. Some read, “even as.” Some omit, “Grace [be with you].”
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
Shorter and Longer Versions
Chapter I.—Reason of writing the epistle.
Literally, “according to God.” Literally, “of the most God-becoming name,” referring either to the appellation “Theophorus,” or to that of “martyr” or “confessor.”
Literally, “according to God.”
Comp.
Chapter II.—I rejoice in your messengers.
The apodosis is here wanting in the original, but must evidently be supplied in some such way as above.
Literally, “worthy of God.” Literally, “worthy of God.” Literally, “whom may I enjoy.” The apodosis is here wanting in the original, but must evidently be supplied in some such way as above.
Chapter III.—Honour your youthful bishop.
Literally, “to use the age of your bishop.” Literally, “according to.” Literally, “youthful condition.” Literally, “to flesh.”
Sheba is referred to under this name: see
Chapter IV.—Some wickedly act independently of the bishop.
Chapter V.—Death is the fate of all such.
Seeing, then, all things have an end, these two things are simultaneously set before us—death and life; and every one shall go unto his own place. 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 is it also here.]
The apodosis is wanting in the original, and some prefer finding it in the following sentence. Or, “after the likeness of His passion.”
Or, “after the likeness of His passion.”
Chapter VI.—Preserve harmony.
Literally, “in harmony of God.” Literally, “before the ages.” Literally, “receiving the like manners of God.” The meaning is here doubtful.
Literally, “in harmony of God.” Literally, “before the ages.”
Chapter VII.—Do nothing without the bishop and presbyters.
Or, “contrary to his judgment.”
Chapter VIII.—Caution against false doctrines.
Some have argued that the Gnostic
Σιγή
,
silence
, is here referred to, and have consequently inferred that this epistle could not have been written by Ignatius.
Some read
ὑποστήσαντι
, “that gave Him His
hypostasis
, or substance.”
Chapter IX.—Let us live with Christ.
Literally, “in old things.” Or, “newness of.” Or, “according to.” Literally, “we have received to believe.”
Comp.
If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me;”
Reference is here made to well-known Jewish opinions and practices with respect to the Sabbath. The Talmud fixes 2000 cubits as the space lawful to be traversed. Philo
(De Therap.)
refers to the dancing, etc.
Literally, “whirlpools of wealth.”
Chapter X.—Beware of Judaizing.
Literally, “according to Christianity.” Some read, “to name.” Literally, “believe into,” merge into.
Or, “enemy.”
Chapter XI.—I write these things to warn you.
i.e., addicted to the error of Judaizing.
i.e., addicted to the error of Judaizing.
Some read, “of you.”
Chapter XII.—Ye are superior to me.
May I enjoy you in all respects, if indeed I be worthy! For though I am bound, I am not worthy to be compared to any of you that are at liberty.
Literally, “are reverent.”
May I enjoy you in all respects, if indeed I be worthy! For though I am bound, I am not worthy to be compared to one of you that are at liberty.
Literally, “are reverent.”
Some read, “Jacob.”
Chapter XIII.—Be established in faith and unity.
Literally, “well-woven.”
Chapter XIV.—Your prayers requested.
Knowing as I do that ye are full of God, I have but briefly exhorted you.
Literally, “of being sprinkled with dew.”
Knowing as I do that ye are full of all good, I have but briefly exhorted you in the love of Jesus Christ.
Literally, “of being fed as by a shepherd.”
Chapter XV.—Salutations.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
Shorter and Longer Versions
Some render, “in the resurrection which is by Him.” Either, “the whole members of the Church,” or, “in the fulness of blessing.” Either, “as an apostle,” or, “in the apostolic form.”
Either, “the whole members of the Church,” or, “in the fulness of blessing.” Either, “as an apostle,” or, “in the apostolic form.”
Chapter I.—Acknowledgment of their excellence.
Literally, “not according to use, but according to nature.”
Literally, “not for use, but for a possession.”
Chapter II.—Be subject to the bishop, etc.
It is doubtful whether this exhortation is addressed to the deacons or people; whether the former are urged in all respects to please the latter, or the latter in all points to be pleased with the former.
Be ye subject to the bishop as to the Lord, for “he watches for your souls, as one that shall give account to God.”
Chapter III.—Honour the deacons, etc.
In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment
Literally, “commandment.” The text, which is faulty in the
ms.
, has been amended as above by Smith.
Literally, “no Church is called.” Or, “pattern.” Literally, “great instruction.” Some here follow a text similar to that of the longer recension. Both the text and meaning are here very doubtful; some follow the reading of the longer recension.
And do ye reverence them as Christ Jesus, of whose place they are the keepers, even as the bishop is the representative of the Father of all things, and the presbyters are the sanhedrim of God, and assembly
Or, “conjunction.” Or, “pattern.”
Chapter IV.—I have need of humility.
Literally, “I know many things in God.” A different turn altogether is given to this passage in the longer recension.
Or, “confirmed.”
Omitted in the
ms.
Chapter V.—I will not teach you profound doctrines.
Or, “stations.” Literally, “passing by this;” but both text and meaning are very doubtful.
ἐβουλόμην
apparently by mistake for
ἐδυνάμην
.
Literally, “their force.” Or, “varieties of.”
Chapter VI.—Abstain from the poison of heretics.
The ellipsis in the original is here very variously supplied. Literally, “interweave.” Or, “sweetly.” The construction is here difficult and doubtful.
Literally, “Christ-sellers.”
Literally, “sweet address.”
Apost. Constitutions
, vi. 13.
Supplied from the old Latin version.
Chapter VII.—The same continued.
Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons.
Literally, “unseparated from.” This clause is inserted from the ancient Latin version. The text has “deacon.”
Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons, that ye admit not of a snare for your own souls. And act so that your life shall be without offence to all men, lest ye become as “a snare upon a watch-tower, and as a net which is spread out.”
Some render, “being a resemblance according to the power of Christ.” Some read, “imitators of Christ, ministering to the bishop, as Christ to the Father.”
Chapter VIII.—Be on your guard against the snares of the devil.
Literally, “taking up.” Or, “renew yourselves.”
Now I write these things unto you, not that I know there are any such persons among you; nay, indeed I hope that God will never permit any such report to reach my ears, He “who spared not His Son for the sake of His holy Church.”
Literally, “making you drink beforehand what will preserve you.” Or, “from which disease.” Literally, “taking up.”
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter IX.—Reference to the history of Christ.
Literally, “apart from.”
Literally, “apart from.”
Literally, “hedge,” or “fence.”
Some read, “He was taken down from the cross, and laid in a new tomb.”
Chapter X.—The reality of Christ’s passion.
Literally, “to fight with.” Some read this and the following clause affirmatively, instead of interrogatively. The meaning is, that is they spoke the truth concerning the phantasmal character of Christ’s death, then Ignatius was guilty of a practical falsehood in suffering for what was false.
Literally, “to fight with.” The meaning is, that if they spoke the truth concerning the phantasmal character of Christ’s death, then Ignatius was guilty of a practical falsehood in suffering for what was false.
Comp.
Chapter XI.—Avoid the deadly errors of the Docetæ.
i.e., the cross. Both text and meaning here are doubtful.
i.e., Satan’s. Literally, “loud, confused noise.” The Ebionites, who denied the divine nature of our Lord, are here referred to. It seems to be here denied that Nicolas was the founder of this school of heretics.
Chapter XII.—Continue in unity and love.
I salute you from Smyrna, together with the Churches of God which are with me, who have refreshed me in all things, both in the flesh and in the spirit.
I salute you from Smyrna, together with the Churches of God which are with me, whose rulers have refreshed me in every respect, both in the flesh and in the spirit.
Chapter XIII.—Conclusion.
i.e., the least.
The shorter recension reads
ἁγνίζετε
, and the longer also hesitates between this and
ἀσπάζεται
. With the former reading the meaning is very obscure: it has been corrected as above to
ἁγνίζηται
.
i.e., the least.
The shorter recension reads
ἁγνίζετε
, and the longer also hesitates between this and
ἀσπάζεται
. With the former reading the meaning is very obscure: it has been corrected as above to
ἁγνίζηται
.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
Shorter and Longer Versions
Or, “most holy.”
Or as in the shorter recension. Or, “most holy.”
Chapter I.—As a prisoner, I hope to see you.
Some read, “since I have,” leaving out the following “for,” and finding the apodosis in “I hope to salute you.” Literally, “worthy of God.” Some read, “which I much desired to do.” Literally, “to receive.” He probably refers here, and in what follows, to the influence which their earnest prayers in his behalf might have with God.
Literally, “worthy of God.” Literally, “to receive.” He probably refers here, and in what follows, to the influence which their earnest prayers in his behalf might have with God.
Some read
γε
instead of
μή
, and translate as in shorter recension.
Chapter II.—Do not save me from martyrdom.
Some translate as in longer recension, but there is in the one case
ὑμῖν
, and in the other
ὑμᾶς
.
Literally, “have to be inscribed to.” Literally, “to be found and sent for.”
Literally, “have to be inscribed to.” Literally, “to be found and sent for.” The text is here in great confusion. Literally, “beautiful.” Some read, “it is good,” etc.
Chapter III.—Pray rather that I may attain to martyrdom.
Some read, “good.”
Or, “in.” Literally, “work.”
Literally, “work.” The meaning is here doubtful.
Chapter IV.—Allow me to fall a prey to the wild beasts.
i.e., by the teeth of the wild beasts. “Free,” probably from human infirmity.
i.e., by the teeth of the wild beasts. “Free,” probably from human infirmity.
Chapter V.—I desire to die.
Comp.
Probably the soldiers received gifts from the Christians, to treat Ignatius with kindness.
In the shorter recension there is
ζηλώσῃ
, and in the longer
ζηλῶσαι
; hence the variety of rendering, but the translation is by no means certain.
Some deem this and the following word spurious. Literally, “evil.”
Comp.
Probably the soldiers received gifts from the Christians, to treat Ignatius with kindness.
In the shorter recension there is
ζηλώσῃ
, and in the longer
ζηλῶσαι
; hence the variety of rendering, but the translation is by no means certain.
Chapter VI.—By death I shall attain true life.
Literally, “this age.” Literally, “into.”
Literally, “to die.”
Literally, “this age.” Literally, “to die.”
Chapter VII.—Reason of desiring to die.
Some understand by
love
in this passage,
Christ Himself
; others regard it as referring to
the natural desires of the heart
.
Literally, “desiring material.”
The text and meaning are here doubtful. We have followed Hefele, who understands by the water
the Holy Spirit
, and refers to
Some understand by
love
in this passage,
Christ Himself
; others regard it as referring to
the natural desires of the heart
.
Comp.
Chapter VIII.—Be ye favourable to me.
I no longer wish to live after the manner of men, and my desire shall be fulfilled if ye consent. Be ye willing, then, that ye also may have your desires fulfilled. I entreat you in this brief letter; do ye give credit to me. Jesus Christ will reveal these things to you, [so that ye shall know] that I speak truly. He
Some refer this to Ignatius himself.
I no longer wish to live after the manner of men, and my desire shall be fulfilled if ye consent. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet no longer I, since Christ liveth in me.”
Chapter IX.—Pray for the church in Syria.
Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which now has God for its shepherd, instead of me. Jesus Christ alone will oversee it, and your love [will also regard it]. But as for me, I am ashamed to be counted one of them; for indeed I am not worthy, as being the very last of them, and one born out of due time.
Comp.
Some refer this to the jurisdiction of Ignatius. i.e., the outward road he had to travel.
Or, “have sent me forward;” comp.
Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria, which, instead of me, has now for its shepherd the Lord, who says, “I am the good Shepherd.” And He alone will oversee it, as well as your love towards Him. But as for me, I am ashamed to be counted one of them; for I am not worthy, as being the very last of them, and one born out of due time. But I have obtained mercy to be somebody, if I shall attain to God.
Chapter X.—Conclusion.
Now I write these things to you from Smyrna by the Ephesians, who are deservedly most happy. There is also with me, along with many others, Crocus, one dearly beloved by me.
Literally, “the name desired to me.” This clause is evidently an explanatory gloss which has crept into the text.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
Shorter and Longer Versions
Or, “inseparably.”
Or, “inseparably.”
Comp.
Chapter I.—Praise of the bishop.
Which
bishop,
The bishop previously referred to.
Comp.
Literally, “all.”
Having
beheld your bishop, I know that he was not selected to undertake the ministry which pertains to the common [weal], either by himself or by men,
Comp.
Chapter II.—Maintain union with the bishop.
Comp.
Wherefore, as children of light and truth, avoid the dividing of your unity, and the wicked doctrine of the heretics, from whom “a defiling influence has gone forth into all the earth.”
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter III.—Avoid schismatics.
i.e., heretical.
i.e., heretical.
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter IV.—Have but one Eucharist, etc.
Literally, “into.”
There was a prevalent opinion among the ancient Christian writers, that all these holy men lived a life of [chaste] celibacy. Or, “it is not because, etc., that I have mentioned these.”
Chapter V.—Pray for me.
Literally, “have proclaimed in reference to the Gospel.” In Christ.
Literally, “people-deceiving.”
Comp.
Literally, “teaching.” Or, “wrought.”
Chapter VI.—Do not accept Judaism.
Literally, “Judaism.” Literally, “oppressed.” Or, “will.” Some render, “come together into the same place.” Apparently by attempting to impose the yoke of Judaism.
Comp. John viii 44. Literally, “beneath.” Comp. John viii 44.
Comp. the reading sanctioned by the ancient authorities,
From a Hebrew word meaning “poor.” Or, “these things.” Literally, “the end of happiness.”
Comp.
Literally, “oppressed.” Some render, “come together into the same place.”
Chapter VII.—I have exhorted you to unity.
For though some would have deceived me according to the flesh, yet the Spirit, as being from God, is not deceived. For it knows both whence it comes and whither it goes,
Some translate, “as foreseeing the division to arise among you.” Literally, “did not know from human flesh.” Literally, “your flesh.”
Comp.
For though some would have deceived me according to the flesh, yet my spirit is not deceived; for I have received it from God. For it knows both whence it comes and whither it goes, and detects the secrets [of the heart]. For when I was among you, I cried, I spoke with a loud voice—the word is not mine, but God’s—Give heed to the bishop, and to the presbytery and deacons. But if ye suspect that I spake thus, as having learned beforehand the division caused by some among you, He is my witness, for whose sake I am in bonds, that I learned nothing of it from the mouth of any man. But the Spirit made an announcement to me, saying as follows: Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies
Literally, “your flesh.”
Chapter VIII.—The same continued.
I therefore did what belonged to me, as a man devoted to
Literally, “prepared for.” Literally, “to the assembly of the bishop.”
The meaning here is very doubtful. Some read
ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις
, as translated above; others prefer
ἐν τοῖς ἀρχείοις
, as in the longer recension.
i.e., the system of Christian doctrine.
I therefore did what belonged to me, as a man devoted to unity; adding this also, that where there is diversity of judgment, and wrath, and hatred, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, God grants forgiveness, if they with one consent return to the unity of Christ, and communion with the bishop.
Literally, “to the assembly of the bishop.”
Comp.
Or, “the archives of the Spirit are not exposed to all.”
Chapter IX.—The Old Testament is good: the New Testament is better.
i.e., the Jewish priests. Literally, “proclaimed as to him.”
The meaning is doubtful. Comp.
i.e., the Jewish priests.
Literally, “the hedge.”
Chapter X.—Congratulate the inhabitants of Antioch on the close of the persecution.
Literally, “for the name of.”
Literally, “for the name of.”
Chapter XI.—Thanks and salutation.
Literally, “bidding farewell to.” Or, “for the sake of honour.”
Literally, “bidding farewell to.”
Comp.
The
ms.
has “Burgus.”
Or, “for the sake of honour.”
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnæans
Shorter and Longer Versions.
Literally, “holy-bearing.”
Literally, “holy-bearing.”
Chapter I.—Thanks to God for your faith.
I Glorify
God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom.
Theodoret, in quoting this passage, reads, “the Godhead and power.”
i.e., the cross, “fruit” being put for
Christ on the tree
.
I Glorify
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by Him has given you such wisdom.
Literally, “we are.”
Chapter II.—Christ’s true passion.
Or, “seeing that they are phantasmal and diabolical,” as some render, but the above is preferable.
Chapter III.—Christ was possessed of a body after His resurrection.
Literally, “in the flesh.”
Literally, “demon.” According to Jerome, this quotation is from the Gospel of the Nazarenes. Comp.
Literally, “above death.”
Literally, “demon.” According to Jerome, this quotation is from the Gospel of the Nazarenes. Comp.
Or, “mark.”
Chapter IV.—Beware of these heretics.
I give you these instructions, beloved, assured that ye also hold the same opinions [as I do]. But I
Comp.
Comp.
I give you these instructions, beloved, assured that ye also hold the same opinions [as I do]. But I guard you beforehand from these beasts in the shape of men, from whom you must not only turn away, but even flee from them. Only you must pray for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance. For if the Lord were in the body in appearance only, and were crucified in appearance only, then am I also bound in appearance only. And why have I also surrendered myself to death, to fire, to the sword, to the wild beasts? But, [in fact,] I endure all things for Christ, not in appearance only, but in reality, that I may suffer together with Him, while He Himself inwardly strengthens me; for of myself I have no such ability.
Chapter V.—Their dangerous errors.
Or, “foolishly.” i.e., As they imagine Christ to have suffered only in appearance, so they believe that we suffer in vain. Literally, “a flesh-bearer.” Literally, “a death-bearer.”
Literally, “a flesh-bearer.”
Chapter VI—Unbelievers in the blood of Christ shall be condemned.
Let no man deceive himself.
Literally, “the glory of the angels.” Literally, “judgment is to them.”
Literally, “the whole is.”
Let no man deceive himself.
Chapter VII.—Let us stand aloof from such heretics.
Theodoret, in quoting this passage, reads
προσφοράς
, “offering.”
Literally, “die disputing.”
Literally, “to love.” Some think there is a reference to the
agapæ
, or
love-feasts
.
The reading is
περί
in the one case, and
μετά
in the other, though the latter meaning seems preferable. Most of the
mss.
of the longer recension read
περί
, as in the shorter.
Literally, “perfected.”
Literally, “drove Adam out of.”
The reading is
περί
in the one case, and
μετά
in the other, though the latter meaning seems preferable. Most of the
mss.
of the longer recension read
περί
, as in the shorter.
Chapter VIII.—Let nothing be done without the bishop.
Or, “command.” Or, “firm.” Or, “firm.”
Or, “firm.” Some refer the words to the Lord’s Supper.
Chapter IX.—Honour the bishop.
Or, “finally.” Literally, “to know.”
Comp.
Or, “great.”
Chapter X.—Acknowledgment of their kindness.
Ye have done well in receiving Philo and Rheus Agathopus as servants
Or, “deacons.” Comp. Epistle of Ignatius to Ephesians, chap. xxi.; to Polycarp, chap. ii. vi.
Ye have done well in receiving Philo, and Gaius, and Agathopus, who, being the servants
Or, “deacons.”
Comp. Epistle of Ignatius to Ephesians, chap. xxi.; to Polycarp, chap. ii. vi.
Chapter XI.—Request to them to send a messenger to Antioch.
Literally, “most becoming of God.” Or, “from any conscience.” Literally, “God-ambassador.” Or, “having received.” Literally, “body.” Literally, “may glorify with him.” Or, “think of.”
Or, “from any conscience.” Literally, “God-ambassador.” Literally, “body.” Or, “think of.”
Chapter XII.—Salutations.
Or, “the ministry.” Literally, “worthy of God.” Literally, “most becoming of God.” Literally, “in the union of God and of you.”
Chapter XIII.—Conclusion.
I salute the families of my brethren, with their wives and children, and the virgins who are called widows.
The
deaconesses
seem to have been called
widows
.
Literally, “the name desired of me.”
I salute the families of my brethren, with their wives and children, and those that are ever virgins, and the widows.
Literally, “the name desired of me.”
The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
Shorter and Longer Versions
Chapter I.—Commendation and exhortation.
Having
obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immoveable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face,
i.e., to make personal acquaintance with one esteemed so highly. Or, “tolerate.”
Comp.
Some read, “according to thy practice.”
Having
obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immoveable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy to behold thy blameless face,
i.e., to make personal acquaintance with one esteemed so highly. Or, “tolerate.”
Comp.
Some read, “according to thy practice.”
Chapter II.—Exhortations.
If thou lovest the good disciples, no thanks are due to thee on that account; but rather seek by meekness to subdue the more troublesome. Every kind of wound is not healed with the same plaster. Mitigate violent
Literally, “paroxysms by embrocations.”
Literally, “flatter.” Some refer this to the mysteries of God and others to things yet future. Comp. Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, chap. xxi., etc.
If thou lovest the good disciples, no thanks are due to thee on that account; but rather seek by meekness to subdue the more troublesome. Every kind of wound is not healed with the same plaster. Mitigate violent attacks [of disease] by gentle applications.
Literally, “paroxysms by embrocations.”
Comp. Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, chap. xxi., etc.
Chapter III.—Exhortations.
Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,
Comp.
Literally, “great.”
Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,
Comp.
Literally, “great.”
Chapter IV.—Exhortations.
The word in the original (
φροντιστής
) denotes one who
thinks
or
cares
for another.
Some refer the words to more
frequent
meetings, and others to these meetings being more numerous; no comparison is necessarily implied.
i.e., so as to bring them out to the public assembly. Or, “act the part of slaves.”
Some refer the words to more
frequent
meetings, and others to these meetings being more numerous; no comparison is necessarily implied.
i.e., so as to bring them out to the public assembly. Or, “act the part of slaves.”
Chapter V.—The duties of husbands and wives.
Some insert
μή
, and render, “rather do not even speak of them.”
i.e., in celibacy. Some render, “to the honour of the flesh of the Lord,” as in the longer recension.
Comp.
i.e., in celibacy. Literally, “if he be known beyond the bishop.”
Comp.
Chapter VI.—The duties of the Christian flock.
As this Epistle, though sent to the bishop, was meant to be read to the people, Ignatius here directly addresses them. Comp. chap. ii. etc. Or, “assessors.” A military reference, simply implying the idea of faithful effort leading to future reward. Comp. Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. ii.
As this Epistle, though sent to the bishop, was meant to be read to the people, Ignatius here directly addresses them. Comp. chap. ii. etc. Or, “assessors.” Literally, “worthy of God.” Comp. Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. ii.
Chapter VII.—Request that Polycarp would send a messenger to Antioch.
Literally, “in freedom from care of God.” Some read, “in the resurrection.” Literally, “most befitting God.” Literally, “God-runner.” Literally, “at leisure for.” Literally, “to Him.”
Literally, “in freedom from care of God.” Literally, “most befitting God.” Literally, “God-runner.” Literally, “at leisure for.”
Chapter VIII.—Let other churches also send to Antioch.
Inasmuch as I have not been able to write to all the Churches, because I must suddenly sail from Troas to Neapolis, as the will
Some suppose the reference to be to the soldiers, or perhaps to God Himself. Or, “as possessed of the judgment.” Literally, “men on foot.” Some have the plural “ye” here. Literally, “an eternal work.” Some propose to read, “and of the bishop.” Literally, “name desired by me.”
Inasmuch, therefore, as I have not been able to write to all Churches, because I must suddenly sail from Troas to Neapolis, as the will
Some suppose the reference to be to the soldiers, or perhaps to God Himself. Or, “as possessed of the judgment.” Literally, “an eternal work.” Literally, “name desired by me.”
Introductory Note to the Syriac Version of the Ignatian Epistles
See the extraordinary passage and note in his
Hippolytus
, vol. i. p. 58, etc.
The following is the original Introductory Notice :—
Some account of the discovery of the Syriac version of the Ignatian Epistles has been already given. We have simply to add here a brief description of the mss. from which the Syriac text has been printed. That which is named α by Cureton, contains only the Epistle to Polycarp, and exhibits the text of that Epistle which, after him, we have followed. He fixes its age somewhere in the first half of the sixth century, or before the year 550. The second ms. , which Cureton refers to as β , is assigned by him to the seventh or eighth century. It contains the three Epistles of Ignatius, and furnishes the text here followed in the Epistles to the Ephesians and Romans. The third ms. , which Cureton quotes as γ , has no date, but, as he tells us, “belonged to the collection acquired by Moses of Nisibis in a.d. 931, and was written apparently about three or four centuries earlier.” It contains the three Epistles to Polycarp, the Ephesians, and the Romans. The text of all these mss. is in several passages manifestly corrupt, and the translators appear at times to have mistaken the meaning of the Greek original.
[N.B.—Bunsen is forced to allow the fact that the discovery of the lost work of Hippolytus “throws new light on an obscure point of the Ignatian controversy,” i.e., the Sige in the Epistle to the Magnesians (cap. viii.); but his treatment of the matter is unworthy of a candid scholar.]
The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
The inscription varies in each of the three Syriac
mss.
, being in the first, “The Epistle of my lord Ignatius, the bishop;” in the second, “The Epistle of Ignatius;” and in the third, “The Epistle of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch.”
The inscription varies in each of the three Syriac mss. , being in the first, “The Epistle of my lord Ignatius, the bishop;” in the second, “The Epistle of Ignatius;” and in the third, “The Epistle of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch.”
Chapter I.
Because
thy mind is acceptable to me, inasmuch as it is established in God, as on a rock which is immoveable, I glorify God the more exceedingly that I have been counted worthy of [seeing] thy face, which I longed after in God. Now I beseech thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to add [speed] to thy course, and that thou ever pray for all men that they may be saved, and that thou demand
For “vindicate thy place” in the Greek. Literally, “draw out thy spirit.”
Chapter II.
If thou lovest the good disciples only, thou hast no grace; [but] rather subdue those that are evil by gentleness. All [sorts of] wounds are not healed by the same medicine. Mitigate [the pain of] cutting
Cureton observes, as one alternative here, that “the Syrian translator seems to have read
παράξυσμα
for
παροξυσμούς
.”
Or, “flatter,” probably meaning to “deal gently with.”
Thus the Syriac renders
ἀντίψυχον
in the Greek.
Chapter III.
Let not those who seem to be somewhat, and teach strange doctrines, strike thee with apprehension; but stand thou in the truth, as an athlete
The Greek has
ἄκμων
, “an anvil.”
Chapter IV.
Let not the widows be overlooked; on account of
The Greek has
μετά
, “after.”
Or, “constant,” “regular.”
Chapter V.
Flee wicked arts; but all the more discourse regarding them.
i.e., “in celibacy.” Or, “corrupted himself.”
Chapter VI.
Look ye to the bishop, that God also may look upon you. I will be instead of the souls of those who are subject to the bishop, and the presbyters, and the deacons; with them may I have a portion in the presence of God! Labour together with one another, act as athletes
Literally, “make the contest.” Literally, “sons of His house.”
Chapter VII.
The Christian has not power over himself, but is [ever] ready to be subject to God.
These are the only parts of chaps. vii. and viii. in the Greek that are represented in the Syriac.
Chapter VIII.
These are the only parts of chaps. vii. and viii. in the Greek that are represented in the Syriac.
The Second Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
Another inscription is, “Epistle the Second, which is to the Ephesians.”
Another inscription is, “Epistle the Second, which is to the Ephesians.”
Literally, “separated.”
Chapter I.
Inasmuch
as your name, which is greatly beloved, is acceptable to me in God, [your name] which ye have acquired by nature, through a right and just will, and also by the faith and love of Jesus Christ our Saviour, and ye are imitators of God, and are fervent in the blood of God, and have speedily completed a work congenial to you; [for] when ye heard that I was bound,
Literally, “bound from actions.” Cureton renders, “have received your abundance,” probably referring the words to gifts sent by the Ephesians to Ignatius. Literally, “be in his image.” There is no Apodosis, unless it be found in what follows.
Chapter III.
The following clause is the whole of chap. iii. in the Greek, which is represented in the Syriac.
The following clause is the whole of chap. iii. in the Greek, which is represented in the Syriac.
But inasmuch as love does not permit me to be silent in regard to you, on this account I have been forward to entreat of you that ye would be diligent in the will of God.
Chapter VIII.
Chaps. iv. v. vi. vii. of the Greek are totally omitted in the Syriac.
Chaps. iv. v. vi. vii. of the Greek are totally omitted in the Syriac.
For, so long as there is not implanted in you any one lust which is able to torment you, behold, ye live in God. I rejoice in you, and offer supplication
Thus Cureton renders the words, referring in confirmation to the Peshito version of
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Pray for all men; for there is hope of repentance for them, that they may be counted worthy of God. By your works especially let them be instructed. Against their harsh words be ye conciliatory, by meekness of mind and gentleness. Against their blasphemies do ye give yourselves to prayer; and against their error be ye armed with faith. Against their fierceness be ye peaceful and quiet, and be ye not astounded by them. Let us, then, be imitators of our Lord in meekness, and strive who shall more especially be injured, and oppressed, and defrauded.
Chapter XIV.
Chaps. xi. xii. xiii. of the Greek are totally wanting in the Syriac, and only these few words of chaps. xiv. and xv. are represented.
Chaps. xi. xii. xiii. of the Greek are totally wanting in the Syriac, and only these few words of chaps. xiv. and xv. are represented.
The work is not of promise,
The meaning seems to be that mere profession, without continuous practice, is nothing.
Chapter XV.
It is better that a man should be silent while he is something, than that he should be talking when he is not; that by those things which he speaks he should act, and by those things of which he is silent he should be known.
Chapter XVIII.
Chaps. xvi. and xvii. of the Greek are totally wanting in the Syriac.
Chaps. xvi. and xvii. of the Greek are totally wanting in the Syriac.
My spirit bows in adoration to the cross, which is a stumbling-block to those who do not believe, but is to you for salvation and eternal life.
Chapter XIX.
Literally, “the mysteries of the shout.” The meaning is here confused and obscure. See the Greek.
Chaps. xx. and xxi. of the Greek are altogether wanting in the Syriac. [N.B.—See spurious Epistle to Philippians, cap. 4,
infra
. This concealment from Satan of the mystery of the incarnation is the explanation, according to the Fathers, of his tempting the Messiah, and prompting His crucifixion. Also, Christ the more profoundly humbled himself, “
ne subtilis ille diaboli oculus magnum hoc pietatis deprehenderet sacramentum
” (St. Bernard, opp. ii. 1944). Bernard also uses this opinion very strikingly (opp. ii. 1953) in one of his sermons, supposing that Satan discovered the secret too late for his own purpose, and then prompted the outcry,
Come down from the cross
, to defeat the triumph of the second Adam. (Comp. St.
The Third Epistle of the Same St. Ignatius
Another inscription is, “The Third Epistle.”
Another inscription is, “The Third Epistle.”
Chapter I.
From of old have I prayed to God, that I might be counted worthy to behold your faces which are worthy of God: now, therefore, being bound in Jesus Christ, I hope to meet you and salute you, if it be the will [of God] that I should be accounted worthy to the end. For the beginning is well arranged, if I be counted worthy to attain to the end, that I may receive my portion, without hindrance, through suffering. For I am in fear of your love, lest it should injure me. As to you, indeed, it is easy for you to do whatsoever ye wish; but as to me, it is difficult for me to be accounted worthy of God, if indeed ye spare me not.
Chapter II.
For there is no other time such as this, that I should be accounted worthy of God; neither will ye, if ye be silent, [ever] be found in a better work than this. If ye let me alone, I shall be the word of God; but if ye love my flesh, again am I [only] to myself a voice. Ye cannot give me anything more precious than this, that I should be sacrificed to God, while the altar is ready; that ye may be in one concord in love, and may praise God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord, because He has deemed a bishop worthy to be God’s, having called him from the east to the west. It is good that I should set from the world in God, that I may rise in Him to life.
Literally, “in life.”
Chapter III.
Ye have never envied any man. Ye have taught others. Only pray ye for strength to be given to me from within and from without, that I may not only speak, but also may be willing, and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but also may be found to be [one]; for if I am found to be [so], I may then also be called [so]. Then [indeed] shall I be faithful, when I am no longer seen in the world. For there is nothing visible that is good. The work is not [a matter
The meaning is probably similar to that expressed in chap. xiv. of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Chapter IV.
I write to all the Churches, and declare to all men, that I willingly die for the sake of God, if so be that ye hinder me not. I entreat of you not to be [affected] towards me with a love which is unseasonable. Leave me to become [the prey of] the beasts, that by their means I may be accounted worthy of God. I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts I shall be ground,
Literally, “I am ground.” Literally, “with provoking, provoke.” Literally, “they are who are.”
Chapter V.
From Syria, and even unto Rome, I am cast among wild beasts, by sea and by land, by night and by day, being bound between ten leopards, which are the band of soldiers, who, even when I do good to them, all the more do evil unto me. I, however, am the rather instructed by their injurious treatment;
Literally, “by their injury.”
Literally, “and not as that which is afraid of some other men.” So Cureton translates, but remarks that the passage is evidently corrupt. The reference plainly is to the fact that the beasts sometimes refused to attack their intended victims. See the case of Blandina, as reported by Eusebius (
Hist. Eccl.
, v. 1.).
Cureton renders interrogatively, “What is expedient for me?” and remarks that “the meaning of the Syriac appears to be, ‘I crave your indulgence to leave the knowledge of what is expedient for me to my own conscience.’ ” Literally, “nothing.” Literally, “and.”
Chapter VI.
The pains of the birth stand over against me.
The Latin version translates the Greek here, “He adds gain to me.”
Chapter VII.
And my love is crucified, and there is no fire in me for another love. I do not desire the food of corruption, neither the lusts of this world. I seek the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ; and I seek His blood, a drink which is love incorruptible.
Chapter IX.
Chap. viii. of the Greek is entirely omitted in the Syriac.
Chap. viii. of the Greek is entirely omitted in the Syriac.
The following passage is not found in this Epistle in the Greek recensions, but forms, in substance, chaps. iv. and v. of the Epistle to the Trallians. Diverse views are held by critics as to its proper place, according to the degree of authority they ascribe to the Syriac version. Cureton maintains that this passage has been transferred by the forger of the Epistle to the Trallians, "to give a fiar colour to the fabrication by introducing a part of the genuine writing of Ignatius; while Hefele asserts that it is bound by the “closest connection” to the preceding chapter in the Epistle to the Trallians. Or, as in the Greek, “Fare ye well, to the end.”
Here end the three Epistles of Ignatius, bishop and martyr.
[N.B.—The aphoristic genius of Ignatius seems to be felt by his Syrian abbreviator, who reduces whole chapters to mere maxims.]
Introductory Note to the Spurious Epistles of Ignatius
The following is the original Introductory Notice :—
We formerly stated that eight out of the fifteen Epistles bearing the name of Ignatius are now universally admitted to be spurious. None of them are quoted or referred to by any ancient writer previous to the sixth century. The style, moreover, in which they are written, so different from that of the other Ignatian letters, and allusions which they contain to heresies and ecclesiastical arrangements of a much later date than that of their professed author, render it perfectly certain that they are not the authentic production of the illustrious bishop of Antioch.
We cannot tell when or by whom these Epistles were fabricated. They have been thought to betray the same hand as the longer and interpolated form of the seven Epistles which are generally regarded as genuine. And some have conceived that the writer who gave forth to the world the Apostolic Constitutions under the name of Clement, was probably the author of these letters falsely ascribed to Ignatius, as well as of the longer recension of the seven Epistles which are mentioned by Eusebius.
It was a considerable time before editors in modern times began to discriminate between the true and the false in the writings attributed to Ignatius. The letters first published under his name were those three which exist only in Latin. These came forth in 1495 at Paris, being appended to a life of Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Some three years later, eleven Epistles, comprising those mentioned by Eusebius, and four others, were published in Latin, and passed through four or five editions. In 1536, the whole of the professedly Ignatian letters were published at Cologne in a Latin version; and this collection also passed through several editions. It was not till 1557 that the Ignatian Epistles appeared for the first time in Greek at Dillingen. After this date many editions came forth, in which the probably genuine were still mixed up with the certainly spurious, the three Latin letters, only being rejected as destitute of authority. Vedelius of Geneva first made the distinction which is now universally accepted, in an edition of these Epistles which he published in 1623; and he was followed by Archbishop Usher and others, who entered more fully into that critical examination of these writings which has been continued down even to our own day.
The reader will have no difficulty in detecting the internal grounds on which these eight letters
But though the additional Ignatian letters here given are confessedly spurious, we have thought it not improper to present them to the English reader in an appendix to our first volume.
[Spurious writings, if they can be traced to antiquity, are always useful. Sometimes they are evidence of facts, always of opinions, ideas and fancies of their date; and often they enable us to identify the origin of corruptions. Even interpolations prove what later partisans would be glad to find, if they could, in early writers. They bear unwilling testimony to the absence of
genuine
evidence in favour of their assumptions.]
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Tarsians
Chapter I.—His own sufferings: exhortation to stedfastness.
From
Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts: not that I am devoured by brute beasts, for these, as ye know, by the will of God, spared Daniel, but by beasts in the shape of men, in whom the merciless wild beast himself lies hid, and pricks and wounds me day by day. But none of these hardships “move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,”
Chapter II.—Cautions against false doctrine.
I have learned that certain of the ministers of Satan have wished to disturb you, some of them asserting that Jesus was born [only
Some omit this. That is, as appears afterwards from chap. v., so as to have no personality distinct from the Father. The translation is here somewhat doubtful.
Chapter III.—The true doctrine respecting Christ.
Mindful of him, do ye by all means know that Jesus the Lord was truly born of Mary, being made of a woman; and was as truly crucified. For, says he, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus.”
Chapter IV.—Continuation.
And [know ye, moreover], that He who was born of a woman was the Son of God, and He that was crucified was “the first-born of every creature,”
Chapter V.—Refutation of the previously mentioned errors.
And that He Himself is not God over all, and the Father, but His Son, He [shows when He] says, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.”
Chapter VI.—Continuation.
Nor is He a mere man, by whom and in whom all things were made; for “all things were made by Him.”
Some insert here
Chapter VII.—Continuation.
Literally, “coming also to the appetite of those things after eating.” The text is doubtful.
Chapter VIII.—Exhortations to holiness and good order.
May I have joy of you in the Lord! Be ye sober.
Chapter IX.—Exhortations to the discharge of relative duties.
Ye husbands, love your wives; and ye wives, your husbands. Ye children, reverence your parents. Ye parents, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Chapter X.—Salutations.
Literally, “of the Philippians.”
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Antiochians
Comp.
Chapter I.—Cautions against error.
The
Lord has rendered my bonds light and easy since I learnt that you are in peace, that you live in all harmony both of the flesh and spirit. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
Literally, “in the Lord.”
Chapter II.—The true doctrine respecting God and Christ.
For Moses, the faithful servant of God, when he said, “The Lord thy God is one Lord,”
The
ms.
has “Lord.”
Chapter III.—The same continued.
The prophets also, when they speak as in the person of God, [saying,] “I am God, the first [of beings], and I am also the last,
Literally, “after these things.”
Chapter IV.—Continuation.
The Evangelists, too, when they declared that the one Father was “the only true God,”
Chapter V.—Denunciation of false teachers.
Whosoever, therefore, declares that there is but one God, only so as to take away the divinity of Christ, is a devil,
Comp.
Or, “that cannot be known.”
Comp.
Chapter VI.—Renewed cautions.
These things I write to you, thou new olive-tree of Christ, not that I am aware you hold any such opinions, but that I may put you on your guard, as a father does his children. Beware, therefore, of those that hasten to work mischief, those “enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose glory is in their shame.”
The text is here doubtful. Literally, “fox-like thoes,” lynxes being perhaps intended.
Chapter VII.—Exhortation to consistency of conduct.
Ye have been the disciples of Paul and Peter; do not lose what was committed to your trust. Keep in remembrance Euodias,
Some think that this is the same person as the Euodias referred to by St. Paul,
Comp.
Comp.
Chapter VIII.—Exhortations to the presbyters and others.
Ye presbyters, “feed the flock which is among you,”
Chapter IX.—Duties of husbands, wives, parents, and children.
Comp.
Chapter X.—Duties of masters and servants.
Ye masters, do not treat your servants with haughtiness, but imitate patient Job, who declares, “I did not despise
Literally, “If I did despise.” Or, “judgment.”
Chapter XI.—Inculcation of various moral duties.
Let no one addicted to idleness eat,
Comp.
Chapter XII.—Salutations.
Literally, “the name desirable to me,” referring to Hero the deacon. A class of persons connected with the Church, whose duty it was to bury the bodies of the martyrs and others. Such as voluntarily confessed Christ before Gentile rulers.
Some insert here a clause referring to
widows
.
Chapter XIII.—Salutations continued.
I salute Cassian and his partner in life, and their very dear children. Polycarp, that most worthy bishop, who is also deeply interested in you, salutes you; and to him I have commended you in the Lord. The whole Church of the Smyrnæans, indeed, is mindful of you in their prayers in the Lord. Onesimus, the pastor of the Ephesians, salutes you. Damas,
Or, as some read, “Demas.”
Chapter XIV.—Conclusion.
I write this letter to you from Philippi. May He who is alone unbegotten, keep you stedfast both in the spirit and in the flesh, through Him who was begotten before time
Literally, “before ages.”
The Epistle of Ignatius to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch
Chapter I.—Exhortations to earnestness and moderation.
I Exhort
thee in God, that thou add [speed] to thy course, and that thou vindicate thy dignity. Have a care to preserve concord with the saints. Bear [the burdens of] the weak, that “thou mayest fulfil the law of Christ.”
Literally, “having leisure for.” Literally, “cast thyself down.”
Comp.
Literally, “athlete.”
Chapter II.—Cautions against false teachers.
Every one that teaches anything beyond what is commanded, though he be [deemed] worthy of credit, though he be in the habit of fasting, though he live in continence, though he work miracles, though he have the gift of prophecy, let him be in thy sight as a wolf in sheep’s clothing,
Comp.
Chapter III.—Exhortations as to ecclesiastical duties.
“Honour widows that are widows indeed.”
The term
ἱερουργέω
, which we have translated as above, is one whose signification is disputed. It occurs once in the New Testament (
Specifically, assemblies for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
Chapter IV.—Servants and women are not to be despised.
Be not ashamed of servants, for we possess the same nature in common with them. Do not hold women in abomination, for they have given thee birth, and brought thee up. It is fitting, therefore, to love those that were the authors of our birth (but only in the Lord), inasmuch as a man can produce no children without a woman. It is right, therefore, that we should honour those who have had a part in giving us birth. “Neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man,”
Chapter V.—Various relative duties.
Flee from haughtiness, “for the Lord resisteth the proud.”
Chapter VI—Exhortations to purity and caution.
Keep thyself pure as the habitation of God. Thou art the temple of Christ. Thou art the instrument of the Spirit. Thou knowest in what way I have brought thee up. Though I am the least of men, do thou seek to follow me, be thou an imitator of my conduct. I do not glory in the world, but in the Lord. I exhort Hero, my son; “but let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord.”
Chapter VII.—Solemn charge to Hero, as future bishop of Antioch.
Keep God in remembrance, and thou shalt never sin. Be not double-minded
Comp.
Comp. Epistle to the Antiochians, chap. xii.
Chapter VIII.—Salutations.
Comp.
Chapter IX.—Concluding salutations and instructions.
Salute Cassian, my host, and his most serious-minded partner in life, and their very dear children,
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians
Chapter I.—Reason for writing the epistle.
Being
mindful of your love and of your zeal in Christ, which ye have manifested towards us, we thought it fitting to write to you, who display such a godly and spiritual love to the brethren,
Literally, “to your brother-loving spiritual love according to God.” Literally, “course in Christ.”
Literally, “which is given unto the death of the Lord.”
Chapter II.—Unity of the three divine persons.
i.e., “Advocate” or “Comforter;” comp.
Comp. Athanasian Creed.
Chapter III.—Christ was truly born, and died.
For there is but One that became incarnate, and that neither the Father nor the Paraclete, but the Son only, [who became so] not in appearance or imagination, but in reality. For “the Word became flesh.”
Chapter IV.—The malignity and folly of Satan.
[This is the idea worked out by St. Bernard. See my note
(supra)
suffixed to the Syriac Epistle to Ephesians.]
The various Gnostic sects are here referred to, who held that matter was essentially evil, and therefore denied the reality of our Lord’s incarnation.
The
ms.
has
μαγείας
, “of magic;” we have followed the emendation proposed by Faber.
Literally, “heretical in respect to phantasy.” Literally, is “various,” or “manifold.”
Chapter V.—Apostrophe to Satan.
Chapter VI.—Continuation.
Reference seems to be made to obscene heathen practices.
Chapter VII.—Continuation: inconsistency of Satan.
i.e., so as to have no separate personality from the Father. Comp. Epistle to the Tarsians, chap. ii. Literally, “and taking away Christ from being born.” Literally, “double.”
Chapter VIII.—Continuation: ignorance of Satan.
According to many of the Fathers, Satan was in great ignorance as to a multitude of points connected with Christ. [See my note at end of the Syriac Epistle to Ephesians,
supra
.]
Chapter IX.—Continuation: ignorance of Satan.
Literally, “thou wast dizzy in the head.” Literally, “on account of the paltry things.” Literally, “small.”
Or, “the belly.”
Some insert, “corruptible.”
Chapter X.—Continuation: audacity of Satan.
Comp.
Chapter XI.—Continuation: audacity of Satan.
Or, “belly.” Or, “that always needs whipping.”
Chapter XII.—The meek reply of Christ.
But the Lord is long-suffering, and does not reduce to nothing him who in his ignorance dares [to utter] such words, but meekly replies, “Get thee hence, Satan.”
Chapter XIII.—Various exhortations and directions.
These things, brethren, out of the affection which I entertain for you, I have felt compelled to write, exhorting you with a view to the glory of God, not as if I were a person of any consequence, but simply as a brother. Be ye subject to the bishop, to the presbyters, and to the deacons. Love one another in the Lord, as being the images of God. Take heed, ye husbands, that ye love your wives as your own members. Ye wives also, love your husbands, as being one with them in virtue of your union. If any one lives in chastity or continence, let him not be lifted up, lest he lose his reward. Do not lightly esteem the festivals. Despise not the period of forty days, for it comprises an imitation of the conduct of the Lord. After the week of the passion, do not neglect to fast on the fourth and sixth days, distributing at the same time of thine abundance to the poor. If any one fasts on the Lord’s Day or on the Sabbath, except on the paschal Sabbath only, he is a murderer of Christ.
Chapter XIV.—Farewells and cautions.
Let your prayers be extended to the Church of Antioch, whence also I as a prisoner am being led to Rome. I salute the holy bishop Polycarp; I salute the holy bishop Vitalius, and the sacred presbytery, and my fellow-servants the deacons; in whose stead may my soul be found. Once more I bid farewell to the bishop, and to the presbyters in the Lord. If any one celebrates the passover along with the Jews, or receives the emblems of their feast, he is a partaker with those that killed the Lord and His apostles.
Chapter XV.—Salutations. Conclusion.
Comp.
The Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius
Mary of Cassobelæ to Ignatius
Nothing can be said with certainty as to the place here referred to. Some have conceived that the ordinary reading,
Maria Cassobolita
, is incorrect, and that it should be changed to
Maria Castabalitis
, supposing the reference to be to Castabala, a well-known city of Cilicia. But this and other proposed emendations rest upon mere conjecture.
Nothing can be said with certainty as to the place here referred to. Some have conceived that the ordinary reading, Maria Cassobolita , is incorrect, and that it should be changed to Maria Castabalitis , supposing the reference to be to Castabala, a well-known city of Cilicia. But this and other proposed emendations rest upon mere conjecture.
Some propose to read, “always.”
Chapter I.—Occasion of the epistle.
Or, “wonderfully.”
The
ms.
has, “and.”
The
ms.
has
᾽Ημελάπης
, which Vossius and others deem a mistake for
ἡμεδαπῆς
, as translated above.
The same as Azarbus (comp. Epist. to Hero, chap. ix.).
Chapter II.—Youth may be allied with piety and discretion.
But as to those whom we have named being young men, do not, thou blessed one, have any apprehension. For I would have you know that they are wise about the flesh, and are insensible to its passions, they themselves glowing with all the glory of a hoary head through their own
Literally, “in themselves.” Literally, “in recent newness of priesthood.” Literally, “call up.” Literally, “know.”
Chapter III.—Examples of youthful devotedness.
Moreover, the wise Daniel, while he was a young man, passed judgment on certain vigorous old men,
The ancient Latin version translates
ὠμογέροντας
“cruel old men,” which perhaps suits the reference better.
Comp. for similar statements to those here made, Epistle to the Magnesians (longer), chap. iii. Literally, “understood the great question of the ignorance of the women respecting their children.” Literally, “out of herself.”
Chapter IV.—The same subject continued.
Josiah also, beloved of God, when as yet he could scarcely speak articulately, convicts those who were possessed of a wicked spirit as being false in their speech, and deceivers of the people. He also reveals the deceit of the demons, and openly exposes those that are no gods; yea, while yet an infant he slays their priests, and overturns their altars, and defiles the place where sacrifices were offered with dead bodies, and throws down the temples, and cuts down the groves, and breaks in pieces the pillars, and breaks open the tombs of the ungodly, that not a relic of the wicked might any longer exist.
Chapter V.—Expressions of respect for Ignatius.
But time would fail me if I should endeavour to enumerate
Literally, “to trace up.” Literally, “measure” or “limits.”