Who was Saint Ignatius of Antioch?
In 2018, as I was trying to figure out whether the Catholic Church – all the churches around the world in communion with the bishop of Rome, feeding all their members with the body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine at one undivided Eucharistic table – is indeed the visible form of the one true Church, the “holy catholic and apostolic Church“ it claims to be, and whether the faith professed and practiced therein is indeed the authoritative ancient apostolic faith, I read the letters of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.
The exhortations given in his letters, all in all seven in number, are so refreshingly ancient that they strike our modern ears and have the power to correct us. So I‘d like to share some interesting passages which are dealing with the unity of the Church, with the danger of false teachers, and with the way of the cross and martyrdom.
Just recently, on the 1st February, the Church remembered Saint Ignatius of Antioch, at least according to the old Roman calendar as used in the Tridentine Latin Mass liturgy, while as of the new Roman calendar, introduced in 1969, his feast is celebrated on the 17th October.
Saint Ignatius was born in the year 35 and died in the year 108 as a martyr at the city of Rome. According to tradition he was a disciple of Saint John the Apostle, like his friend bishop Polycarp of Smyrna. He served as the bishop of Antioch, the episcopal see founded by the chief apostle Saint Peter. While on his way to Rome, where he was executed by being thrown before lions in the Colosseum, Saint Ignatius sent letters to various church communities, among them the churches at Ephesus, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna, in order to encourage them in their walk of faith.
What does Saint Ignatius of Antioch say concerning unity in the Church, and submission and obedience to the bishops and priests?
The topic of unity and of filial submission to the deacons, priests, and bishops in their positions of authority in the Church are major themes in Saint Ignatius‘ exhortations. It is obvious from his writings that already, just a few decades after the birth of the Church, the unity of the body of Christ was under attack due to heresies and schisms, and most of all due to human pride as the root cause of such phenomena. Saint Ignatius points out again and again that the authority of the bishop and the presbyters, i.e. the priests, is given by God‘s will, that they are appointed to their ministry by God, and that the flock ought to exhibit reverence for the shepherds and practice obedience toward them:
“May I always have joy of you, if indeed I be worthy of it. It is therefore befitting that you should in every way glorify Jesus Christ, who hath glorified you, that by a unanimous obedience ‘ye may be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the same thing concerning the same thing,‘ and that, being subject to the bishop and the presbytery, ye may in all respects be sanctified.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Ephesians, Chap. 2)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Ephesians
“For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the (manifested) will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds (of the earth), are so by the will of Jesus Christ.“ (Ch. 3)
“Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, ye may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus ye may always enjoy communion with God.“ (Ch. 4)
“Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, ‘God resisteth the proud.‘ Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.“ (Ch. 5)
“For we ought to receive every one whom the Master of the house sends to be over His household, as we would do Him that sent him. It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would upon the Lord Himself.“ (Ch. 6)
“Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when ye assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in heaven and earth, is brought to an end.“ (Ch. 13)
“(…) that ye come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that ye obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but (which causes) that we should live forever in Jesus Christ.“ (Ch. 20)
“(…) obey your bishop, in honor of Him who has wired us (so to do), since he that does not so deceives not (by such conduct) the bishop that is visible, but seeks to mock Him that is invisible. And all such conduct has reference not to man, but to God, who knows all secrets.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Magnesians, Ch. 3)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Magnesians
“It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality: as some indeed give one the title of bishop, but do all things without him. Now such persons seem to me to be not possessed of a good conscience, seeing they are not steadfastly gathered together according to the commandment.“ (Ch. 4)
“(…) I exhort you to study to do all things with a divine harmony, while your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons, who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the beginning of time, and in the end was revealed. Do ye all then, imitating the same divine conduct, pay respect to one another, and let no one look upon his neighbor after the flesh, but do ye continually love each other in Jesus Christ. Let nothing exist among you that may divide you; but be ye united with your bishop, and those that preside over you, as a type and evidence of your immortality.“ (Ch. 6)
“As therefore the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united to Him, neither by Himself nor by the apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and presbyters. (…) let there be one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy undefiled. There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is more excellent. Do ye therefore all run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father, and is with us and has gone to one.“ (Ch. 7)
“Be ye subject to the 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 may be a union both fleshly and spiritual.“ (Ch. 13)
“(…) let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters as the sanhedrin of God, and assembly of the apostles. Apart from these, there is no Church.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Trallians, Ch. 3)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Trallians
“He that is within the altar is pure, but he that is without is not pure; that is, he who does anything apart from the bishop, and presbytery, and deacons, such a man is not pure in his conscience.“ (Ch. 7)
“Wherefore, as children of light and truth, flee from division and wicked doctrines; but where the shepherd is, there do ye as sheep follow.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Ch. 2)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Philadelphians
“Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father. (…) For as many as are of God, and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of repentance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Do not err, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God.“ (Ch. 3)
“Take ye heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to (show forth) the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbyters and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it according to (the will of) God.“ (Ch. 4)
“Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be the followers of Jesus Christ, even as He is of His Father.“ (Ch. 7)
“For where there is division and wrath, God doth not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop.“ (Ch. 8)
“Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is (administered) either even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Ch. 8)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Smyrnaeans
“It is well to reverence both God and the bishop. He who honours the bishop has been honoured by God; he who does anything without the knowledge of the bishop, does (in reality) serve the devil.“ (Ch. 9)
“But it becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God, and not after their own lust. Let all things be done to the honour of God.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to Polycarp, Ch. 5)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to Polycarp
“Labour together with one another; strive in company together; run together; suffer together; sleep together; and awake together, as the stewards, and associates, and servants of God.“ (Ch. 6)
What does Saint Ignatius of Antioch say concerning false teachers and teachings?
Another major theme in Saint Ignatius‘ letters, one closely connected with the question of unity, peace, and harmony in the Church, is the danger of false teachers and their sowing of heretical opinions. In several letters he deals with the marks of false teachers:
“For some are in the habit of carrying about the name (of Jesus Christ) in wicked guile, while yet they practice things unworthy of God, whom ye must flee as ye would wild beasts.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Ephesians, Ch. 7)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Ephesians
“The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct.“ (Ch. 14)
“Do not err, my brethren. Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified!“ (Ch. 16)
“Be not ye anointed with the bad odour of the doctrine of the prince of this world; let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you.“ (Ch. 17)
“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that ye use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those (that are given to this) mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administed a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Trallians, Ch. 6)
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Trallians
“For what does any one profit me, if he commends me, but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing that He was (truly) possessed of a body? But he who does not acknowledge this, has in fact altogether denied Him, being enveloped in death.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Ch. 5)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Smyrnaeans
“But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of the bond, or of the free; of the hungry, or of the thirsty. They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. (…) But flee from all abominable heresies, and those that cause schisms, as the beginning of evils.“ (Ch. 6 and 7)
What, then, are some of the common marks of the false teachers of his day and age – and maybe of every day and age? Denying the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, denying the full-blown fleshly reality of His incarnation, passion, and resurrection, practicing things contrary to the law of Christ, and a lack of love and mercy in action toward one‘s neighbors. It‘s noteworthy, then, that heresy shows itself in deviations and breaches concerning “orthodoxy“ as well as “orthopraxy“, attacking both right belief and righteous living.
Saint Ignatius also deals with the problem of false teachers who are “judaizing“, as he calls it, which in the context of the first decades of Christianity simply means that these people are sowing disunity in the Church by opposing the teachings and practices handed down from the Jewish apostles of Christ, replacing them with their own commandments taken from Judaism, or their own understanding of Judaism.
The bishop of Antioch is sure that the Catholic faith is the continuation and fulfillment of the Jewish faith, the New Covenant that fulfils the promises of the Old Covenant, now open also to the Gentiles for their salvation. Let us bear in mind that “at Antioch the disciples were first named Christian“ (Acts 11: 26) according to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and that “Christian“ means nothing else but “belonging to the (Jewish) Messiah“ or “being marked with the name of the (Jewish) Messiah“, who is the “King of Israel“, or as Pontius Pilate let it have written on the cross: “the King of the Jews“.
“For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Magnesians, Ch. 10
“But if any one preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who has been circumcised, than to Judaism from one uncircumcised.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Philadelphians, Ch. 6
This is Saint Ignatius‘ way of saying: the faith in Jesus Christ is the true religious continuation of the faith of the Jewish people, and every one should listen to the Jewish apostles of Christ (the ones that are “circumcised“) and to their teaching about Christ – and not to snippets of Judaism presented by certain Gentiles (“the uncirmcised“). At the same time, if one thinks of baptism as the circumcision of the New Covenant, which is how the Church has always understood the relationship between circumcision and baptism, one could also interpret these lines in terms of: listen to the ones baptized (in Christ), and not to the unbaptized.
Certainly, the term “Jewish law“ in his letter to the Philadelphians does not refer to any of the teachings and commandments found in the Hebrew Scriptures, because that would in fact be a non-Catholic position which Saint Ignatius surely did not hold, but instead to the actual practices of rabbinical Judaism of his day and age, to the so-called Halakhah originating both in the Torah of Moses and an accompanying oral tradition, which in later years was recorded in the Talmud.
All that Saint Ignatius tries to remind his brothers and sisters of is to listen to the Jewish apostles of the Messiah (and to their successors, the bishops), and to follow them, and not to turn to self-proclaimed “rabbis“ of Judaism, who are preaching a message and practicing a religion which cannot save from sin and death, because the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior who was victorious over sin and death, is not actually truly present in it.
These twelve Jewish apostles, the cornerstones of the Church, of the assembly in Christ, were authorized by Jesus Christ himself to preach the saving faith, while those preaching their own “Judaized“ version of the faith, which contradicts the teaching authority of the apostles, have authorized themselves.
And thus, what Saint Ignatius is saying is not at all, and not in the least, directed against the Jewish people, but against certain individuals of his time, who are mixing their non-apostolic pseudo-Jewish teachings into the batch of faith, thereby endangering the unity and bond of peace within the Church.
The living apostles of Christ had, at their council in Jerusalem around the year 50, already authoritatively decided upon certain issues pertaining to Jews and Gentiles in the Church, which had come up, for example whether the Gentile believers in Jesus Christ need to be “circumcised after the manner of Moses“ (Acts 15: 1) to be saved, and need to observe the traditions of the “law of Moses“, as “some of the sect of the Pharisees that believed“ (Acts 15: 5) were saying. Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint James the Less convincingly argued against these positions, and the council concluded concerning the new Gentile believers:
“For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which things keeping yourselves, you shall do well. Fare ye well.“
Acts 15: 28-29
Saint Paul the Apostle in several of his letters also touched upon the topic of people sowing discord with their opinions and missing the mark of genuine faith in the Messiah. One example is found in his charge to the young bishop of Ephesus, Saint Timothy:
“As I desired thee to remain at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some not to teach otherwise, not to give heed to fables and endless genealogies: which furnish questions rather than the edification of God, which is in faith. Now the end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith. From which things some going astray, are turned aside unto vain babbling: Desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm.“
1 Timothy 1: 3-7
What does Saint Ignatius of Antioch say concerning Christ crucified, the way of the cross, and martyrdom?
When Saint Ignatius of Antioch writes and sends out these letters, he is on his way to Rome as a prisoner, awaiting his execution there. The cross of Christ and the sacrificial offering of his own life for the glory of God are strongly on his mind. According to Saint Ignatius, the cross is always at the heart of the faith, and the true and faithful disciple of Christ is ready and willing to follow Him into suffering and martyrdom.
“Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block ‘to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal.‘ ‘Where is the wise man? Where the disputer?‘ Where is the boasting of those who are styled prudent? For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Ephesians, Ch. 18
“For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immovable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lod Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that He was truly of the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Son of God according to the will and power of God; that He was truly born of a virgin, was baptized by John, in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him; and was truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed (to the cross) for us in His flesh. Of this fruit wer are by His divinely-blessed passion, that He might set up a standard for all ages, through His resurrection, to all His holy and faithful (followers), whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Ch. 1
“The unbelieving are of this world; but the believing have, in love, the character of God the Father by Jesus Christ, by whom, if we are not in readiness to die into His passion, His life is not in us.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Magnesians, Ch. 5
To the church at Rome he sends pleas that they may do nothing to hinder his execution. Saint Ignatius wants to die as a martyr, ripped into pieces by the mouths of lions:
“Only request in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but (truly) will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. (…) Christianity is not a thing of silence only, but also of (manifest) greatness.“ (The Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Romans, Ch. 3)
Passages taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Romans
“I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted to me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body (…). Then I shall truly be a disciple of Christ (…). Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice (to God).“ (Ch. 4)
“May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray they may be found eager to rush upon me (…). Now I begin to be a disciple. And let no one, of things visible or insivible, envy me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.“ (Ch. 5)
“All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die in behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth. (…) Him I seek, who died for us; Him I desire, who rose again for our sake. (…) Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God.“ (Ch. 6)
“I have no delight in corruptible food, 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 became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.“ (Ch. 7)
The saintly bishop of Antioch is telling his audience then and now: To suffer and to die with Christ, in Christ, means to attain to resurrection and eternal life with Him, in Him. The path to union with God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the way of the cross, leading the disciples through an imitation of Christ‘s passion. In Saint Paul the Apostle‘s letter to the church at Rome, we read:
“For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his Son; that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren.“
Romans 8: 29
This process of being conformed into the likeness of Christ is Saint Ignatius‘ goal. Following Him, then, means walking, suffering, dying, and being raised up again with Him. In martyrdom, the disciple finds intimacy with Christ:
“(…) he who is near to the sword is near to God; he that is among the wild beasts is in company with God; provided only he be of the name of Jesus Christ. I undergo all these things that I may suffer together with Him, He who became a perfect man inwardly strengthening me.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Ch. 4
A final advice from Saint Ignatius of Antioch
“It is better for a man to be silent and be (a Christian), than to talk and not to be one. (…) He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be perfect and may both act as he speaks, and be recognised by his silence. There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to Him.“
Passage taken from Saint Ignatius‘ Epistle to the Ephesians, Ch. 15
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, pray for us!