Letters of Ignatius

From the road to Rome — the bishop in chains writes unto the saints at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and unto Polycarp; on the unity of the Church, the bishop, and the bread of God.

1Ignatius — also called Theophorus, the God-bearer — unto the Church at Ephesus, blessed in the greatness of God the Father, and predestined before the ages unto everlasting and abiding glory: in Jesus Christ our God, abundant greeting in blamelessness.

2I received your whole multitude in the name of God in the person of Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop. I beseech you, in Christ Jesus, that ye may love him; and that ye all may be in his likeness. For blessed is He that hath granted unto you, being worthy, to obtain such a bishop.

3Wherefore it becometh you to walk according unto the will of the bishop — even as also ye do. Your reverend presbyters, worthy of God, are joined with the bishop as the strings unto the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love is Jesus Christ being sung. Each one of you, then, ye must form yourselves into a chorus — that being harmonious in your accord and taking the keynote of God ye may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ unto the Father; that He may both hear you and acknowledge you, by your good works, to be members of His Son. It is profitable, then, that ye should be in unblemished unity — that ye may always partake of God.

4If in so short a time I had such intercourse with your bishop — not as a mere man, but in the Spirit — how much more do I count you blessed which are joined in love with him as the Church is with Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is with the Father, that all things may be in concord by unity? Let no man be deceived: if any one be not within the precinct of the altar, he lacketh the bread of God.

5I have written boldly unto your love. I am one condemned; but I am not yet thereby justified. Now I begin to be a disciple. I greet you from Smyrna with the Churches of God which are present with me — they have refreshed me in all things in flesh as well as in spirit.

6Your prayer goeth forth unto the Church which is in Antioch of Syria — whence I am led a prisoner unto Rome. I am not worthy to be called a member thereof, being the very least of them. Yet by the divine will am I held worthy — not from any goodness of mine own, but by the grace of God.

7Have ye no man among you set up to lead, more than they that hold the office of presbytery? Be ye one with the bishop and with them that preside, and be subject unto them. As long as ye are in subjection unto the bishop and unto the presbytery and unto the deacons, ye shall be sanctified in all things. Without these no Church is named.

8Be careful, therefore, to use one Eucharist; for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup unto union with His blood; one altar, even as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow-servants — that whatsoever ye do ye may do it after God.

9Take heed, therefore, that ye be confirmed in the ordinances of the Lord and of His apostles; that whatsoever ye do, ye may prosper, in flesh and in spirit, in faith and in love, in the Son and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, with your most reverend bishop, and with your fitly-wreathed spiritual crown, the presbytery, and with the deacons.

Ignatius defends the true incarnation against the Docetists who deny it; affirms the literal flesh of Christ, His birth of the virgin, His real death, and His real resurrection; and writes of his own coming witness at Rome.

1Be ye deaf, therefore, when any man speaketh unto you apart from Jesus Christ — who was of the race of David, and was of Mary; who was truly born and ate and drank; was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was truly crucified and died, in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; who moreover was truly raised from the dead — His Father having raised Him — even as in the same fashion His Father shall raise us, in Christ Jesus, that believe on Him; without whom we have not the true life.

2But if, as some say, His suffering was only a phantom, why am I a prisoner? Why also do I desire to fight with the wild beasts? Then I die for nothing. Truly, I am bearing false witness against the Lord. Flee then from these evil offshoots which beget deadly fruit, whereof if any man hath tasted he straightway dieth. For these men are not the planting of the Father.

3I do not give you orders like Peter and Paul. They were apostles; I am a convict. They were free; until now I am a slave. But if I suffer, then am I a freedman of Jesus Christ; and I shall rise free in Him. Now I am learning, in my chains, to put away all desire.

4From Syria even unto Rome I fight with wild beasts — by sea and by land, by night and by day, being bound amid ten leopards — that is, a company of soldiers. Yet by their cruelties I become more thoroughly a disciple. Howbeit I am not justified hereby. May I have joy of the beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them prompt; nay, I will entice them, that they may devour me promptly. If they be unwilling, I will force them. Bear with me — I know what is expedient for me.

5Now I begin to be a disciple. May nothing of things visible or invisible envy me — that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire, and cross, and grapplings with wild beasts; cuttings, and manglings, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushings of the whole body, cruel tortures of the devil — let them come upon me, only that I may attain unto Jesus Christ.

6Pardon me, brethren. Hinder me not to live; do not desire that I should die. Bestow not upon the world one that desireth to be God's; neither delude him with material things. Suffer me to receive the pure light. When I am gone thither, then shall I be a man indeed. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God.

7There is in me no fire of material desire; but only water living and speaking in me — saying within me: Come unto the Father. I have no delight in the food of corruption, neither in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God — even the flesh of Jesus Christ; and for my drink I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible.

8I write unto all the Churches; and I bid all men know that of mine own free will I die for God — unless ye should hinder me. I exhort you: be ye not an unseasonable kindness unto me. Suffer me to be eaten by the beasts; through whom I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat; and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ.

9Pray ye for me; that I may attain. I write not unto you according to the flesh; but according to the mind of God. If I shall suffer, ye loved me; if I shall be rejected, ye hated me.

10Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria, which hath God for its shepherd in my stead. Jesus Christ alone shall oversee it, with your love. But I am ashamed to be called one of them; for neither am I worthy, being the very last of them, and an untimely birth. Yet by His mercy I have obtained mercy.

11I salute the godly bishop, and the reverend presbytery, and my fellow-servants the deacons, and all of you severally and in common, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in His flesh and blood, in His passion and resurrection — both fleshly and spiritual — in the unity of God and of you. Grace be unto you, and mercy, and peace, and patient endurance, throughout all time.

12I salute Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna — together with the presbyters, and the deacons, my fellow-servants. Polycarp, my beloved, study to keep firm in the faith. Let nothing be done without thy consent. Stand firm as the anvil that is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to be bruised, and yet to conquer. Be more zealous than thou art. Mark the seasons. Watch ye for Him that is above season — the Timeless, the Invisible, who became visible for our sake; the Impalpable, the Impassible, who became passible for our sake; who in every kind of way endured for our sake.

13I bid all men farewell in our God Jesus Christ. Abide ye in concord with God. Possess ye an inseparable spirit, which is Jesus Christ. Fare ye well in the Lord. Glory be unto Him for ever and ever. Amen.