in which also our life is sprung up by him, and through his death which (yet) some deny By which mystery we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher: — How shall we be able to live without him, whose disciples the very prophets were, and whom by the Spirit they expected as their teacher? And therefore he, whom they righteously waited for, being come, raised them up from the dead.
10. Let us then not be insensible of his goodness* For if he had dealt with us according to our works, we should not now have had a being. Wherefore being become his disciples, let us learn to live a Christian life. For whosoever is called by any other name beside this, is not of God. Lay aside therefore the evil leaven, which is grown old and sour; and be changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in him, lest any of you should be corrupted, for by your savor ye shall be judged. It is absurd to name Christ Jesus, and to be still a Jew. For Christianity embraced-not the Jewish religion, but the Jewish the Christian: that so every tongue that believed might be gathered together unto God.
ward Sabbatum in the early Christian writers, was also observed as a religious festival. Even the Montanists, although very anxious to introduce severe discipline in the observance of fasts, abstained from fasting on Saturday and Sunday, when they kept their two weeks of XerophaguB. “Duas in anno hebdomadas Xerophagiarum, nec totas, exceptis scilicet Sabbatis et Dominicis, offerimus Deo,* 5 (Tertullian de Jejuniis, c. 15.) The Saturday before Easter day was, however, observed as a fast. In the Apostolical Constitutions, which may be taken to represent the usage of the Church in the fourth century, sentence of suspension is denounced against any of the clergy who should fast on Saturday or Sunday. (Canon 64.) This observance, which probably arose from a desire of conciliating the Jewish converts^ continued in the Eastern Church for many centuries. In the Western Church, Saturday was usually observed as a fast. The custom, how- ever, was not general even in Italy. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in the fourth century, when he was at Rome, observed the day as a fast, but at Milan made no distinction between Saturday and the rest of the week. His answer to Augustine, who consulted him upon the point, has become almost proverbial. “When I come to Rome, I mat on Saturday, as they do at Rome; when I am here I observe no fast. In like manner my advice is that you observe the custom of every Church, where you happen to be.” (Aooustini ad Januar. Epist. 118k Cave’s Primitive Christianity, Part. i. ch. 7. Bp. Kate’s Ter * tullian, chap. vi. p. 409. 1st edit.)
TO THE EPISTLE OF ION-A.TIU8 [§11,12,13,14,15.
11. These things, my beloved, (I write unto you,) not that 1 know of any among you who are thus dis- posed, but, as one less than yourselves, I would warn you, not to fall into the snares of vain-glory, but to be fully instructed in the birth, and sufferings, and resur- rection (of Christ), which was accomplished in the time of the government of Pontius Pilate; all which was truly and surely performed by Jesus Christ, our hope, from which God forbid that any of you should ever be turned aside.
12. May I have joy of you in all things, if I shall be worthy of it. For although 1 am bound, 1 am not worthy to be compared to one of you who are at liberty. I know that ye are not puffed up. For ye have Jesus Christ in your hearts. And the rather when 1 commend you, I know that ye are ashamed, as it is written, The just man condemneth himself. p 13. Give diligence, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of our Lord and the Apostles, that so what- soever ye do, ye may prosper both in body and spirit: in faith and charity, iu the Son and in the Father, and in the Spirit, in the Beginning and in the End together with your most worthy Bishop, and the well-woven spiritual crown of your Presbytery, and your godly Deacons. Be subject to your Bishop, and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, according to the flesh; and the Apostles to Christ and to the Father, and to the Spirit; that so there maybe (among you) an union both in body and spirit.* 1 14. Knowing you to be full of God, I have the more briefly exhorted you. Remember me in your prayers, that 1 may attain unto God; as also the Church which is in Syria, whence I am not worthy to be called. For I stand in need of your joint prayers in God, and of your charity, that the Church, which is in Syria, may be thought worthy to be nourished* by your Church.
15. The Ephesians from Smyrna, whence also I write, salute you; being present here to the glory of 1 Ptot. xviii. 17. Septuagint.
* 4por<ff0f}vai, to be bedewed. Compere Hoe. xiv. 5.
TO THE MAGNESIANS.
71 God, in like manner as ye are, who have in all things refreshed me, together with Polycarp, the Bishop of the Smyrneans. The rest of the Churches, in the honor of Jesus Christ, salute you. Fare ye well in the concord of God, possessing his inseparable Spirit, which is Jesus Christ.
Google TH1 EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO TU TRALLIANS.
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the holy Church which is at Tralles in Asia, beloved of God the Father of Jesus Christ, elect and worthy of God, having peace through the flesh, and blood, and pas- sion of Jesus Christ, our hope, in the resurrection unto him; whom also I salute in its fulness, (continuing) in the apostolic character, wishing it all joy and happiness.
1. I have heard of your blameless and constant dis- position through patience, which not only appears in your outward conversation, but is naturally rooted and grounded in you; even as Polybius * your bishop hath declared unto me; who came to me at Smyrna, by the will of God and Jesus Christ, and so rejoiced with me in my bonds for Jesus Christ, that I saw your whole assembly in him. Having therefore received by him the testimony of your good will toward me for God’s sake, I seemed to And you, as I knew ye were, the followers of God.
2. For inasmuch as ye are subject to your Bishop as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order that, believing in his death, ye may escape death. It is therefore necessary that ye do nothing without your Bishop, even as ye are wont: and that ye be also subject to the Presbytery as to the Apostles of Jesus Christ, our hope, in whom if we walk, we shall be found (in him).* The Deacons also, • Eusebius mentions this Polybius, in his account of this Epistle. Bi»t. Ecclea. iii. 36. h Compare Phil iii. 9.
TO THE TRALLIANS.
73 as being the (ministers) of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, must by ail means please all. For they are not the ministers of meat and drink, but of the Church of God. Wherefore they must avoid all offences, as (they would avoid) fire.
3. In like manner, let all reverence the Deacons as Jesus Christ, and the Bishop as the Father: and the Presbyters as the council of God, and the assembly of the Apostles. Without these there is no Church. Concerning all which I am persuaded that ye think after the very same manner. For I have received, and even now have with me, the pattern of your love in your Bishop: whose very look is much instruction, and his mildness, power: whom I am persuaded that even the ungodly reverence. But 6 because I have a love toward you, I will not write any more sharply unto you about this matter, although I very well might; I have even taken so much upon myself, who am but a condemned (captive), as to command you as if I were an apostle.
4. I know many things in God; but I refrain myself, lest I should perish in my boasting. For now I ought the more to fear, and not hearken to those that would puff me up. For they, who (so) speak to me, chasten me. I love to suffer, but I know not if I be worthy. And this desire, though to others it doth not appear, yet to myself is (on that account) the more violent. I have, therefore, need of moderation, by which the Prince of this world is destroyed.
6. Am I not able to write to you of heavenly things? But I fear lest I should harm you who are babes in Christ: excuse me (this care): lest, not being able to receive them, ye should be choked with them. For even I myself, although I am in bonds, yet am not therefore able to understand heavenly things, as the • Sv Aoyt£o/iat kcu roijs hBsovs ivrpbreoOat. dyancovrag a* oh <psiiopat havrdv ndTtpoVy ivvijuvot ypdfaiv {nr ip rovrov sis rovro yfjQrjv, iva ata Kartxxpiros m dir6cro\os vpiv itardcoupai. This passage is evidently corrupted, and was so, before the old Latin Version was made, which is here only a verbal translation of the separate Greek words. Salmasius, Pearson, and Smith all endeavor to explain the passage, without success. The translation in the text is that of Archbishop Wake. It is founded upon the reading suggested by the corresponding passage in the inter- polated Epistle: 'Kyandv vpas <ptt6opai ovvrovurepoif kmartlXai' *r. r. A.
?4 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS Haorders of the angels, and the several companies of them under their respective princes, things visible and invisible: but in these I am yet a learner. For many things are wanting to us, that we come not short of God.
6. I exhort you therefore (or rather) not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, that ye use none but Christian nourishment; abstaining from all strange pasture,* which is heresy. For such confound Jesus Christ with their own poison, e while they seem worthy of belief. As men give a deadly potion mixed with sweet tvine; which he who is ignorant of doth with the treacherous pleasure sweetly drink in his own death/ a Potdvrj — Compare Epist. to Ephes. § 10; Epist. to Philadelph. § 3* • ol Kaipol irapsfiirXitcovatv I tjcovv jLpiardv — VossiUs’ conjecture, ol teal ioTs, founded upon the old Latin Version and the reading of the inter- polated Epistle, appears highly probable, and is here followed, f Compare Epist. to Philadelph. §2. A similar comparison, but ' more poetical, b used by Chrysostom, Contra Judceos iii. (Tom. VI. p. 344. 24 Savile.)' & a$anlp oi rc i dtiXrjrfrpUL ttepdvwvrts fappatca, pt\iri rd * ar6pa riff tevXucos rrepi^ptovres, evnapaScKrov noiown rfiv 0X6$t)v.
Although Chrysostom’s application is the same as that of Ignatius, it might almost be supposed that he was acquainted with the beautiful passage of Lucretius, as beautifully imitated by Tasso, in which the application is different.
N&m velati pueris absinthia tetra medentes Quurn dare conantur, prius oras pocula eifeum Contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore, Ut puerorum setas improvida ludificetur Labrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarum Absinth! laticem, deceptaque non capiatur, Sed potius tali tactu recreate valescat.
Lucret. IV. 11.
[ Por, as oft, benign, The sapient nurse, when anxious to enforce On the pale boy the wormwood’s bitter draught, With luscious lioney tints the goblet’s edge, Deceiving thus, while yet unused to guile, His unsuspecting lip, till deep he drinks; And gathers vigor from the venial cheat; — Good’s Lucretius, IV. 10 as.]
Cosi all’ egfo fanciul porglamo aspersi Di soave b cor gli orli del vaso: Succhi amari ingannato intanto ei beve, E dall’ inganno suo vita riceve.
Tasso Qtr. Lib. 1. 3.
[Thus the sick infant’s taste disguised to meet, We tinge the vessel’s brim with juices sweet; The bitter draught his willing lip receives; He drinks deceived, and so deceived he lives.
$7,8,9,10.] TO THE TRALLIANS. 76 7. Wherefore, guard yourselves against such persons. And that ye will do, if ye are not puffed up, but con* tinue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God, and from your Bishop, and from the commands of the Apostles. He that is within the altar is pure. But he that is without is not pure. That is, he that doeth any thing without the Bishop and the Presbyters, and the Deacons, is not pure in ms conscience.
8. Not that 1 know there is any thing of this nature among you; but I forewarn you, as greatly beloved of me, foreseeing the snares of the devil. Wherefore putting on meekness, renew yourselves in faith, that is the flesh of the Lord, and in charity, that is the blood of Jesus Christ. Let no one of you bear a grudge against his neighbor. Give no occasion to the Gentiles, lest by means of a few foolish men, the whole congre* gation of God be evil spoken of. For wo to that man through whose vanity my name is blasphemed by any.* 9. Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you against Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, of the Virgin Mary: who was truly born, and did eat and drink* was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified, and died, in the sight of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. Who also was truly raised from the dead, by his Father; after the same manner as he will also raise up us who believe in him, by Christ Jesus, without whom we have no true life.
10. But if, as some who are Atheists,* that is to say, unbelievers, pretend, he suffered only in appearance—? they themselves living only in appearance — why then am I bound? Why do 1 desire to fight with beasts? Then do I die in vain. Verily 1 lie not against the Lord.
* Isa. lii. 5.
« This is a plain allusion to the heresy of the Doeet®, to which St. John probably refers in I John iv. 3. f( JEvery spirit that confessed! not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God.” They imagined that the body of our Lord was no real substance, but an unsubstantial phantom. Simon Magus is said to have been the author of this heresy. Meander, his disciple, was a contemporary of Ignatius, and is said by Justin Martyr, Apol. c. 34. to have deceived many in Antioch. Compare Ignatius’ Epistle to the Smymeans t Sept. J f 3.
76 IGNATIUS TO THE TRALLIANS. [§11,12,13.
11. Flee, therefore, these evil scions, which bring forth deadly fruit; of which if any one taste he shall presently die. For these are not plants of the Father. For if they were, they would appear to be branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible; by which he invites you through his passion, who are members of him. For the hgad cannot be without its members, God having promised a union, which is himself.
12. I salute you from Smyrna, together with the Churches of God, which are present with me, who have refreshed me in all things, both in body and in spirit. My bonds, which I carry about me, for the sake of Christ, beseeching him that I may attain unto God, exhort you. Continue in concord among yourselves, and in prayer one with another. For it becomes every one of you, especially the Presbyters, to refresh the Bishop, to the honor of the Father, of Jesus Christ, and of the Apostles. I beseech you that you hearken to me, in love, that I may not, by those things which I write, rise up in witness against you. Pray also for me, who stand in need of your love, through the mercy of God, that I may be worthy of the portion which I am about to obtain, that I be not found a cast-away. k 13. The love of those who are at Smyrna and Ephe- sus salutes you. Remember ye in your prayers the Church of Syria, from which I am not worthy to be called, being one of the least of it. Fare ye well 1 in Jesus Christ, being subject unto your Bishop, as to the command (of God), and in like manner to the Presby- tery. Love every one his brother in simplicity of heart. May my soul be your expiation,® not only now, but when I shall have attained unto God. For I am yet under danger. But the Father is faithful in Jesus Christ, to fulfil both my petition and yours: in whom may ye be found unblameable.
• The Greek text here has hyvi^trt hpoiv rd Ipdv irvevpa. Vosstua proposes to read Hyvicpa vptiv, and Cotelerius iyw^rai.
Google EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO ZHI ROMANS.
Ignatius, who is also called Theophoru*, to th« Church which hath obtained mercy in the Majesty of the most high Father, and his only Son Jesus Christ, beloved and illuminated through the will of Him who willeth all things, which are according to the love of Jesus Christ, our God; (to the Church) which pre- sides also in the place of the region of the Romans, worthy of God, and of all honor and blessing and praise; worthy to receive that which she wishes, chaste, and pre-eminent in charity, bearing the name of Christ and of the Father, which I salute in the name of Jesus " Christ, the Son of the Father: to those who are united both in flesh and spirit to aU his commands, and wholly filled with the grace of God, and entirely cleansed from the stain of any other doctrine, be all undefiled joy in Jesus Christ our God.
1. Forasmuch as, through my prayers to God, I have obtained to see your faces worthy of God,‘ which I much desired to do, being bound in Christ Jesus I hope to salute you, if it shall be the will of God that I shall be thought worthy to attain unto the end. For the beginning is well disposed, if I shall but have grace, without hinderance to take upon me my lot. But I fear your love, lest it injure me. For to you it is easy to do as ye will: but to me it is difficult to attain unto God, if ye be (too) indulgent to me.
2. For I would not have you please men, but God; even as also ye do. For I shall never have such ah opportunity of attaining unto God; nor will you?
• This Epistle was written from Smyrna. But Ignatius, having set out to be brought to Rome, speaks in anticipation of his arrival.
78 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS names ever be inscribed upon a better work, if ye only keep silence. For if ye are silent with respect to me, I shall be made partaker of God: but if ye shall love my flesh, I shall again have my course to run. Ye can do me no greater favor, than to suffer me to be offered up to God, now that the altar is prepared; that when ye are gathered together in love, ye may sing praises to the Father, in Christ Jesus, that he hath vouchsafed that a Bishop of Syria b should be found, and to call him from the east unto the west. It is truly good for me to set from the world, unto God, that I may rise again unto him.
3. Ye have never envied any one; ye have taught others. 6 I would therefore that those things, which ye have commanded others in your teaching, be now established among yourselves. Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only say, but will: in order that I may not only be called a Christian, but be found one. For if I be so found, I may deservedly be called a Christian; and be faithful then, when I shall no longer appear to the world. Nothing that is seen is eternal; “for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”* For even our God, Jesus Christ, now that he is in the Father, doth the more appear.® A Christian is not made so by the mere power of persuation, but by greatness of mind: espe- cially when he is hated of the world/ 4. I write to all the Churches, and signify to them all, that I am willing to die for God, unless you hinder b Ignatius, as the Bishop of Antioch, the chief city of Syria, styles himself Bishop of Syria. Compare Sect. 9. where be refers to him- self, os ‘the shepherd of Syria.* * Ye have never envied any other the glory of becoming a martyr for the name of Christ; nay, ye have encouraged them by your exhortations to remain faithful unto death.
* By the power which he infuses into his servants, enabling them to undergo all sufferings for his sake.
t The Greek text has, ov (Tium'is fidvov rd tpyov i aWa pcyedovs lari* b “ The Christian religion is not to be silently nourished, but magnanimously professed.” The reading followed in the text is that ofVossius, suggested by the old Latin version, “ ov xetapovifs rd ipyovt oAAA p cytdovs irrlv b Xptonavdf, paXiora brav purijrat intd K 6vpOV.”
TO THE ROMANS.
79 mo. I beseech you that ye show not an unseasonable good-will toward me. Suffer me to be the food of wild beasts, by which I may attain unto God. I am the wheat of God:* and by the teeth of wild beasts I shall be ground, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather encourage the wild beasts, that they may become my sepulchre, and may leave nothing of my body; that when 1 sleep I may be burdensome to no one. Then shall 1 truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Pray to Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be made a sacrifice (of God). I command you not, as Peter and Paul did: they were apostles, I a condemned man: they were free, but I hitherto a servant: but if I shall suffer, 1 shall then become the free-man of Jesus (Christ), and shall rise free in him. And now, being in bonds, 1 learn to desire no worldly or vain thing.
5. From Syria even to Rome 1 fight with beasts both by sea and land, by night and day; being bound to ten leopards, that is to say, a band of soldiers, who even when kindly treated become the worse. h But by their unjust treatment I am the more instructed: yet am I not thereby justified. 4 May I enjoy the wild beasts which are prepared for me; k and pray that they may * These remarkable words are quoted by Irenjeus, Adv. Hceres. v. 28. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. iii. 36. Jerome, in bis Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers, the Menologia Grceca, and others, say that Ignatius addressed to the people expressions of the same nature, when he was brought out before the wild beasts. “ O Romans, the spectators of this contest, I am not thus condemned for any evil deed, but for the sake of my religion. For I am the wheat of Goo, and by the teeth of wild beasts I shall be ground, that I may be the pure bread (of Christ).”
h This passage also is quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. iii. 36. Ignatius compares the ill usage which he experienced from the soldiers to the violence with which the beasts, to which he was condemned, would treat him. “ My contest with wild beasts is already begun, and continues all the way from Syria even to Rome. Rather than endure the insults, could 1 rejoice in the wild beasts which are pre- pared for me.” i 1 Cor. iv. 4.
k Chrysostom quotes this expression in his Homily on the Mar- tyrdom of Ignatius. The annals of the primitive martyrs present many instances, in which those who were exposed to wild beasts or subjected to other punishment, used means to accelerate their own - Google 80 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS be found ready for me: which I will even encourage to 1 devour me all at once, and not fear to touch me, as they have some others. And even if they refuse, and will not, I will compel them. Bear with me (in this) i I know what is profitable for me; now I begin to be a disciple. 1 Let nothing, of things either visible or invi*. sible, deprive me of attaining unto Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross, and the companies of wild beasts, let tearings and rendings, let breakings of bones, and the cutting ofif of limbs, let the shatterings of the whole body, and all the evil torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain unto Jesus Christ.
6. All the pleasures of the world and the kingdoms of this life will avail me nothing. Better is it for me to die for Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. “ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” m: Him I seek, who died for us: him I desire, who rose again for us. This is the gain that is laid up for me." Pardon me, brethren: hinder me not from living, let me not die, 0 who am willing to be God’s. Rejoice not in the world; suffer me to enter into pure light: when I shall be there, I shall be a man of God. Suffer me to imitate the sufferings of my God. If any one hath Him within himself, let him consider what I desire, and sympathize with me, knowing how I am straitened.
7. The Prince of this world would fain carry me away, and corrupt my resolution toward my God. Let none of you therefore assist him: rather join yourselves to me, that is to God. Do not speak of Jesus Christ, and yet covet the world. Let not envy dwell in you: obey not even me, if, when I shall be present with you, I should exhort you (to the contrary): but rather obey these commands which 1 write unto you. I write to you desiring to die, though I live. My love is cruci* r fied: f and in me, who love (a heavenly object), there death. See the Circular Epistle qf the Church, qf Smyrna on the martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 3.
• Hinder me not from attaining immortal life, le'V me not die eter- nally, by refusing to suffer for Christ’s sake.
p The Greek here has, b ipis fpwf ioraCpwrat, teal oto l<mr to ipol top <pi\6ifXov vi<op 61 k. r. A. “ There is in me no fire delighting TO THE ROMANS.
81 is no (earthly) fire; but living water, springing up in me, saying with me, Come unto the Father.* I delight not in the food of corruption, nor in the pleasures of this life; I desire the bread of God; the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was born, in these last days, of the seed of David and Abraham: and the drink of God which I desire is his blood, which is incorrupt- ible love and eternal life.
8. I have no desire to live any longer after the man- ner of men; neither shall I, if ye consent. Consent therefore, that (God) may also consent unto you. I exhort you in few words; believe me. And Jesus Christ will show you that I speak truth, he who is the mouth of the Father, without deceit, in whom the Father speaks truly. Pray for me, that I may attain. I have not written unto you after the flesh, but accord- ing to the will of God. If I shall suffer, ye have consented to ifly wishes; if I shall be rejected, ye have hated me.
9. Remember in your prayers the Church of Syria, which now enjoys God for its shepherd, instead of me. Jesus Christ alone shall supply the place of its Bishop, in matter, &c.” Simeon Metaphrastes has also <pi\6i>\ov. The old Latin Version, which is usually a strictly verbal translation, has “et non est in me ignis amans aliquam aquam; sed vivens et loquens est in me, &c.” The interpolated Epistle has the same reading as the old Latin Version oi>K ianv tv Ipol rvp <f> i \ ovv t c. The sense of the passage being to this effect: “ While I contemplate Jesus, whose love dwells in me, crucified for me, the fire which the vain desires of the world kindle, is extinguished within me. I perceive my whole heart bedewed with the effusion of the Holy Spirit, as by a copious and perpetual stream of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. And thence I hear as it were a heavenly voice, calling unto me, and saying, Come unto the Father.”
Origen, in the introduction to his Commentary on the Book of Canticles; the book De Divinis Nominibus, ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, Cap. 4; the Menologia Graca, on the 30th of December; and many modern writers, agree in considering the terms “ my love is crucified,” as expressing the love of Ignatius to his Saviour who was crucified for him. This seems the most natural meaning of the expression.
Cave, in bis Life of Ignatius, Ch. xi., follows the opinion of those who refer the words to the disposition of Ignatius himself, who had “ crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts ” * John iv. 14.
82 IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS. [$ 10.
together with your love* But 1 am ashamed even to be reckoned as one of them. For neither am I worthy, being the least among them, and as one bom out of due time. 1. But through mercy I have obtained to be some- body, if 1 shall attain unto God. My spirit salutes you; and the charity of the Churches which have received me in the name of Jesus Christ, not simply as a passen- ger. For even those which belonged not at all to me, have brought me on my journey from city to city, in my way according to therflesh.
10. These things I write to you from Smyrna, by the most worthy of the Church of Ephesus. There is now with me, together with many others, Crocus, most beloved of me. 1 doubt not that ye have known of those who are gone before me out of Syria to Rome, to the glory of God: to whom signify also that I am near at hand: for they are all worthy both of God and of you, whom it is fit that ye refresh in all things.
This have I written to you, on the twenty-fourth day of August. Be strong unto the end, in the.patience of Jesus Christ.
’ 1 Cor. zv. 8. Compare BpUt* 4o tht Smymcana, Sect. H.
TflE EPUJLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE PHILADEPHIANS.
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, which is at Philadelphia in Asia, which hath obtained mercy and is fixed in the unity of God, and rejoices evermore in the passion of our Lord, and is fulfilled in all mercy through his resurrection: which also I salute in ifie blood of Jesus Christ, which is our eternal and abiding joy, especially if they be at unity with the Bishop and the Presbyters and Deacons with him, appointed according to the will of Jesus Christ whom he hath settled according to his own will, in all firm- ness by the Holy Spirit.
1. Which Bishop I know obtained that ministry which appertains to the public good, neither of himself nor by men, nor through vain glory, but in the love of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ; whose moderation I admire; who by his silence prevails more than the vain speech of others. For (his mind) is aptly fitted to the commandments, as a harp to its strings. * Wherefore my soul esteems his mind toward God most happy, knowing.it to be fruitful in all virtue, and perfect, full of constancy, free from passion, and according to all the moderation of the living God.
- 2. Wherefore, as becomes children of light and of truth, flee divisions and false doctrines: for where the shepherd is, there do ye, as sheep, follow after. For many wolves, k which appear worthy of belief, do through the allurements of evil pleasure lead captive * See Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, Sect. 4.
* Acts xx. 29.
84 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS [$3,4,5.
those that run in the course of God. But in your concord they shall find no place.
3. Abstain from those evil herbs,* which Jesus Christ cultivates not, since. they are not planted by the Father. Not that I have found any division among you, but purity from all defilement.* 1 For as many as are of God, and of Jesus Christ, are also with their Bishop. And as many as shall with repentance return into the unity of the Church, even these shall also be the servants of God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Be not deceived, my brethren: if any one follows him that makes a schism (in the Church), he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If any one walks after any other opinion, he agrees not with the passion (of Christ).
4. Give diligence, therefore, to partake all of the same Eucharist. For there is but one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup, in the unity of his blood: one altar, as there is also one Bishop, together with the Presbytery, and the Deacons, my fellow- servants. That so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it according to the will of God.
5. My brethren, I am greatly enlarged in my love toward you; and in my great joy I would establish you: yet not I, but Jesus Christ, in whom being bound I fear the more, as yet being imperfect.* But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may Attain that portion, which by God’s mercy, is allotted unto me: fleeing to the Gospel/ as to the flesh of Christ, and to the Apostles, as unto the Presbytery of the Chfirch. Let us also love the prophets, forasmuch as they also proclaimed the coming of the Gospel, and hoped in Christ, and waited for him: in whom believing • Compare the Epistle to the Trallian8 t Sect. 6.
d dnoSitiXiofiSv, the clearness which is produced by filtering or strain' ing a liquid, so as to separate from it all extraneous substances.
* Compare Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, Sect. 3.
f Having recourse to the Gospel, as if it were to Jesus Christ him- self, and to the writings of the Apostles, who are the council of the Church. — Lfi Clerc well observes that Ignatius here specifies, in the first place, the Scriptures of the New Testament, as his refuge: and, iu the second place, those of the Old Testament, as confirmatory of the New.
He ascribes also the salvation of the prophets to their faith.
85 also they were saved, in the unity of Jesus Christ, being holy men worthy of all love and admiration, who have received testimony from Jesus Christ, and are numbered in the Gospel of our common hope.
6. But if any one shall teach you the Jewish law, hear him not. For better is it to receive the law of Christ from one that is circumcised, than the law of the Jews from one that is uncircumised.® But if either the one or the other do not speak concerning Christ Jesus, they seem to me but as monuments and sepul- chres of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men. Flee, therefore, the wicked arts and snares of the prince of this world, lest at any time being oppressed by his craftiness ye grow weak in charity. But come all together into the same place with an undivided heart. And I bless my God that I have a good conscience toward you, and that no one among you hath to boast, either openly or privately, that I have been burdensome to any either in much or little. 1 * And I pray that this be not for a testimony to all among whom I have conversed.