Ignatius, who is also called
Theophorus, to the Church sojourning in Syria, which has obtained mercy from
God, and been elected by Christ, and which first(1) received the name
Christ, [wishes] happiness in God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
CHAP. I.--CAUTIONS AGAINST ERROR.
THE Lord has rendered my bonds light and easy since I learnt that you are in
peace, that you live in all harmony both of the flesh and spirit. "I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,(2) beseech you, that ye walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called,"(3) guarding against those heresies of
the wicked one which have broken in upon us, to the deceiving and
destruction of those that accept of them; but that ye give heed to the
doctrine of the apostles, and believe both the law and the prophets: that ye
reject every Jewish and Gentile error, and neither introduce a multiplicity
of gods, nor yet deny Christ under the pretence of [maintaining] the unity
of God.
CHAP. II.--THE TRUE DOCTRINE RESPECTING GOD AND CHRIST.
For Moses, the faithful servant of God, when he said, "The Lord thy God is
one Lord,"(4) and thus proclaimed that there was only one God, did yet
forthwith confess also our Lord when he said, "The Lord rained upon Sodom
and Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the Lord."(5) And again, "And God(6)
said, Let Us make man after our image: and so God made man, after the image
of God made He him."(7) And further "In the image of God made He man."(8)
And that [the Son of God] was to be made man [Moses shows when] he says, "A
prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me."(9)
CHAP. III.--THE SAME CONTINUED.
The prophets also, when they speak as in the person of God, [saying,] "I am
God, the first [of beings], and I am also the last,(10) and besides Me there
is no God,"(11) concerning the Father of the universe, do also speak of our
Lord Jesus Christ. "A Son," they say, has been given to us, on whose
shoulder the government is from above; and His name is called the Angel of
great counsel, Wonderful, Counsellor, the strong and mighty God."(12) And
concerning His incarnation, "Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall
bring forth a Son; and they shall call his name Immanuel."(13) And
concerning the passion, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a
lamb before her shearers is dumb, I also was an innocent lamb led to be
sacrificed."(14)
CHAP. IV.--CONTINUATION.
The Evangelists, too, when they declared that the one Father was "the only
true God,"(15) did not omit what concerned our Lord, but wrote: "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without
Him was not anything made that was made."(16) And concerning the
incarnation: "The Word," says [the Scripture], "became flesh, and dwelt
among us."(17) And again: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the
son of David, the son of Abraham."(18) And those very apostles, who said
"that there is one God,"(19) said also that "there is one Mediator between
God and men."(1) Nor were they ashamed of the incarnation and the passion.
For what says [one]? "The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself"(2) for the
life and salvation of the world.
CHAP. V.--DENUNCIATION OF FALSE TEACHERS.
Whosoever, therefore, declares that there is but one God, only so as to take
away the divinity of Christ, is a devil,(3) and an enemy of all
righteousness. He also that confesseth Christ, yet not as the Son of the
Maker of the world, but of some other unknown(4) being, different from Him
whom the law and the prophets have proclaimed, this man is an instrument of
the devil. And he that rejects the incarnation, and is ashamed of the cross
for which I am in bonds, this man is antichrist.(5) Moreover, he who affirms
Christ to be a mere man is accursed, according to the [declaration of the]
prophet,(6) since he puts not his trust in God, but in man. Wherefore also
he is unfruitful, like the wild myrtle-tree.
CHAP. VI.--RENEWED CAUTIONS.
These things I write to you, thou new olive-tree of Christ, not that I am
aware you hold any such opinions, but that I may put you on your guard, as a
father does his children. Beware, therefore, of those that hasten to work
mischief, those "enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose glory is in their shame."(7) Beware of those "dumb dogs," those
trailing serpents, those scaly(8) dragons, those asps, and basilisks, and
scorpions. For these are subtle wolves,(9) and apes that mimic the
appearance of men.
CHAP. VII.--EXHORTATION TO CONSISTENCY OF CONDUCT.
Ye have been the disciples of Paul and Peter; do not lose what was committed
to your trust. Keep in remembrance Euodias,(10) your deservedly-blessed
pastor, into whose hands the government over you was first entrusted by the
apostles. Let us not bring disgrace upon our Father. Let us prove ourselves
His true-born children, and not bastards. Ye know after what manner I have
acted among you. The things which, when present, I spoke to you, these same,
when absent, I now write to you. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be Anathema."(11)
Be ye followers of me.(12) My soul be for yours, when I attain to Jesus.
Remember my bonds.(13)
CHAP. VIII.--EXHORTATIONS TO THE PRESBYTERS AND OTHERS.
Ye presbyters, "feed the flock which is among you,"(14) till God shall show
who is to hold the rule over you. For "I am now ready to be offered,"(15)
that I "may win Christ."(16) Let the deacons know of what dignity they are,
and let them study to be blameless, that they may be the followers of
Christ, Let the people be subject to the presbyters and the deacons. Let the
virgins know to whom they have consecrated themselves.
CHAP. IX.--DUTIES OF HUSBANDS, WIVES, PARENTS, AND CHILDREN.
Let the husbands love their wives, remembering that, at the creation, one
woman, and not many, was given to one man. Let the wives honour their
husbands, as their own flesh; and let them not presume to address them by
their names.(17) Let them also be chaste, reckoning their husbands as their
only partners, to whom indeed they have been united according to the will of
God. Ye parents, impart a holy training to your children. Ye children, "honour
your parents, that it may be well with you."(18)
CHAP. X.--DUTIES OF MASTERS AND SERVANTS.
Ye masters, do not treat your servants with haughtiness, but imitate patient
Job, who declares, "I did not despise(19) the cause(20) of my man-servant,
or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me. For what in that case
shall I do when the Lord makes an inquisition regarding me?"(21) And you
know what follows. Ye servants, do not provoke your masters to anger in
anything, lest ye become the authors of incurable mischiefs to yourselves.
CHAP. XI.--INCULCATION OF VARIOUS MORAL DUTIES.
Let no one addicted to idleness eat,(22) lest he become a wanderer about,
and a whoremonger. Let drunkenness, anger, envy, reviling, clamour, and
blasphemy "be not so much as named among you."(23) Let not the widows live a
life of pleasure, lest they wax wanton against the word.(24) Be subject to
Caesar in everything in which subjection implies no [spiritual] danger.
Provoke not those that nile over you to wrath, that you may give no occasion
against yourselves to those that seek for it. But as to the practice of
magic, or the impure love of boys, or murder, it is superfluous to write to
you, since such vices are forbidden to be committed even by the Gentiles. I
do not issue commands on these points as if I were an apostle; but, as your
fellow-servant, I put you in mind of them.
CHAP. XII.--SALUTATIONS.
I salute the holy presbytery. I salute the sacred deacons, and that person
most dear to me,(1) whom may I behold, through the Holy Spirit, occupying my
place when I shall attain to Christ. My soul be in place of his. I salute
the sub-deacons, the readers, the singers, the doorkeepers, the labourers?
the exorcists, the confessors.(3) I salute the keepers of the holy gates,
the deaconesses in Christ. I salute the virgins betrothed to Christ, of whom
may I have joy in the Lord Jesus.(4) I salute the people of the Lord, from
the smallest to the greatest, and all my sisters in the Lord.
CHAP. XIII.--SALUTATIONS CONTINUED.
I salute Cassian and his partner in life, and their very dear children.
Polycarp, that most worthy bishop, who is also deeply interested in you,
salutes you; and to him I have commended you in the Lord. The whole Church
of the Smyrnaeans, indeed, is mindful of you in their prayers in the Lord.
Onesimus, the pastor of the Ephesians, salutes you. Damas,(5) the bishop of
Magnesia, salutes you. Polybius, bishop of the Trallians, salutes you. Philo
and Agathopus, the deacons, my companions, salute you, "Salute one another
with a holy kiss."(6)
CHAP. XIV.--CONCLUSION.
I write this letter to you from Philippi. May He who is alone unbegotten,
keep you stedfast both in the spirit and in the flesh, through Him who was
begotten before time(7) began! And may I behold you in the kingdom of
Christ! I salute him who is to bear rule over you in my stead: may I have
joy of him in the Lord! Fare ye well in God, and in Christ, being
enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
