The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
En route to his death in the Coliseum in Rome , Ignatius wrote a series of letters to
various Christian communities and individuals.
He wrote to the churches at Ephesus , Smyrna , Magnesia, Tralles, Rome ,
and Philadelphia – as well as his friend,
Polycarp (the bishop of Smyrna ).
Ignatius’ letter to the Christians in Tralles begins with a
exhortation that they should honor and obey their bishop, the presbyters and
the deacons. This is a common theme in
Ignatius’ letters. Of the seven
‘authentic’ letters from Ignatius’ pen, six include this admonishment.
In Ignatius’ mind there could be no church without proper
leadership. “Apart from these [bishops, presbyters and deacons] there is no
elect Church, no congregation of holy ones, no assembly of the saints.” [i]
Perhaps his insistence on proper honor and obedience to the
church leaders grew from his concern over the heresies and heterodoxies that
were – even at that early point in Christianity – infiltrating the
churches. He warns the Trallians to be wary
of “vain talkers” and “deceivers” who were “bearing about the
name of Christ in deceit and corrupting the word of the gospel while they
intermix the poison of their deceit with their persuasive talk, as if they
mingle aconite with sweet wine, so that he who drink, being deceived in his
taste by the very great sweetness of the draught, may incautiously meet with
his death.” [ii]
Though he says that he is unaware of any of these teachers
in Tralles [iii] he writes to give
them warning and so that they may be able to protect themselves from the snares
that are being laid for them.
It’s difficult to say what particular heresy Ignatius was
addressing – or if he was referring to any specific deviation from
“orthodoxy.” His description of these “Christ
betrayers” [iv] sounds like the
Docetists who believed that Jesus’ humanity wasn’t genuine, that he only
appeared (from the Greek dokeo –“to seem”) to be human.
“For they alienate Christ from the Father, and the law
from Christ. They also calumniate His
being born of the Virgin; they are ashamed of His cross; they deny His passion;
and they do not believe His resurrection.
They introduce God as a Being unknown; they suppose Christ to be
unbegotten; and as to the Spirit, they do not admit that He exists. Some of them say that the Son is a mere man,
and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are but the same person, and that the
creation is the work of God, not by Christ, but by some other strange power.”
[v]
As a tonic to this idea that Jesus’ body, suffering and
death were only illusions, Ignatius insists upon the reality of Jesus’ life and
recalls many of the physical and historical details of Christ’s life in words that
sound similar to the Apostle’s Creed.
“He truly assumed a body… and lived on earth without sin… He did in reality both eat and drink. He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate. He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died…” [vi]
“He truly assumed a body… and lived on earth without sin… He did in reality both eat and drink. He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate. He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died…” [vi]
And for Ignatius, who was on his way to die in Rome , this was
vital. If Jesus had only suffered and
died in appearance; if was only an illusion, then Ignatius’ faith and his life
(and his impending death) were all in vain and he was “guilty of falsehood
against the cross of the Lord.”
“I do not place my hopes in one who died for me in
appearance but in reality.” [vii]
Ignatius also has some harsh terms for those he considers
heretics – and he calls some of them out by name. He writes of “those wicked offshoots”
of the devil, “Simon ... Menander, and Basilides, and all his wicked mob of
followers,” as well as the “impure Nicolaitans” (presumably that
same group referred to in Revelation 2, but it’s hard to be sure) and of the “children
of the evil one, Theodutus and Cleobulus, who produce death-dealing fruit…” They are “an accursed brood” and “enemies
of the cross” and “those who killed the Lord of glory.” [viii]
Do these phrases connect Ignatius with the sectarian Apostle
John and his animosity towards “the Jews,” describing them as “children of
[their] father, the devil” [ix] It seems plausible…
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
Ignatius’ most famous words are found in this particular
epistle.
“I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the
wild beasts, that I may be found the true bread of God.” [x]
We don’t, in contemporary American Christianity, think about
martyrdom very often. It’s something
that happened a long time ago, or in far away places or maybe we think of it
with some disdain as something connected with suicide bombers and other
religious fanatics and terrorists.
But Ignatius was determined to be a martyr for God. In fact, he was so determined to ‘go out in a
blaze of glory,’ as it were, that he begged the Christians in Rome NOT to pray
for his release. “For if ye are
silent concerning me, I shall become God’s; but if ye show your love to my
flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any
greater favor upon me than that I be sacrificed to God, while the altar is
still prepared.” [xi]
Granted, at the time that Ignatius was writing these
letters, he already stood condemned to death and was on his way to Rome where
he would face the lions in the coliseum, his eagerness to die is both slightly
unsettling and somewhat admirable. I
don’t know if I’m horrified by or envious of Ignatius and his martyrdom.
A few years ago I wrote a short little poem:
A few years ago I wrote a short little poem:
If Only
If only I could, like the ancient martyrs
(by flame, and spear, and club)
make my life a declaration to God
with one bold step into the lion’s mouth
or by one swift stroke of the sword
instead of the tedious thousands
of slow painful deaths
as I gradually die to myself.
(2008)
(by flame, and spear, and club)
make my life a declaration to God
with one bold step into the lion’s mouth
or by one swift stroke of the sword
instead of the tedious thousands
of slow painful deaths
as I gradually die to myself.
(2008)
[i] The
Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians Chap. III
[ii] Chap.
VI
[iii] Chap.
VIII
[iv] Chap.
VI
[v] Chap. VI
[vi] Chap.
IX
[vii] Chap.
X
[viii] Chap.
XI
[ix] John
8:44
[x] The
Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans Chap. IV
[xi] Chap.
II
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