Ignatius of Antioch

Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Icon of the martyrdom Saint Ignatius
Bishop and Martyr; Patriarch; Theophorus
Born	c. 35
Died	c. 108 Rome
Venerated in	Eastern Christianity, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion
Canonized	pre-congregation
Major shrine	Relics are in Basilica di San Clemente, Rome
Feast	Western and Syrian Christianity: October 17 General Roman Calendar, 12th century to 1969: February 1 Eastern Orthodox Church: December 20
Attributes	a bishop surrounded by lions or in chains
Patronage	Church in eastern Mediterranean; Church in North Africa

Ignatius of Antioch (Ancient Greek: Ἰγνάτιος, also known as Theophorus from Greek Θεοφόρος "God-bearer") (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117) was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.

Ignatius' feast day is observed on 20 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Western and Syriac Christianity his feast is celebrated on 17 October. He is celebrated on 1 February by those following the General Roman Calendar of 1962.

Early life

St. Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch after Saint Peter and St. Evodius (who died around AD 67). Eusebius records that St. Ignatius succeeded St. Evodius. Making his apostolic succession even more immediate, Theodoret (Dial. Immutab., I, iv, 33a) reported that Peter himself appointed Ignatius to the see of Antioch.

Besides his Latin name, Ignatius, he also called himself Theophorus ("God Bearer"), and tradition says he was one of the children Jesus took in His arms and blessed. St. Ignatius is one of the Apostolic Fathers (the earliest authoritative group of the Church Fathers). He based his authority on being a bishop of the Church, living his life in the imitation of Christ. It is believed that St. Ignatius, along with his friend Polycarp, with great probability were auditors of the Apostle St. John. .

Martyrdom

Epistles attributed to St. Ignatius report his arrest by the authorities and travel to Rome:

From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated. —Ignatius to the Romans, 5.

Along the route he wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop.

He was sentenced to die in the Colosseum, to be eaten by lions.

In his Chronicle, Eusebius gives the date of his death as AA 2124 (2124 years after Adam), which would amount to the 11th year of Trajan, i.e. 108 AD. His body lies entombed under St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Letters

The seven letters considered to be authentic are:

• To the Ephesians
• To the Magnesians
• Letter to the Trallians
• To the Romans
• To the Philadelphians
• To the Smyrnaeans
• To Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

By the 5th century, this authentic collection had been enlarged by spurious letters, and some of the original letters had been changed with interpolations, created to posthumously enlist Ignatius as an unwitting witness in theological disputes of that age, while the purported eye-witness account of his martyrdom is also thought to be a forgery from around the same time.

A detailed but spurious account of Ignatius' arrest and his travails and martyrdom is the material of the Martyrium Ignatii which is presented as being an eyewitness account for the church of Antioch, and as if written by Ignatius' companions, Philo of Cilicia, deacon at Tarsus, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian. Though James Ussher regarded it as genuine, if there is any genuine nucleus of the Martyrium, it has been so greatly expanded with interpolations that no part of it is without questions. Its most reliable manuscript is the 10th century Codex Colbertinus (Paris), in which the Martyrium closes the collection. The Martyrium presents the confrontation of the bishop Ignatius with Trajan at Antioch, a familiar trope of Acta of the martyrs, and many details of the long, partly overland voyage to Rome.

After Ignatius' martyrdom in the Flavian Amphitheatre, his remains were honorably carried back to Antioch by his companions, and were first interred outside the city gates, then removed by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychaeum, or Temple of Tyche which was converted into a church dedicated to Ignatius. In 637 the relics were translated to the Church of St Clement in Rome.

The letters of Ignatius have proved to be important testimony to the development of catholic theology, since the number of extant writings from this period of Church history is very small. They bear signs of being written in great haste and without a proper plan, such as run-on sentences and an unsystematic succession of thought. Ignatius is the earliest known catholic writer to emphasize loyalty to a single bishop in each city (or diocese) who is assisted by both presbyters possibly elders and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. For instance, while the offices of bishop, presbyter and deacon appear apostolic in origin, the titles of "bishop" and "presbyter" could be used interchangeably.

Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God, and with the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and is at last made manifest —Letter to the Magnesians 2, 6:1

Ignatius is known to have taught the deity of Christ:

But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word — Ignatius to the Ephesians 7 Roberts-Donaldson translation.

Ignatius stressed the value of the Eucharist, calling it a "medicine of immortality" (Ignatius to the Ephesians 20:2). The very strong desire for bloody martyrdom in the arena, which Ignatius expresses rather graphically in places, may seem quite odd to the modern reader. An examination of his theology of soteriology shows that he regarded salvation as one being free from the powerful fear of death and thus to bravely face martyrdom .

Ignatius is claimed to be the first known Christian writer to argue in favor of Christianity's replacement of the Sabbath with the Lord's Day:

Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace.... If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny ... how shall we be able to live apart from Him? ... It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity — Ignatius to the Magnesians 8:1, 9:1-2, 10:3, Lightfoot translation.

He is also responsible for the first known use of the Greek word katholikos (καθολικός), meaning "universal," "complete" and "whole" to describe the church, writing:

Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, J.R. Willis translation.

It is from the word katholikos that the word "catholic" comes. When Ignatius wrote the Letter to the Smyrnaeans in about the year 107 and used the word "catholic", he used it as if it were a word already in use to describe the Church. This has led many scholars to conclude that the appellation "catholic Church" with its ecclesial connotation may have been in use as early as the last quarter of the first century.

On the Eucharist, Ignatius wrote in his letter to the Smyrnaeans:

Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1

Saint Ignatius's most famous quotation, however, comes from his letter to the Romans:

I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.— Letter to the Romans

Letters of Pseudo-Ignatius

Epistles attributed to Saint Ignatius but of spurious origin include:

• Epistle to the Tarsians
• Epistle to the Antiochians
• Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch
• Epistle to the Philippians
• The Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius
• Epistle to Mary at Neapolis, Zarbus
• First Epistle to St. John
• Second Epistle to St. John
• The Epistle of Ignatius to the Virgin Mary
• Reply of the Blessed Virgin to this Letter

References

• Holy Letters and Syllables, the function and character of Scripture Authority in the writings of St Ignatius (Contains biography Ignatius as well. Doctoral thesis University of the Orange Free State 1997, Dutch, pdf)

External links

• Early Christian writings: On-line texts of St. Ignatius' letters (archived) (non-archived link)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Ignatius of Antioch
• The Short Syriac Version
• The Ecclesiology of St. Ignatius of Antioch by Fr. John S. Romanides
• Saint Ignatius
• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Spurious Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch
• Ignatius of Antioch: To Meet The Lord