The Seven Epistles of Saint Ignatius of Antioch: Modern English
Date: 2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Letters

The Seven Epistles of Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Modern English

Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Royal Archives

2026

Copyright

The modern English translation and the cover design are © 2026 Royal Archives. All rights reserved.

The underlying source text is in the public domain.

Published by Royal Archives

First published 2026

Translated by Royal Archives

Source: Ἰγνατίου Ἀντιοχείας Ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Ἐφεσίους

Cover: The Arch of Titus and the Coliseum, Rome by Thomas Hartley Cromek (British, 1809–1873), Cleveland Museum of Art, which is in the public domain.

Edition identifier: urn:royalarchives:ignatius_letters:en:1

Introduction

The Author

St Ignatius of Antioch stands among the very first Christian writers whose voice we can still hear plainly. He was bishop of Antioch in Syria—by the reckoning of the early Church its third, after the Apostle Peter and Evodius—and he wrote the letter that follows as a prisoner in chains, on the last road of his life. Tradition, reaching back to Antioch itself, remembers him as a disciple of the Apostle John, a companion of that other John’s disciple, Polycarp of Smyrna, and a shepherd who had governed his church for the better part of a generation. He carried a second name, Theophoros, “the God-bearer,” and he understood it to mean what it says: that a Christian is one in whom God dwells and whom God carries.

His story, as the Church has told it, is quickly recounted. In the reign of the emperor Trajan, in the early years of the second century, Ignatius was condemned for the faith and sentenced to die by wild beasts in the amphitheatre at Rome. He was not martyred at home in Antioch but was sent the long way across Asia Minor under military escort—a squad of soldiers he wryly called “ten leopards, who only grow worse when kindly treated.” The journey became, improbably, the occasion of his enduring legacy. As the guard moved westward, Christian communities sent delegations to meet him; at Smyrna, where Polycarp was bishop, envoys came from Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles to embrace the condemned bishop and be strengthened by him. Out of these encounters, and a later halt at Troas, came seven short letters, dictated in haste and under strain: four written from Smyrna (to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, and Romans) and three from Troas (to the Philadelphians, the Smyrnaeans, and to Polycarp himself). They are the earliest sustained body of Christian correspondence we possess after the apostolic writings, and their author expected to be dead within weeks of setting them down. He was: he reached Rome and was killed in the arena, most likely between about AD 107 and 110, though the ancient evidence permits only an approximate date and some modern scholars have argued for a somewhat later one. The Church of the East commemorates him on 20 December; in the West he is honoured on 17 October (and on 1 February in the older Roman calendar).

A word on the letters as they have come down to us. They survive in three differing forms—a short Syriac abridgement of three letters, the seven “middle recension” letters, and a later, padded “long recension” enlarged by a fourth-century hand—and the scholarly consensus, settled after long debate, is that the middle recension of seven letters preserves Ignatius’s own words; that is the text translated here.

The Work: Occasion & Purpose

The Letter to the Ephesians is the longest and, in many ways, the most expansive of the seven—the one in which Ignatius, writing to a great and famous church, lets his themes unfold most fully. Its immediate occasion is gratitude. The Christians of Ephesus had done exactly what he most valued: they had sent a delegation to him at Smyrna, at real cost and trouble, to comfort a prisoner on his way to death. That delegation was led by their own bishop, Onesimus, “a man of inexpressible love,” and it included the deacon Burrhus, whom Ignatius asks to keep by his side, along with Crocus, Euplus, and Fronto, in whom he says he has seen the whole community’s love made visible. Onesimus bears the same name as the runaway slave of Paul’s Letter to Philemon, and some readers, ancient and modern, have wondered whether the two are one man—though this cannot be established and Ignatius himself says nothing of it. The letter is, first of all, a thank-you: for the men, for the welcome, for the refreshment they brought him.

But Ignatius never writes only to thank. He seizes the occasion to press upon the Ephesians the thing he cared about most as his own end approached—the unity of the church around its bishop and clergy, and its guarding against teachers who would divide or deceive it. He had learned, he says, that certain people had passed through the region “with evil teaching,” and though the Ephesians had rightly stopped their ears against it, he wants to fortify them. So the letter moves between warm affection and urgent exhortation: love your bishop; be knit to your presbytery; gather often for the Eucharist; shun the false teachers as you would rabid dogs; and hold fast, in these “last days,” to faith and love in Jesus Christ. Ephesus itself gives the appeal its weight. This was Paul’s city, where the apostle had labored for years, and Ignatius writes to the Ephesians as fellow initiates and “companions on the road” of the great apostle whose footsteps he hopes to follow to Rome and to martyrdom. He twice defers his deepest matter—the divine economy, the “new man” Jesus Christ—to a promised second letter he did not live to write, which lends the whole a quality of a message begun in the shadow of the arena and left, at the last, in God’s hands.

Argument & Structure

The letter has no formal outline; it moves by association, as speech does, circling back to a few great themes. But a clear shape can be traced through its twenty-one short chapters.

It opens (salutation through chapter 3) with thanksgiving and the naming of the delegation. Ignatius greets the Ephesians as a church “blessed in the greatness of God the Father’s fullness,” praises them for hurrying to see him, and commends their bishop Onesimus and the companions who came with him. Already the keynote is sounded: he is a fellow-learner, not a commander—“I am not giving you orders as though I were someone important”—a man only beginning to be a disciple.

From here the letter turns to its central concern, unity in the one bishop and presbytery (chapters 4–6). Ignatius reaches for music: the presbyters are attuned to the bishop “as strings to a lyre,” and the whole community should become a choir that, taking God’s own tone, sings with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father. To be within this harmony is to be within the Church, and to be within the Church is to be “within the altar,” where the bread of God is found; whoever cuts himself off from the common assembly has already, by his separation, condemned himself. It is here, too, that Ignatius sets down the arresting image that later readers would return to again and again: the bishop who governs by silence is the more to be revered, for we should regard him “as we would the Lord himself.”

The middle chapters (7–10) sharpen into warning against false teachers and a confession of who Christ is. Some carry the Name about with wicked guile; shun them. Against their teaching Ignatius sets one of the most compact christological statements in early Christian literature—the “one physician, both fleshly and spiritual, begotten and unbegotten, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God.” The Ephesians themselves he pictures as stones of the Father’s temple, hoisted into place by “the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross,” with the Holy Spirit for a rope—and then, as “God-bearers and temple-bearers, Christ-bearers,” charged to meet the anger and blasphemy of outsiders with gentleness, humility, and prayer, so that some may yet be won.

A more urgent, eschatological note enters in chapters 11–14: these are the last days; let us fear God’s patience lest it turn to judgement; let us be found in Christ for true life. Ignatius binds the letter’s ethics to two words—“faith is the beginning, and love is the end,” and the two together are God—and insists that profession is proved only by endurance to the end, for “the tree is known by its fruit.”

The letter then rises to its two summits. In chapter 15 comes the meditation on silence: “It is better to be silent and to be real than to talk and not be real”; there is one Teacher, “who spoke and it came to be,” and yet “even the things He has done in silence are worthy of the Father.” The one who truly possesses the word of Jesus can hear even his silence. This flowers, after a further warning against those who corrupt the faith (chapters 16–17), into the great christological passage of chapters 18–19: our God Jesus Christ, carried in Mary’s womb “according to God’s economy,” born and baptized to purify the water by his passion; and the “three mysteries of proclamation”—Mary’s virginity, her child-bearing, and the Lord’s death—“which were accomplished in the silence of God” and then broke upon the world in the light of a new star, before which the old magic and every bond of evil dissolved.

The close (chapters 20–21) gathers the letter’s threads. Ignatius promises the second treatise he hopes to write, and grounds his whole appeal in the assembly: that they gather in one faith, “obeying the bishop and the presbytery with undivided mind, breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live in Jesus Christ forever.” He signs off as their “ransom,” asks their prayers for the church in Syria he has left behind, and commends himself to their remembrance, “as Jesus Christ also remembers you.”

Theological & Spiritual Significance

Small as it is, this letter is one of the load-bearing texts of early Christianity, and three of its contributions have never ceased to be quoted.

The first is its Eucharistic realism. When Ignatius calls the one broken bread “the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live in Jesus Christ forever,” he gives the Church a phrase it would never forget. The Eucharist, for him, is not a bare memorial but the very means by which mortal human beings are joined to the deathless life of the risen Christ—food that heals what death has done. Set beside his image of the altar as the place where “the bread of God” is found, and his insistence that the community’s gathering overthrows “the powers of Satan,” the letter witnesses to a sacramental understanding already firmly in place within a generation of the apostles.

The second is its doctrine of the Church around the bishop. Ignatius is the earliest writer to make the single bishop, surrounded by his presbytery and served by deacons, the visible centre of the local church’s unity. He does not argue the point so much as sing it—the lyre, the choir, the one voice—and he roots the whole order in the divine life it images: the community is joined to its bishop as the Church is joined to Christ and as Christ is joined to the Father. This is strong episcopal theology, stated with a warmth that keeps it from mere hierarchy; it is offered here as the shared inheritance of the whole Christian world before its later divisions, and it has been read with reverence across the traditions that trace their life to this era.

The third is the letter’s distinctive theology of silence. Ignatius pairs the bishop who leads by silence with the God who works in silence, and both with the Word who is himself the Father’s speech: the very mysteries of salvation—the Virgin, the Nativity, the Cross—were “accomplished in the silence of God” before they were proclaimed to the ages. To hear the word of Jesus rightly is to be able to hear his silence too. Few passages in the Fathers have proved so fertile for later contemplative and liturgical reflection, and none states so early the paradox that the God who speaks the world into being is also the God who saves in hiddenness.

Underlying all three is the letter’s high Christology. Against the teachers who would make Christ less than fully human or less than truly God, Ignatius answers with the unqualified confession of “our God, Jesus Christ”—one who is at once “from Mary and from God,” passible and impassible, “true life in death.” Here, decades before the great creeds, the raw material of later orthodoxy is already present, held not as a formula but as the living faith for which its author was about to die.

Around these doctrines runs a spirituality of martyrdom that gives the whole letter its temperature. Ignatius writes as a man walking toward the beasts, and he does not flinch from it; the imitation of Christ, for him, reaches its fullness in the sharing of his sufferings. Yet the Letter to the Ephesians is notably outward-turned for a prisoner’s farewell: he asks the Ephesians to answer their persecutors’ anger with gentleness and their blasphemy with prayer, “not striving to imitate them in return,” so that even opponents might “be disciples through your works.” The confessor’s readiness to die and the pastor’s patience toward those outside are, in his mind, one disposition—the mark of a people who “love nothing according to human life except God alone.”

Reception & Influence

The letters were treasured almost from the moment they were written. Polycarp of Smyrna, who had known Ignatius, gathered them and sent them on, referring to them by name in his own letter to the Philippians—a witness to their circulation within years of the martyrdom. Irenaeus quoted Ignatius before the second century was out; Eusebius, in the fourth, listed the seven and fixed the memory of his death under Trajan. Across the centuries the Letter to the Ephesians in particular supplied the Church with some of its most durable phrases—the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality,” the mysteries “accomplished in the silence of God,” the bishop revered in his silence—which recur in liturgical, monastic, and theological writing East and West. Honoured as a saint and martyr throughout the Christian world, Ignatius has remained, for eighteen centuries, one of the primary bridges between the apostolic age and the Church that came after it.

The Text & This Edition

This edition presents a fresh modern English translation of the Letter to the Ephesians, rendered directly from the Greek of the middle recension—the seven-letter text recognized as Ignatius’s own—as transmitted in the public-domain Greek edition on which this corpus draws. It is a new translation, not a reprint of any earlier English version, and it is an English-only reading text: the Greek is the source from which it was made, not a facing column set against it.

The translation follows the house conventions used throughout this series. Ignatius is named by the traditional attribution the Church has always given him—St Ignatius of Antioch, called Theophoros, disciple of the Apostle John, bishop of Antioch, and martyr—and the translators are credited as translators, never as authors. Chapter and section divisions use Ignatius’s own numbering, and citations of Scripture and of the letter’s internal divisions are given in the plain Arabic style (Ephesians 20.2, Romans 4.1) rather than in Roman numerals. The English has been rendered in clear contemporary prose that keeps faith with the compressed, urgent character of the original—for Ignatius wrote quickly, and his Greek can be dense and elliptical. Where the Greek admits more than one defensible rendering, or where the transmitted text is uncertain, the translation makes a considered choice; the aim throughout has been a version that a reader today can follow without a commentary at the elbow, while preserving the theological precision on which so much of the letter’s meaning turns.

The Letter to the Ephesians is one of the seven Ignatian letters gathered in this corpus—with those to the Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, and Smyrnaeans, and the personal letter to Polycarp—each presented in the same fresh modern rendering.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

Salutation

Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church worthy of all honour, dwelling in Ephesus of Asia, blessed in the greatness of God the Father’s fullness, predestined before the ages to be for ever for his glory, unchanging, united and chosen in true passion, in the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God—abundant joy in Jesus Christ and in blamelessness.[1]

1

1 I have received in God your much-beloved name, which you possess by a righteous nature according to faith and love in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Being imitators of God, you have rekindled through the blood of God the work of your kinship and brought it to perfect completion.

2 When you heard that I was bound from Syria for the sake of the common name and hope, hoping through your prayer to succeed in fighting wild beasts in Rome, so that by succeeding I might be a disciple, you made haste to see me.

3 Since I have received your great multitude in the name of God in Onesimus, your bishop, who is indescribable in love, I pray that you love him according to Jesus Christ and that you all be in harmony with him. Blessed is he who granted you to possess such a worthy bishop.[2]

2

1 Now concerning my fellow servant Burrhus, your deacon according to God, blessed in all things, I pray that he may remain with you for the honour of you and the bishop. And Crocus too, who is worthy of God and of you, whom I received as a living example of your love, has refreshed me in every way—may the Father of Jesus Christ refresh him, together with Onesimus and Burrhus and Euplus and Fronto, through whom I have seen all of you in love.

2 May I always have joy in you, if indeed I am worthy. So it is fitting in every way to glorify Jesus Christ who has glorified you, so that, united in one submission, submitting to the bishop and the presbytery, you may be sanctified in all things.

3

1 I’m not giving you orders as though I were someone important. For even though I am bound in the name, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ. Right now I’m only beginning to be a disciple, and I speak to you as my fellow students. For I needed to be anointed by you with faith, instruction, endurance, and long-suffering.

2 But since love doesn’t allow me to be silent about you, for this reason I’ve taken the initiative to encourage you to run together in harmony with the mind of God. For Jesus Christ, our undivided life, is the mind of the Father, just as the bishops appointed throughout the world are in the mind of Jesus Christ.

4

1 Therefore you must run together with the mind of your bishop—which indeed you do. For your renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is so harmoniously arranged with the bishop as strings with a lyre. And so in your unity and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung.

2 And each of you become a choir, so that being in harmony in unity, taking on God’s tone, you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, so that he may both hear you and recognize you through your good deeds, being members of his Son. It is therefore useful for you to be in blameless unity, so that you may always share in God.

5

1 If in so short a time I have acquired such familiarity with your bishop—not a human one, but a spiritual one—how much more do I count you blessed, you who are so mingled with him as the Church is with Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is with the Father, so that all things may be in harmony in unity?

2 Let no one be led astray. If anyone is not within the altar, he lacks the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two has such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church?[3]

3 So whoever doesn’t come to the common assembly is already showing pride and has cut himself off. For it is written: God resists the proud. Let us be eager, then, not to resist the bishop, so that we may be subject to God.

6

1 And the more anyone sees the bishop keeping silent, the more he should revere him. For everyone whom the master of the house sends to manage his affairs, we must receive just as we would receive the one who sent him. Clearly, then, we must regard the bishop as we would the Lord himself.

2 Now Onesimus himself highly praises your good order in God, because you all live according to truth and because no heresy dwells among you; in fact, you don’t even listen to anyone more than to one who speaks about Jesus Christ in truth.

7

1 For there are some who make a habit of carrying around the Name with wicked guile, while doing other things unworthy of God. You must shun them like wild beasts, for they are rabid dogs that bite in secret. You have to be on your guard against them, since their disease is hard to cure.

2 There is one physician, both fleshly and spiritual, begotten and unbegotten, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first passible and then impassible, Jesus Christ our Lord.

8

1 So let no one deceive you, just as indeed you are not deceived, being wholly God’s. For when no strife that can torment you has taken root among you, then you are truly living according to God. I am your humble servant and I purify myself for you Ephesians, a Church renowned throughout the ages.

2 The fleshly cannot do spiritual things, nor can the spiritual do fleshly things, just as faith cannot do the things of unbelief, nor unbelief the things of faith. But even the things you do according to the flesh are spiritual, for you do all things in Jesus Christ.

9

1 Now I’ve learned that certain people passed through from there who have evil teaching; but you didn’t allow them to sow it among you, stopping your ears so as not to receive what they were sowing, because you are stones of the Father’s temple, prepared for the building of God the Father, lifted up to the heights by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, using the Holy Spirit as a rope. Your faith is what lifts you up, and love is the road that leads up to God.

2 You are all fellow-travellers, God-bearers and temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, holy-bearers, adorned in every way with the commandments of Jesus Christ. In this I have rejoiced and been deemed worthy, through what I write, to speak with you and to share your joy, because you love nothing according to human life except God alone.

10

1 And for the rest of mankind, pray without ceasing, for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain God. Allow them, then, even to be disciples through your works.

2 To their angers be you gentle; to their boastfulness be you humble-minded; to their blasphemies answer with your prayers; to their error be you steadfast, not striving to imitate them in return.[4]

3 Let us be found as their brothers in kindness. Be imitators of the Lord—who is more wronged, who is deprived, who is rejected?—so that no weed of the devil may be found among you, but rather in all purity and chastity remain in Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit.

11

1 These are the last days. So let us be ashamed, and let us fear God’s long-suffering, so that it may not become judgement for us. Either let us fear the coming wrath, or let us love the present grace—one or the other. Only in Christ Jesus let us be found for true life.

2 Apart from this, let nothing be fitting for you—I who carry these chains, the spiritual pearls—in which may it be granted to me to rise through your prayer, and may I always be a sharer in it, so that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always agreed with the apostles in the power of Jesus Christ.

12

1 I know who I am and to whom I write. I am condemned, you are shown mercy; I am in danger, you are established.

2 You are the passage of those being led to God, fellow initiates of Paul, the one who was sanctified, who was witnessed to, worthy of blessing—may it be granted to me to be found in his footsteps, when I attain to God, he who mentions you in every letter in Christ Jesus.

13

1 So make every effort to come together more often to give thanks to God and to glorify him. For whenever you frequently gather in one place, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his destructive work is undone by the harmony of your faith.

2 Nothing is better than peace, in which every war of things in heaven and things on earth is brought to an end.

14

1 None of these things will escape your notice if you have perfect faith and love in Jesus Christ, which is the beginning and end of life: faith is the beginning, and love is the end. And the two, when they come together in unity, are God, and all other things follow as the fruit of goodness.

2 No one who professes faith goes on sinning, and no one who has acquired love hates. The tree is known by its fruit. In the same way, those who profess to belong to Christ will be recognized by what they do. For the work is not a matter of present profession, but of being found, in the power of faith, faithful to the end.

15

1 It is better to be silent and to be real than to talk and not be real. Teaching is good, if the one who speaks also acts. Now there is one Teacher, who spoke and it came to be; and even the things He has done in silence are worthy of the Father.[5]

2 The one who truly possesses the word of Jesus can also hear his silence, so that he may be perfect, so that he may act through what he speaks and be known through what he keeps silent.

3 Nothing escapes the Lord; even our hidden things are close to him. So let us do everything as though he were dwelling within us, that we may be his temples and he himself may be our God within us — as indeed he is, and will be made manifest before our face, for which reasons we rightly love him.

16

1 Don’t be deceived, my brothers: those who corrupt households will not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 If those who did such things in the flesh were put to death, how much more will it be for anyone who corrupts by false teaching the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified? Such a person, having become defiled, will go off into the unquenchable fire — and so will anyone who listens to him.

17

1 For this reason the Lord received myrrh on his head, so that he might breathe incorruption to the Church. Don’t anoint yourselves with the foul stench of the teaching of the ruler of this age, lest he take you captive from the life that lies before you.

2 Why then don’t we all become wise, having received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, ignoring the gift that the Lord has truly sent?

18

1 My spirit is devoted to the cross, which is a stumbling block to those who don’t believe, but to us salvation and eternal life. Where is the wise man? Where is the debater? Where is the boasting of the so-called intelligent?[6]

2 For our God, Jesus Christ, was carried in the womb by Mary according to God’s oikonomia, from the seed of David, but of the Holy Spirit; he was born and baptized, so that by his passion he might purify the water.

19

1 And the ruler of this age was kept in ignorance of Mary’s virginity and her childbearing, and likewise of the Lord’s death—three mysteries of proclamation, which were accomplished in the silence of God.

2 How then was he revealed to the ages? A star shone in heaven above all the stars, and its light was ineffable and its newness caused astonishment, and all the other stars together with the sun and moon became a chorus for the star, and its light surpassed them all; and there was confusion about where this newness came from that was so unlike them.

3 From that moment all magic was dissolved and every bond of vice vanished; ignorance was destroyed, the old kingdom was overthrown when God appeared in human form for the newness of eternal life; and what had been perfected in God’s presence began to take effect. From that point everything was shaken because the destruction of death was being planned.

20

1 If Jesus Christ counts me worthy through your prayer and it is his will, in the second letter that I intend to write to you I will explain further the oikonomia I have begun to speak of concerning the new human being Jesus Christ, in his faith and in his love, in his passion and resurrection;

2 especially if the Lord reveals to me that each one of you, all together in grace, assembles in his name in one faith and in Jesus Christ, who according to the flesh was of the line of David, the son of man and Son of God, so that you may obey the bishop and the presbytery with undivided mind, breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live in Jesus Christ forever.

21

1 I am your ransom, as are those whom you sent to Smyrna for the honour of God, from where I am also writing to you, giving thanks to the Lord, loving Polycarp as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ also remembers you.

2 Pray for the Church in Syria, from where I am being led in chains to Rome, being the least of the faithful there, though I have been counted worthy to be found for the honour of God. Farewell in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, our common hope. en:Epistle to the Ephesians

[1] Translator’s note: ἀξιομακρίστῳ: rare compound; rendered as ‘worthy of all honour’ to capture the sense of being honoured from afar.

[2] Translator’s note: ἀδιηγήτῳ: ‘indescribable’ captures the sense of being beyond description or utterance.

[3] Translator’s note: ἐντος τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου: rendered ‘within the altar’ (liturgical sense); the phrase may also mean ‘within the sanctuary’ or ‘at the altar’.

[4] Translator’s note: πλαπνην: likely corruption for πλάνη (error).

[5] Translator’s note: ‘to be real’: εἶναι used absolutely, contrasting authentic existence with empty speech; alt. ‘to truly be what one is’.

[6] Translator’s note: ‘My spirit is devoted to’: περίψημα rendered as expressing devotion; alt. ‘my spirit is an offering for’.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians

Salutation

Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church blessed in the grace of God the Father in Christ Jesus the Saviour, which is in Magnesia on the Maeander—in him I greet you and pray for you in God the Father and in Christ Jesus our Lord; in him may you have fullest joy.

1

1 1.Having learned of your very orderly love according to God, I rejoiced and resolved in faith in Jesus Christ to speak to you. For having been counted worthy of a divine and desirable name, in these chains I carry about I sing of the churches, in which I pray for union of flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of believers, by whose blood you were redeemed, through whom you came to know God, or rather were known by him;

2 in him, by enduring all the abuse of this age, you will escape. For he is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. 2.

3 Since, then, I have been counted worthy to see you through Damas your God-worthy bishop and the presbyters worthy of God, Bassus and Apollonius, and my fellow servant the deacon Zotion—may I benefit from him, because he is subject to the bishop and to the presbytery—by the grace of God in the law of Jesus Christ.

2

1 And it’s only fitting that you too should not take advantage of your bishop’s youth, but render him every respect according to the will of God the Father—just as I have learned that the holy presbyters also do, not regarding his apparent youthfulness, but rather his godly wisdom.

2 For it is written: It is not the long-lived who are wise, nor do the aged understand understanding, but it is the Spirit that is in mortals.

3 Daniel, though he was only twelve years old, became possessed by the divine Spirit and refuted the elders who bore their grey hair in vain—those slanderers and lustful men who desired another’s beauty.

4 Samuel, though he was but a small child, rebuked the ninety-year-old Eli for honouring his own servants above God.

5 In the same way, Jeremiah too hears from God.

6 Do not say, ‘I am too young.’

7 Solomon and Josiah—the one, reigning at twelve years old, rendered that fearful and difficult judgement concerning the women over the children; the other, beginning to rule at eight years old, threw down the altars and shrines and burned the groves (for they were dedicated to demons, not to God), and slaughtered the false priests as corrupters and deceivers of human beings, not worshippers of divinity. So then, youth is not to be despised when it is dedicated to God, but rather what is wicked in disposition, even if it is old in evil days. Timothy the Christ-bearer was young; but listen to what his teacher writes to him:

8 Let no one despise your youth, but be a type of the believers in word, in conduct. So it is fitting for you also to obey your bishop and in no way to contradict him; for it is a fearful thing to contradict such a one, since whoever does so is not leading astray this visible one, but is trying to deceive the invisible One who cannot be deceived by anyone. Such a matter has to do not with a human being, but with God. For God says to Samuel:

9 They have not rejected you, but Me. And Moses says:

10 For the grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord God. No one who has risen up against his superiors has remained unpunished; for Dathan and Abiram did not speak against the law, but against Moses; and they went down alive into Hades.

11 And Korah and the two hundred and fifty who conspired with him against Aaron were consumed by fire.

12 Absalom, having become a parricide, hung suspended in a tree and was struck with darts because of his evil heart.

13 Abeddad likewise had his head cut off for a similar reason.

14 Uzziah was struck with leprosy for daring to usurp the priests and the priesthood.

15 Saul was dishonored for not waiting for the high priest Samuel. So you too must respect your superiors.

3

1 It is fitting not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians; for it is not the name that makes one blessed, but the reality. If some call a bishop a bishop but do everything without him, such people will hear even from him—the one who is the true and first bishop and by nature alone the high priest—

2 Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? For such people seem to me not to have a good conscience, but to be hypocrites and pretenders.

4

1 Since, then, all things have an end, and there lies before us life from obedience and death from disobedience, and each of us is about to go to the place of what he has chosen, let us flee from death and choose life. For I say there are two stamps found among human beings, one of true coin and the other of counterfeit.

2 The godly human being is a coin stamped by God; the ungodly is a falsely-named coin, debased, spurious, counterfeit, produced not by God but by the devil. I’m not saying there are two natures of human beings, but that the one human being sometimes belongs to God and sometimes to the devil. If someone is godly, he is a human being of God; but if someone is ungodly, he is a human being of the devil, becoming so not from his nature but from his own choice.

3 Unbelievers bear the image of the ruler of evil; believers bear the image of the ruler, God the Father and Jesus Christ. Through him, unless we willingly embrace dying for the truth into his passion, his life is not in us.

5

1 Since, then, in the persons I mentioned above I have seen the whole congregation in faith and loved them, I urge you: be eager to do everything in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God and the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and the deacons—who are most dear to me—entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ, who before the ages was begotten by the Father and was the Word, God, the only-begotten Son, and at the consummation of the ages remains the same; for of his kingdom there will be no end, says the prophet Daniel. So let us all love one another in harmony, and let no one regard his neighbor according to the flesh, but in Christ Jesus.

2 Let there be nothing among you that can divide you, but be united with the bishop, submitting to God through him in Christ.

6

1 So just as the Lord does nothing without the Father (for He says, I can do nothing of Myself), so you too must do nothing without the bishop—neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman. Let nothing seem right to you apart from his judgment, for such a thing is lawless and hostile to God.

2 All together come together in prayer; let there be one common supplication, one mind, one hope in love, in blameless faith directed toward Christ Jesus, than whom nothing is better. All of you, as one, run together to the temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, the high priest of the unbegotten God.

7

1 Do not be led astray by heterodoxy, nor be entangled in myths and endless genealogies and Jewish arrogance. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 For if we still live according to the Jewish law and the circumcision of the flesh, we deny that we have received grace.

3 For the most divine prophets lived according to Jesus Christ; for this reason they were also persecuted, inspired by grace to convince the disobedient that there is one God, the Almighty, who revealed himself through Jesus Christ his Son, who is his word—not spoken, but essential.[1]

4 For it is not the sound of articulate speech, but the essence of divine activity, begotten and pleasing in all things to him who brought it forth.

8

1 If, then, those who were brought up in the ancient writings came to newness of hope, awaiting Christ, as the Lord teaches, saying:

2 If you believed Moses, you would believe me.

3 For he wrote about me. And Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. For before Abraham was, I am. How then can we live without him, when even the prophets, being servants in the Spirit, foresaw him and waited for him as their teacher and expected him as Lord and Saviour, saying:

4 He will come and save us? So let us no longer keep the Sabbath in the Jewish way, delighting in idleness.

5 For the one who does not work, let him not eat. And again:

6 For by the sweat of your face you will eat your bread, say the Scriptures.

7 But let each of you keep the Sabbath spiritually, rejoicing in the study of the law, not in bodily rest; marvelling at God’s creation, not eating stale food and drinking lukewarm drinks and walking measured steps and delighting in dancing and clapping that have no sense.

8 And after keeping the Sabbath, let every lover of Christ celebrate the Lord’s Day, the day of resurrection, the queen, the chief of all days, which the prophet awaited when he said:

9 For the end, concerning the eighth; on which our life also dawned, and the victory over death came to be in Christ,

10 whom the children of destruction deny, the enemies of the cross, whose god is their belly, who set their minds on earthly things, who are lovers of pleasure and not God-loving, who have a form of godliness but have denied its power, who are peddlers of Christ, hawking the word and selling Jesus, who are corrupters of women and desirers of what belongs to others, who are greedy for money—from whom may you be delivered by the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

9

1 So let’s not be insensible to his kindness. If he imitates us in what we do, we are no more; For if you should mark iniquities, O Lord, Lord, who will stand? So let’s become worthy of the name we have received.

2 For whoever is called by another name more than this one does not belong to God, nor has he received the prophecy that speaks about us, that he will be called by a new name, which the Lord will name him, and he will be a holy people.

3 This was first fulfilled in Syria, for in Antioch the disciples were called Christians, when Paul and Peter were laying the foundation of the Church. So put away the evil leaven, the old and rotten leaven, and be transformed into new leaven of grace.

4 Abide in Christ, so that the stranger may not lord it over you. It’s absurd to speak Jesus Christ on the tongue and yet hold in the mind Judaism, which has ceased. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, into which every nation that believed and every tongue that confessed was gathered to God.

5 And those who were stony in heart became children of God’s friend Abraham, and in his seed all those appointed to eternal life in Christ were blessed.

10

1 Now, my beloved, I don’t say these things because I’ve learned that any of you are in this condition, but as one who is less than you I want to guard you, so that you don’t fall into the hooks of vainglory, but rather be fully assured in Christ—who was begotten from the Father before all ages, and later born of Mary the Virgin without union with a man, and who lived a holy life and healed every disease and sickness among the people and performed signs and wonders for the benefit of humanity, and proclaimed to those who had run aground into polytheism the one and only true God, his own Father, and who endured the passion and was crucified by the Christ-killing Jews under Pontius Pilate the governor and Herod the king, and endured the cross and died and rose and ascended into heaven to the one who sent him and sat down at his right hand and is coming at the end of the ages with the Father’s glory to judge the living and the dead and to render to each according to his works. Blessed is the one who knows these things with full assurance and believes.

2 So just as you are God-loving and Christ-loving in full assurance of our hope, may none of us turn aside from it.

11

1 May I have joy in you in every way, if indeed I am worthy. For even though I am in chains, I am not equal to one of you who are free. I know that you are not puffed up, for you have Jesus in yourselves. And especially when I praise you, I know that you feel ashamed, as it is written:

2 The righteous man is his own accuser; and, You speak first of your sins, that you may be justified; and, When you have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God; for God says, Be merciful to me, a sinner. Therefore those great men Abraham and Job called themselves dust and ashes before God. And David:

3 Who am I before you, Lord, that you have glorified me to this extent? And Moses, the meekest of all men, says to God:

4 I am weak-voiced and slow of tongue. So you too, be humble-minded, that you may be exalted; for the one who humbles himself will be exalted, and the one who exalts himself will be humbled.

12

1 So make every effort to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and the apostles, so that whatever you do may prosper, in flesh and spirit, in faith and love, together with your most worthy bishop and with that fittingly woven spiritual crown which is your presbytery, and with the deacons who serve according to God. Submit to the bishop and to one another, as Christ submits to the Father, so that there may be unity among you according to God.

13

1 Since I know that you are filled with every good thing, I’ve urged you only briefly, in the love of Jesus Christ.

2 Remember me in your prayers, so that I may attain to God, and remember also the church in Syria, of which I am not worthy to be called bishop.

3 For I need your prayer and love, united in God, so that the Church in Syria may be deemed worthy to be shepherded through your good order in Christ.

14

1 The Ephesians greet you from Smyrna, from which place I also write to you, being present for the glory of God just as you are, you who have refreshed me in every way together with Polycarp.

2 And the other Churches also greet you in the honor of Jesus Christ.

3 Be strong in harmony, possessing an undivided Spirit in Christ Jesus through the will of God.

[1] Translator’s note: οὐσιώδης: rendered ‘essential’ to convey the metaphysical substance of the Word; alt. ‘substantial’.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians

Salutation

Ignatius, who is also called God-bearer, to the beloved Church of God the Father of Jesus Christ, the holy Church that is in Tralles in Asia, elect and worthy of God, at peace in flesh and spirit through the passion of Jesus Christ, our hope in his resurrection: I greet you in the fullness in the apostolic character and wish you abundant joy.

1

1 by apostolic mind and an undivided spirit in patient endurance, not by practice but by nature, as Polybius your bishop made clear to me—he who came to me by the will of God and Jesus Christ in Smyrna and so rejoiced with me as I was bound in Christ Jesus, so that I see your whole congregation in him through contemplation.[1]

2 Having received, then, the goodwill that comes from God through him, I gave glory, finding you to be, as I have come to know, imitators.

2

1 When you are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, you appear to me not to be living as human beings, but as Jesus Christ, whom we must contemplate—he who died so that, believing in his death, you might escape death.

2 It is necessary, then, as you are doing, that you do nothing without the bishop, but also be subject to the presbytery as to the apostles of Jesus Christ, our hope, in whom by living we shall be found.

3 The deacons, being stewards of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, must in every way please everyone. For they are not servants of food and drink, but servants of the Church of God; they must therefore guard themselves against accusations as against fire.

3

1 In the same way, let everyone respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, just as they respect the bishop, who is a type of the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and as the bond of the apostles. Without these, the Church is not called a Church.

2 I am convinced that you hold this view. For I have received a model of your love and I keep it with me in your bishop, whose very bearing is a great lesson, and whose gentleness is power—whom I believe even the godless must respect.[2]

3 Because I love you, I hold back, though I could write more forcefully about this. I didn’t think it right that, being under sentence of death, I should give you orders as though I were an apostle.

4

1 I have many thoughts in God, but I measure myself, so that I may not perish in boasting. For now I need to be all the more fearful and not pay attention to those who puff me up. For those who speak to me are scourging me.

2 I do love to suffer, but I don’t know if I’m worthy. For the jealousy is not apparent to many, but it wars against me all the more. So I need gentleness, by which the ruler of this age is destroyed.

5

1 Can’t I write to you about heavenly things? But I’m afraid that I might cause you harm, since you are infants. So forgive me, lest you be unable to take it in and be choked. For even I—not because I’m in chains and can understand heavenly things and the angelic ranks and the principalities’ orders, visible and invisible—am not yet a disciple because of that. For we lack much, so that we may not lack God.

6

1 I urge you, then, not in my own voice, but in the love of Jesus Christ—use only Christian food, and abstain from foreign plants, which is heresy.

2 Those who intertwine Jesus Christ with themselves, claiming him falsely, are like people offering a deadly poison mixed with honeyed wine—the ignorant person takes it gladly, with wicked pleasure, to his death.[3]

7

1 Guard yourselves against such people. This will be possible for you if you are not puffed up and remain inseparable from God, Jesus Christ, and the bishop, and from the apostles’ commandments.

2 Whoever is within the altar is pure; whoever is outside the altar is not pure. That is, whoever acts without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons is not pure in conscience.

8

1 It’s not because I’ve found anything like this among you, but I’m guarding you as my beloved, foreseeing the snares of the devil. So take up meekness and recover yourselves in faith, which is the flesh of the Lord, and in love, which is the blood of Jesus Christ.

2 Let none of you hold a grudge against his neighbour. Do not give opportunity to the nations, so that the assembly in God may not be blasphemed because of a few foolish people. For woe to him through whom my name is blasphemed in vain among some.

9

1 So turn a deaf ear whenever anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, who was of Mary, who was truly born, who ate and drank, who was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, who was truly crucified and died, in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

2 He also was truly raised from the dead, his Father having raised him, and in the same way his Father will also raise us who believe in him in Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not have true life.

10

1 But if, as some godless people—that is, unbelievers—say, he only seemed to suffer (when they themselves are the ones who only seem to exist), then why am I in chains, and why do I even pray to fight wild beasts? In that case I’m dying for nothing. So then I’m lying about the Lord.

11

1 So flee the evil offshoots that bear deadly fruit; if anyone tastes it, he dies on the spot. For these are not the planting of the Father.

2 For if they were, they would appear as branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible—through which, in his passion, he calls you who are members of him. So a head cannot be born separately, without members, since God promises union, which is himself.

12

1 I greet you from Smyrna, together with the Churches of God that are present with me, who have refreshed me in every way in body and in spirit.

2 My bonds, which I bear for the sake of Jesus Christ as I seek to attain God, urge you: remain in your harmony and in prayer with one another. For it is fitting for each of you, and especially for the presbyters, to refresh the bishop in honour of the Father, Jesus Christ, and the apostles.

3 I pray for you in love. Listen to me, so that my writing may not become a testimony against you. And pray for me too, for I need the love that is from you, in the mercy of God, so that I may be deemed worthy of the lot I am striving to attain, that I may not be found disqualified.

13

1 The love of the Smyrnaeans greets you, and the Edessenians. Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, from which I am not worthy to be called, being the least of them.[4]

2 Farewell in Jesus Christ, submitting to the bishop as to a commandment, and likewise to the presbytery. And love one another, each and every one with an undivided heart.

3 Your spirit is sanctified by my spirit, not only now but also when I attain to God. For I am still in danger; but God the Father is faithful in Jesus Christ to fulfill my petition and yours, in which you may be found blameless.[5]

[1] Translator’s note: θεωρεῖσθαι: rendered ‘see through contemplation’ to preserve the patristic sense of noetic vision.

[2] Translator’s note: μαθητεία: rendered as ‘lesson’ (the sense of instruction/formation); alt. ‘discipleship’ or ‘training’.

[3] Translator’s note: καταξιοπιστευόμενοι: ‘claiming him falsely’ (middle voice suggesting self-interested appropriation); alt. ‘deeming him worthy of trust’.

[4] Translator’s note: Edeciov (Ἐδεσσίων): Latin form in source; rendered as ‘Edessenians’ to match the Greek sense.

[5] Translator’s note: ἁγνίζεται: ‘sanctified’ (passive voice, your spirit is made holy); alt. ‘purified’ or ‘consecrated’.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans

Salutation

Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church that has received mercy in the greatness of the Most High God the Father and of Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son, sanctified and illumined in the will of God who made all things that exist, according to the faith and love of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour; which also presides in the region of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of purity, and presiding in love, bearing the name of Christ, bearing the name of the Father, bearing the Spirit—which Church I also greet in the name of God Almighty and of Jesus Christ his Son; to those united in flesh and Spirit to every commandment of his, filled with the grace of God without wavering and strained clear from every alien taint, most abundant greetings blamelessly in God and the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

1

1 Since by praying to God I succeeded in seeing your God-worthy faces, and even received more than I asked for—for bound in Christ Jesus I hope to greet you, if indeed it is the will of God that I be counted worthy to reach the end. The beginning is indeed well ordered, if only I may obtain the grace to receive my lot to the end without hindrance.

2 For I fear your love, lest it do me wrong. For it’s easy for you to do what you want, but it’s hard for me to reach God if you don’t spare me under the pretext of fleshly friendship.

2

1 For I don’t want you to please men, but to please God, just as you do. I will never have another opportunity like this to reach God, and you, if you remain silent, will have your name inscribed on a greater work.

2 For if you remain silent about me, I will become God’s; but if you love my flesh, I will be running again. Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as a libation to God while the altar is still ready, so that, becoming a chorus in love, you may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus, because God has deemed the bishop of Syria worthy to be found in the west, having summoned him from the east as a witness of his own passions. It is good to depart from the world to God, so that I may rise to him.

3

1 You have never envied anyone; you have taught others. But I want those things you command as disciples to remain firm.

2 Only ask for power for me, both inwardly and outwardly, so that I may not only speak but also will, so that I may not only be called a Christian but also be found to be one. For if I am found to be one, I can also be called one and then be faithful when I am no longer visible to the world.

3 Nothing visible is eternal. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Christianity is not a matter of persuasion but of greatness, when it is hated by the world.

4 is loved by God. For if you were of this world,’ he says, ‘the world would love its own; but now you are not of this world, but I have chosen you—remain with me.

4

1 I am writing to all the Churches and I charge everyone that I am willingly dying for God, if only you don’t hinder me. I urge you, don’t become an untimely kindness to me.

2 Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may be found pure bread of God.

3 Rather, coax the wild beasts so that they may become a tomb for me and leave nothing of my body behind, so that when I fall asleep I won’t be a burden to anyone. Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world won’t even see my body.

4 Entreat the Lord for me, so that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I’m not giving you orders like Peter and Paul; they were apostles of Jesus Christ, but I am the least. They were free as servants of God, but I am still a servant. But if I suffer, I will become a freedman of Jesus Christ and will rise in him free. Now, bound in him, I am learning to desire nothing worldly or vain.

5

1 From Syria all the way to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, night and day, bound to ten leopards—that is, a company of soldiers—who only become worse when they are treated well. But through their wrongdoings I am becoming more of a disciple, yet I am not thereby justified. May I have joy of the beasts that are prepared for me, and I pray they may be found ready for me. I will even coax them to devour me quickly, not as they have been afraid to touch some.

2 And even if they are unwilling of their own accord, I will force them. Bear with me—I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple.

3 May nothing visible or invisible envy me, so that I may attain to Jesus Christ. Fire and cross, packs of wild beasts, cuttings and manglings, scatterings of bones, hackings of limbs, crushings of my whole body, evil punishments of the devil—let them come upon me, only so that I may attain to Jesus Christ.

6

1 The ends of the world will profit me nothing, nor the kingdoms of this age. It is better for me to die for Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth.

2 For what does it profit a human being if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? I long for the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, Jesus Christ. I seek him who died for us and rose again. Bear with me, brothers.

3 Don’t hinder me from reaching life, for Jesus is the life of the faithful. Don’t wish me to die, for life without Christ is death.

4 Don’t hand me over to the world when I want to belong to God. Let me receive the pure light; when I arrive there I will be a human being of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God, Christ.

5 If anyone has him in himself, let him understand what I want, and let him sympathize with me, knowing the things that constrain me.

7

1 The ruler of this age wants to snatch me away and corrupt my resolve toward my God. So let none of you who are present help him; rather, be on my side—that is, on God’s side.

2 Don’t speak of Jesus Christ while preferring the world. Let no envy dwell among you. And even if I urge you in person, don’t be persuaded—rather, trust what I’m writing to you. For I write to you as one who is alive, longing to die for Christ.

3 My love has been crucified, and there is no fire in me that loves matter; but living water, springing up within me, says to me inwardly:

4 Come to the Father. I take no pleasure in corruptible food or in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the bread of heaven, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who in the last times came from the seed of David and Abraham; and for drink I desire his blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.

8

1 I no longer want to live according to human standards. This will be so if you are willing. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, since Christ lives in me.

2 In a few lines I beg you: don’t refuse me. Believe me, because I love Jesus, who was delivered up for me.

3 What shall I give back to the Lord for all that he has given back to me? God himself, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will make these things clear to you—that I speak truly.

4 And you, pray together with me, so that I may reach the goal in the Holy Spirit. I did not write to you according to the flesh, but according to the mind of God. If I suffer, you have loved me; if I am rejected, you have hated me.

9

1 Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which has the Lord as its shepherd in my place—the one who said, I am the good shepherd. He alone will oversee it, along with your love for him. But I’m even ashamed to be counted as one of them, for I am not worthy, being the least of them and an untimely birth.

2 But I have been shown mercy to be someone, if I attain to God. My spirit greets you, and so does the love of the churches that received me in the name of Jesus Christ—not as someone just passing through. For even the churches that were not on my route escorted me from city to city.

10

1 I am writing these things to you from Smyrna through the worthy-of-blessing Ephesians. With me also are many others, and Crocos, a name much desired.

2 Concerning those who have come from Syria to Rome for the glory of God, I am confident that you have come to know them. You will also make clear to them that I am near. For all of them are worthy of God and of you.

3 It is fitting for you to refresh them in every way. I have written these things to you on the ninth day before the Kalends of September.

4 Be strong to the end in the endurance of Jesus Christ.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians

Salutation

Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia, having received mercy and established in the harmony of God and rejoicing in the passion of our Lord without wavering and fully assured in his resurrection in all mercy—which Church I greet in the blood of Jesus Christ, which is eternal joy and lasting, especially if they are at one with the bishop and the presbyters and deacons with him, appointed according to the will of Jesus Christ, whom he has established in firmness by his Holy Spirit.

1

1 I know that your bishop did not obtain the ministry that serves the common good from himself or through men or out of vainglory, but in the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am struck by his gentleness; when he is silent he can do more than those who speak empty words.

2 For he is attuned to the commandments as a lyre to its strings. Therefore my soul blesses his disposition toward God, knowing that it is virtuous and perfect, his steadfastness and his freedom from anger in all the gentleness of the living God.

2

1 Children of the light of truth, then, flee division and false teachings. Where the shepherd is, there follow like sheep.

2 For many wolves, appearing trustworthy, take captive those who run the race of God by evil pleasure. But in your unity they will find no place.

3

1 Keep away from evil plants, which Jesus Christ does not cultivate, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I found division among you, but rather a filtering out.

2 For all who belong to God and Jesus Christ are with the bishop. And all who repent and come into the unity of the Church, these too will belong to God, so that they may live according to Jesus Christ.

3 Do not be led astray, my brothers. If anyone follows a schismatic, he will not inherit the kingdom of God. If anyone walks in a strange opinion, he does not consent to the passion.

4

1 [Cor.10,16, Larovddoate Be eager, then, to use one Eucharist—for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup for union with his blood, one altar, just as there is one bishop together with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow servants—so that whatever you do, you do according to God.

5

1 My brothers, I’m overflowing with love for you, and rejoicing exceedingly I seek to secure you—not I, but Jesus Christ, in whom I’m bound and therefore all the more fearful, since I’m still unfinished. But your prayer to God will complete me, so that I may attain the inheritance in which I’ve received mercy, taking refuge in the gospel as the flesh of Jesus, and in the apostles as the presbytery of the Church.

2 And let us also love the prophets, because they too proclaimed the gospel and set their hope in him and waited for him; and believing in him they were saved, being in the unity of Jesus Christ—worthy of love and worthy of admiration, holy ones, attested by Jesus Christ and numbered together in the gospel of our common hope.

6

1 And if someone interprets Judaism to you, don’t listen to him. For it’s better to hear Christianity from a circumcised man than Judaism from an uncircumcised one. But if both of them don’t speak about Jesus Christ, they are to me tombstones and graves of the dead, on which only the names of men are written.

2 So flee the evil schemes and snares of the ruler of this age, lest you be crushed by his purpose and grow weak in love. Instead, all of you come together in an undivided heart.

3 I give thanks to my God that I have a clear conscience among you, and no one can boast, either secretly or openly, that I burdened anyone in small or great matters. And for all those to whom I spoke, I pray that they may not turn it into testimony against themselves.

4 For even if some people wanted to lead me astray according to the flesh, the Spirit is not led astray, being from God. For it knows where it comes from and where it’s going, and it exposes what is hidden. I cried out while I was among you, I spoke with a loud voice, God’s voice: ‘Pay attention to the bishop and to the presbytery and to the deacons.’

7

1 But some suspected that I was saying these things because I had foreknowledge of the division among certain people. But He in whom I am bound is my witness that I didn’t learn it from any human source. Rather, the Spirit was proclaiming these things: ‘Do nothing without the bishop, guard your body as a temple of God, love union, flee divisions, become imitators of Jesus Christ, just as He Himself is of His Father.’

8

1 So I did my part as a man set on union. But where there is division and anger, God does not dwell. The Lord forgives all who repent, if they repent into the unity of God and the council of the bishop. I trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, who will loose every bond from you. But I urge you to do nothing out of selfish ambition, but according to Christ’s teaching. For I heard some people saying, ‘If I don’t find it in the archives, I don’t believe it in the gospel.’ And when I said to them, ‘It is written,’ they answered me, ‘That’s the question.’ But to me the archives are Jesus Christ, the inviolable archives are his cross and his death and his resurrection and the faith that comes through him—in which I want to be justified by your prayer.

9

1 The priests are good, but better is the high priest who has been entrusted with the holy of holies, who alone has been entrusted with the hidden things of God: he himself being the door of the Father, through which enter Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and the apostles and the Church. All these things are for the unity of God.

2 But the gospel has something distinctive: the advent of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, his passion, and his resurrection. For the beloved prophets proclaimed him, but the gospel is the completion of incorruption. All things together are good, if you believe in love.

10

1 Since, according to your prayer and according to the compassion you have in Christ Jesus, it was reported to me that the Church in Antioch of Syria is at peace, it is fitting for you as a Church of God to ordain a deacon to go there as God’s ambassador, so that he may rejoice with them when they are gathered together and glorify the name.

2 Blessed in Jesus Christ is the one who will be counted worthy of such a ministry, and you too will be glorified. It is not impossible for you, if you are willing, for the name of God—just as the nearest Churches sent bishops, and others sent presbyters and deacons.

11

1 Now concerning Philo the deacon from Cilicia, a man of good testimony, who even now serves me in the word of God, together with Rheus Agathopous, an elect man who is following me from Syria, having renounced this life—these men also bear witness to you, and I give thanks to God for you because you received them, as the Lord also receives you. May those who dishonored them be redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ.

2 The love of the brothers in Troas greets you. From there I am writing to you through Burrhus, who was sent along with me by the Ephesians and Smyrnaeans as a mark of honor. The Lord Jesus Christ will honor them—in whom they hope in flesh, soul, spirit, faith, love, and unity. Farewell in Christ Jesus, our common hope.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

Salutation

Ignatius, also called God-bearer, to the Church of God the Father and of the beloved Jesus Christ, which has received mercy in every gift, filled with faith and love, lacking no gift, most worthy of God and bearing holiness, which is in Smyrna of Asia, in a blameless spirit and the word of God, abundant greetings.

1

1 I will glorify Jesus Christ the God who has made you so wise; for I have seen that you are established in unshakeable faith, as if nailed to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in both flesh and spirit, and firmly grounded in love in the blood of Christ, fully convinced concerning our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly begotten of a Virgin, baptized by John, that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him;

2 truly in the time of Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch nailed for us in the flesh, from whose fruit we are—from his divinely blessed passion—that he might raise up a banner for the ages through the resurrection to his holy and faithful ones, whether among Jews or among nations, in one body of his Church.

2

1 He suffered all these things for us, so that we might be saved. And he truly suffered, just as he truly raised himself—not as some unbelievers claim, that he only seemed to suffer while they themselves only seemed to exist. And as they think, so it happens to them: they are incorporeal and demonic.

3

1 I know him in the flesh even after the resurrection, and I believe that he is.

2 And when he came to those around Peter, he said to them: Take hold of me, feel me and see, that I am not a demon, incorporeal. And immediately they touched him and believed, mingled with his flesh and his Spirit. For this reason they also despised death, and were found to be beyond death.[1]

3 After the resurrection he ate and drank with them as one in the flesh, though he was spiritually united to the

4

1 I urge these things upon you, beloved, knowing that you too hold the same view. But I’m guarding you from those beasts in human form—not only must you not receive them, but if possible not even meet them; only pray for them, if somehow they may repent, though that is difficult. Yet Jesus Christ has authority over this, our true life.

2 For if these things were done only in appearance by our Lord, then I too am bound only in appearance. Why then have I given myself over to death, to fire, to sword, to wild beasts? But near the sword is near to God; among the beasts is among God. Only in the name of Jesus Christ, to suffer with him, I endure all things, as he strengthens me, the perfect man.

5

1 Some people in their ignorance deny him—or rather, have been denied by him—being advocates of death rather than of the truth, whom the prophecies have not persuaded, nor the law of Moses, nor even to this day the gospel, nor our individual sufferings. For they think the same thing about us too. What does it profit me if someone praises me but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing him to be a bearer of flesh?

2 Whoever says this has completely denied him, being a corpse-bearer. But their names, being unbelieving, I did not think it right to write down. May it never be that I should even mention them, until they repent concerning the passion, which is our resurrection.

6

1 Let no one be led astray: even the heavenly powers, the glory of the angels, and the rulers both visible and invisible—if they do not believe in the blood of Christ, judgement awaits them too. Let the one who can accept this accept it. Let position puff up no one. For the whole is faith and love, and nothing is preferred to these.

2 But observe those who hold false teaching about the grace of Jesus Christ that has come to us—how they are opposed to the mind of God. They have no concern for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the afflicted, none for the prisoner or the one set free, none for the hungry or the thirsty.

7

1 They abstain from the Eucharist and prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins and which the Father raised in his kindness. So those who dispute the gift of God die in their arguing. It would be better for them to love, so that they too might rise.

2 It’s right to keep away from such people and not to speak about them either privately or publicly, but to pay attention to the prophets and especially to the gospel, in which the passion has been revealed to us and the resurrection has been accomplished. Flee divisions as the beginning of evils.

8

1 All of you, follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and follow the presbytery as you would the apostles. Respect the deacons as the commandment of God. Let no one do anything that pertains to the Church apart from the bishop. Let that Eucharist be considered valid which is celebrated by the bishop or by one whom he authorises.

2 Wherever the bishop appears, there let the congregation be, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic Church. It is not permitted either to baptize or to hold an agape-meal without the bishop; but whatever he approves is also pleasing to God, so that everything you do may be secure and valid.

9

1 It is reasonable, then, for us to come to our senses while we still have time to repent toward God. It is good to acknowledge both God and the bishop. Whoever honours the bishop is honoured by God; whoever does anything in secret apart from the bishop worships the devil.

2 So may all things abound to you in grace, for you are worthy. You have refreshed me in every way, and may Jesus Christ refresh you. You loved me both when I was absent and when I was present. God is your reward; if you endure all things for his sake, you will attain him.

10

1 You did well to receive Philo and Rheus Agathopus, who followed me for the word of God, as servants of God; they also give thanks to the Lord on your behalf, because you refreshed them in every way. Nothing you have done will be lost. My spirit is a ransom for you, and so are my chains, which you did not despise or feel ashamed of. Nor will the perfect hope, Jesus Christ, be ashamed of you.

11

1 Your prayer has reached the Church in Antioch of Syria, from where I greet everyone in chains most fitting for God, though I am not worthy to be from there, being the least of them; yet by God’s will I was counted worthy—not by my own conscience but by the grace of God—which I pray may be given to me in full measure, so that by your prayer I may reach God.

2 So that your work may be made perfect both on earth and in heaven, it is fitting, for the honour of God, that your Church appoint an ambassador to God, to go to Syria and rejoice with them that they are at peace, have recovered their proper stature, and their own corporate body has been restored to them.

3 It seemed to me, then, a thing worthy of God to send one of your own with a letter, so that he may glorify with them the calm that has come to them according to God’s will, and that they have already reached harbour through your prayer. Since you are perfect, think perfect thoughts as well. For when you desire to do good, God is ready to grant it.

4 The love of the brothers in Troas greets you; from there I am writing to you through Burrhus, whom you sent with me along with the Ephesians, your brothers, and who has refreshed me in every way. I wish everyone would imitate him, for he is a model of God’s ministry. Grace will reward him in all things.

5 I greet the bishop worthy of God and the presbytery befitting God, and my fellow servants the deacons, and all of you individually and together in the name of Jesus Christ and in his flesh and his blood, his passion and resurrection both fleshly and spiritual, in unity with God and with you.

12

1 Grace to you, mercy, peace, endurance always.

13

1 I greet the households of my brothers with their wives and children, and the virgins who are called widows. Farewell to me in the power of the Father. Philo, who is with me, greets you.

2 I greet the household of Tavia, whom I pray may be established in faith and love both fleshly and spiritual. I greet Alce, a name dear to me, and Daphnus the incomparable and Eutecnus and all by name. Farewell in the grace of God.

[1] Translator’s note: κραθέντες: ‘mingled’ (perfect passive participle of κράω); alt. ‘mixed’, ‘blended’.

Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp

Salutation

Ignatius, who is also called God-bearer, to Polycarp, bishop of the Church of the Smyrnaeans, and one who is overseen by God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, greetings in abundance.

1 Letter concerning the mind in God and pastoral care

1 Receiving your mind in God, which is established as upon an immovable rock, I glorify you exceedingly, having been deemed worthy of your spotless presence, of which may I benefit in God.

2 I urge you in the grace with which you are clothed to press forward in your race and to exhort everyone, so that they may be saved.

3 Guard your place with all care, both carnal and spiritual; be mindful of the unity, than which nothing is better.

4 Bear with everyone, just as the Lord bears with you; put up with them all in love, as in fact you do.

5 Devote yourself to unceasing prayers; ask for greater understanding than you have; stay awake, since you possess a spirit that never sleeps.

6 Speak to people one by one, in the manner of God; carry everyone’s illnesses, like a perfect athlete.[1]

7 Where the labor is greater, the gain is great.

2 On Discernment and Watchfulness

1 If you love only the good disciples, you have no credit; rather, bring the more troublesome ones into submission through gentleness.[2]

2 Not every wound is healed by the same poultice.

3 Calm acute attacks with cooling compresses.

4 Be wise as a serpent in all things, and forever innocent as the dove.

5 This is why you are both carnal and spiritual: so that you may deal gently, face to face, with what appears on the surface; but as for what is invisible, ask that it be revealed to you, so that you may lack nothing and abound in every gift of grace.[3]

6 The hour demands you—as winds demand a helmsman, and a harbour the storm-tossed sailor—that you may attain to God.

7 Be sober as God’s athlete; the prize is incorruption and eternal life, of which you yourself are already convinced.

8 In every way I am a ransom for you—I and these chains of mine, which you have loved.

2 Stand firm, like an anvil under the hammer.

1 Don’t let those who appear trustworthy yet teach strange doctrines throw you off.

2 It’s the mark of a great athlete to take blows and still win.

3 Above all, for God’s sake we have to endure everything, so that He too may endure us.

4 Be more diligent than you already are.

5 Study the times carefully.

6 Look for the One who is above time—the timeless, the invisible, who for our sake became visible; the intangible, the impassible, who for our sake became passible; the One who for our sake endured in every possible way.

4 On widows and slaves

1 Do not let the widows be neglected; after the Lord, you yourself are to be their guardian.

2 Let nothing be done without your consent, and do nothing yourself without God—as in fact you don’t. Stand firm.

3 Let the assemblies be held more frequently.

4 Seek out everyone by name.

5 Don’t treat male and female slaves with contempt; but neither should they themselves be puffed up—rather, let them serve all the more for the glory of God, so that they may obtain a better freedom from God.

6 They should not long to be set free at the community’s expense, lest they be found to be slaves of desire.

5 On chastity and marriage according to the Lord

1 Flee evil practices; better still, preach against them.[4]

2 Speak to my sisters, urging them to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and spirit.

3 In the same way, charge my brothers in the name of Jesus Christ to love their wives as «the Lord loves the Church».

4 If anyone is able to remain in purity, in honor of the flesh of the Lord, let him remain so without boasting.

5 If he boasts, he is lost; and if it becomes known apart from the bishop, he is ruined.

6 It is fitting for men and women who marry to enter into their union with the bishop’s approval, so that the marriage may be according to the Lord and not according to desire.

7 Let everything be done for the honor of God.

6 Submission to the bishop and the virtue of the faithful

1 Pay attention to the bishop, so that God may also pay attention to you.

2 I give myself as a ransom for those who submit to the bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons; may it be granted me to share a portion with them in God.

3 Labor together, struggle together, run together, suffer together, rest together, rise together, as God’s stewards, assistants, and servants.

4 Please the One under whom you serve, from whom you also receive your wages. Let none of you be found a deserter.[5]

5 Let your baptism remain as your armor, faith as a helmet, love as a spear, endurance as full armor. Your deeds are your deposits, so that you may receive the back-pay you deserve.[6]

6 So bear with one another in gentleness, as God bears with you.

7 May I always have joy in you.

7 On sending a deacon to Syria

1 Since the Church in Antioch of Syria is at peace, as I have been told, thanks to your prayer, I too have become more cheerful in the freedom from care that comes from God—provided that through suffering I may attain to God, so that by your prayer I may be found a disciple at the resurrection.[7]

2 It is fitting, Polycarp—most blessed of God—to convene a council most worthy of God and to ordain someone whom you hold very dear and who is tireless, one who can be called a courier of God. Count him worthy to go to Syria and there glorify your tireless love, to the glory of God.

3 A Christian has no authority over himself, but devotes his time to God.

4 This is God’s work, and yours too, when you bring it to completion.

5 For I trust in the grace that you are ready for the kind of good work that befits God.

6 Knowing how earnestly committed you are to the truth, I’ve urged you with only a few lines.

8 Letters to the churches and greetings

1 Since I haven’t been able to write to all the churches, because I’m sailing suddenly from Troas to Neapolis, as the will commands, you write to the churches that lie ahead, as one who has the mind of God, so that they too may do the same—those who can sending men on foot, and the others sending letters by those you dispatch, that you may be glorified by an eternal work, since you are worthy of it. I greet everyone by name, and the wife of Epitropus together with her whole household and her children.[8]

2 I greet my beloved Attalus.

3 I greet the one who is to be counted worthy of going to Syria.

4 Grace will be with him always, and with Polycarp who sends him.

5 I pray that you may always be strong in our God Jesus Christ, in whom may you remain in the unity and episcopal oversight of God.

6 I greet Alce, a name dear to me.

7 Farewell in the Lord. en:Epistle to Polycarp

[1] Translator’s note: ‘Speak to people one by one, in the manner of God’: κάλει taken as ‘address/exhort’; alt. ‘call each one by name, after God’s own character’.

[2] Translator’s note: ‘no credit’: χάρις here in the sense of ‘thanks/credit owed to you’; alt. ‘no grace to your account’.

[3] Translator’s note: ‘deal gently with’ (κολακεύῃς): rendered in its pastoral sense of handling tactfully; alt. ‘coax’ or ‘win over’.

[4] Translator’s note: ‘preach against them’: ὁμιλίαν ποιοῦ taken as ‘give a discourse on (against) them’; alt. ‘speak about them’.

[5] Translator’s note: ‘deserter’: δεσέρτωρ is a Latin loanword (desertor) carried over into Greek; military register matches the surrounding metaphor.

[6] Translator’s note: ‘deposits’ and ‘back-pay’: δεπόσιτα and ἄκκεπτα are Latin military loanwords (deposita, accepta) for a soldier’s savings and pay drawn.

[7] Translator’s note: ‘at the resurrection’: ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει ὑμῶν taken as the eschatological resurrection in which Polycarp’s church will share; alt. ‘in your petition’.

[8] Translator’s note: ‘the wife of Epitropus’: τὴν τοῦ Ἐπιτρόπου supplies an implied feminine noun; alt. ‘the household of Epitropus’ if Ἐπίτροπος is taken as a title (procurator) rather than a personal name.

Scripture Index

Every Scripture reference identified in this book, sorted in canonical Bible order. Tap a reference to jump to the verse where it appears.

Genesis

Genesis 3:19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (6)

Genesis 22:18Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (5)

Exodus

Exodus 16:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (10)

Numbers

Numbers 12:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

Numbers 16:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (10)

Numbers 16:33Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (10)

Numbers 16:35Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (11)

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 30:19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 2:22–3:18Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (4)

1 Samuel 8:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (8, 9)

1 Samuel 13:8–14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (15)

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 7:18Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

2 Samuel 18:9–15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (12)

1 Kings

1 Kings 3:16–28Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (7)

2 Kings

2 Kings 23:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (7)

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 26:16–21Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (14)

2 Chronicles 34:3–7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (7)

Job

Job 32:8–9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Psalms

Psalms 1:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Psalms 6:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (9)

Psalms 32:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Psalms 116:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (3)

Psalms 130:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Psalms 138:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (3)

Isaiah

Isaiah 11:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Isaiah 35:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (4)

Isaiah 52:5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

Isaiah 62:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Isaiah 62:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (6)

Jeremiah 10:21Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Daniel

Daniel 7:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Susanna

Susanna 1:45–63Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

Matthew

Matthew 1:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

Matthew 1:23Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Matthew 2:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Matthew 3:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (5)

Matthew 3:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Matthew 3:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Matthew 4:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Matthew 4:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

Matthew 5:44Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Matthew 6:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Matthew 7:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Matthew 7:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (2)

Matthew 7:24–25Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (1)

Matthew 8:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Matthew 8:17Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (6)

Matthew 10:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (4)

Matthew 10:40Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Matthew 15:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Matthew 16:26Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

Matthew 18:19–20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Matthew 19:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Matthew 23:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Matthew 24:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Matthew 25:35Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Matthew 25:36Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Matthew 26:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Matthew 26:41Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (5)

Mark

Mark 9:43Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Luke

Luke 3:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Luke 6:32Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (1)

Luke 6:46Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Luke 14:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (4)

Luke 16:31Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

John

John 1:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

John 3:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (4)

John 3:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans

John 4:10–14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (3)

John 5:30Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

John 5:46Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

John 6:29Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (4)

John 6:32Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

John 6:33Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

John 6:35Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2, 4)

John 6:51Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

John 6:53–56Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

John 8:56Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

John 8:58Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

John 10:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

John 10:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

John 10:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

John 12:28Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

John 12:31Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

John 13:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

John 13:34Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

John 14:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (3)

John 14:31Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

John 15:18–19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (3)

John 15:19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

John 17:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

John 17:21Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Acts

Acts 1:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

Acts 2:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Acts 3:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Acts 4:32Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

Acts 6:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (3)

Acts 10:41Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2, 3)

Acts 11:26Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

Acts 13:48Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (5)

Acts 16:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (1)

Romans

Romans 1:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Romans 1:3–4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans

Romans 1:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

Romans 1:17Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Romans 2:4–5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Romans 4:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Romans 6:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

Romans 8:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Romans 8:5–8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Romans 10:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

Romans 12:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

Romans 14:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (4)

Romans 15:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Romans 15:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (3)

1 Corinthians 1:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (3)

1 Corinthians 1:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

1 Corinthians 1:19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 1:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 1:23Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 2:6–8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 3:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 4:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (3)

1 Corinthians 4:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

1 Corinthians 4:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Corinthians 4:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 4:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Corinthians 5:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians

1 Corinthians 5:7–8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

1 Corinthians 6:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (3); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

1 Corinthians 6:9–10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (3)

1 Corinthians 6:19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

1 Corinthians 7:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (3)

1 Corinthians 7:22Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

1 Corinthians 7:34Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 8:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 9:27Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1, 3)

1 Corinthians 10:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

1 Corinthians 10:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

1 Corinthians 10:17Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

1 Corinthians 10:31Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (7)

1 Corinthians 10:33Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (3)

1 Corinthians 11:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

1 Corinthians 11:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (2)

1 Corinthians 13:1–3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

1 Corinthians 13:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (3)

1 Corinthians 15:8–9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

1 Corinthians 15:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

1 Corinthians 15:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

1 Corinthians 15:30Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 15:30–32Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 15:32Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

1 Corinthians 15:54Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (9)

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (2)

2 Corinthians 4:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

2 Corinthians 4:18Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (3)

2 Corinthians 5:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4)

2 Corinthians 5:17Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

2 Corinthians 6:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (3)

2 Corinthians 12:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (3)

Galatians

Galatians 1:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

Galatians 2:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1, 2)

Galatians 4:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Ephesians

Ephesians 1:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians

Ephesians 1:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

Ephesians 1:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (3); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

Ephesians 1:4–5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

Ephesians 1:5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

Ephesians 1:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

Ephesians 1:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

Ephesians 1:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

Ephesians 1:23Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians

Ephesians 2:11–22Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Ephesians 2:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians

Ephesians 2:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Ephesians 2:21–22Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Ephesians 3:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

Ephesians 4:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (4, 6)

Ephesians 4:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Ephesians 4:24Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Ephesians 5:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Ephesians 5:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Ephesians 5:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Ephesians 5:19–20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

Ephesians 5:21Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

Ephesians 5:25Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (3)

Ephesians 5:30Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

Philippians

Philippians 1:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Philippians 1:23Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

Philippians 2:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (1)

Philippians 2:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

Philippians 3:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Philippians 3:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (3)

Philippians 4:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (7)

Philippians 4:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

Colossians

Colossians 1:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans

Colossians 1:24Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (2)

Colossians 3:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (4)

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 1:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians

1 Thessalonians 1:2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

1 Thessalonians 1:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (3)

1 Thessalonians 1:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Thessalonians 2:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1)

1 Thessalonians 5:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (5)

1 Thessalonians 5:17Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (5)

2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 3:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (5)

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 1:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (1)

1 Timothy 1:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Timothy 1:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

1 Timothy 3:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians (2)

1 Timothy 4:1Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Timothy 4:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Timothy 4:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1, 8)

1 Timothy 5:3Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (1)

1 Timothy 5:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (2)

1 Timothy 6:1–2Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (5)

1 Timothy 6:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (7)

1 Timothy 6:13Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 1:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

2 Timothy 1:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

2 Timothy 2:4Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (4)

2 Timothy 2:12Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (3)

2 Timothy 4:7Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (2)

Philemon

Philemon 1:10Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

Philemon 1:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (2)

Philemon 1:20Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (7)

Hebrews

Hebrews 4:14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Hebrews 5:12–14Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1)

Hebrews 6:11Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2)

Hebrews 12:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (3)

James

James 1:5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (5)

James 1:16Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

James 1:27Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

James 4:6Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (3)

1 Peter

1 Peter 1:18–19Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1)

1 Peter 2:5Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (1)

1 Peter 2:21–24Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1)

1 Peter 2:24Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (2)

1 Peter 3:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

1 Peter 3:9Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians (2)

1 Peter 5:8Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (7)

1 John

1 John 3:15Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (3)

Persons and Places

Persons and places mentioned in this book, with short notes and back-links to every occurrence.

Persons

David

King of Israel (c. 1010–970 BC), traditional author of the Psalms; a central figure of Old Testament typology in patristic exegesis.

Mentioned in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (2); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (4).

St Ignatius of Antioch

Bishop of Antioch and Apostolic Father (c. 35–c. 108), martyred in Rome; author of seven letters written en route to martyrdom, foundational texts on the Eucharist, episcopacy, and Christian unity. Also known as Theophoros (the God-bearer). Feast day 17 October (West) / 29 January (East).

Mentioned in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans; Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp.

St Polycarp of Smyrna

Bishop of Smyrna and Apostolic Father (c. 69–c. 155), disciple of St John the Apostle; author of the Letter to the Philippians; martyred by fire and sword. Feast day 23 February.

Mentioned in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp (4).

Places

Rome

Capital of the Roman Empire and seat of the ancient western patriarchate; site of the martyrdoms of Sts Peter and Paul and of Ignatius of Antioch.

Mentioned in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1).

Smyrna

Ancient port city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor (modern İzmir, Turkey); seat of St Polycarp’s bishopric and one of the seven churches addressed in the Apocalypse (Rev 2:8).

Mentioned in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians (1); Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans (1).

Glossary

Theological and spiritual terms used in this book, with short definitions and back-links to every occurrence.

Eucharist

Greek εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), ‘thanksgiving’. The central sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; the apostolic-era extra-biblical writings (Didache 9–10; Ignatius, Eph. 20:2—‘medicine of immortality’) already use the word both for the rite itself and for the consecrated elements. In patristic and Orthodox theology the Eucharist is the fullest participation in Christ, in which the Church becomes what she is.

Occurs in: Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (1).

Colophon

The Seven Epistles of Saint Ignatius of Antioch
by Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

This edition was produced by
Royal Archives.

The cover features
The Arch of Titus and the Coliseum, Rome
by Thomas Hartley Cromek (British, 1809–1873), Cleveland Museum of Art, which is in the public domain.

The text is set in Palatino and Georgia. Polytonic Greek is set in SIL Gentium.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
August 25, 2026.

Table of Contents

- Title Page
- Copyright
- Introduction

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

- Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp

- Scripture Index
- Persons and Places
- Glossary
- Colophon