Ignatius of Antioch

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Ignatius of Antioch occupies a significant yet elusive place in the history of the early Church. Despite the historical, theological, and ecclesiastical insights we gain from his writings, the details of his life remain scant and largely speculative.

In this article, I’ll explore the life of Ignatius of Antioch, sifting through historical evidence and legendary accounts to understand the man behind the writings, helping us understand the shape of early Christian thought.

Who Was Ignatius of Antioch?

The main obstacle to writing about Ignatius of Antioch is our lack of information about him. We don’t know when he was born, although it was probably in the late 1st century CE. He was likely born somewhere in Syria since he was traditionally said to be the bishop of the Syrian city of Antioch. Even the long-held assumption that he died in 107 or 108 CE has been challenged. An article by Timothy Barnes, for instance, argues that Ignatius lived until the 140s CE. All of this merely highlights the myriad uncertainties about Ignatius’ life.

The letters Ignatius wrote have long been part of a collection of writings known as the Apostolic Fathers, which included Christian authors from the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. These authors provided us with a lot of information about early Christian theology and church structures, and Ignatius’ letters are no exception.

Our sources about Ignatius consist mainly of 4th and 5th-century writings by church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, well-known bishop and author John Chrysostom, and the bishop and author Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Eusebius says that Ignatius was only the second bishop of Antioch, although Ignatius actually calls himself the “bishop of Syria” in his own letters. Theodoret claims that the Apostle Peter himself commanded that Ignatius be appointed bishop of Antioch. Additionally, John Chrysostom writes that Ignatius died a martyr’s death in the Roman Coliseum.

These are all traditional legends written centuries after Ignatius’ death that may or may not reflect the reality of his life. Other legends about him included that he was one of the children Jesus took into his arms in the Gospels (Mark 10:13-16, Matt 19:14) and that he was the disciple of the Apostle John. Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence beyond much later writings to confirm or deny the truth of these legends.

What we can know, or at least reasonably speculate about, comes from letters Ignatius wrote on the way to his execution as a martyr.

Ignatius’ Dire Situation

Ignatius was arrested in Antioch — like Paul, he calls himself “a prisoner of Jesus Christ” — and was transported to Rome for his execution. This in itself is puzzling: why would they transport him to Rome when they could have hosted a trial and/or an execution right in Antioch? Stevan Davies writes that in Roman law, there were two possibilities that might have explained this.

If Ignatius was a Roman citizen, he could have appealed his conviction to the Emperor. If he had done this, he would have had the right to be taken to Rome for the appeal. Alternatively, some have posited that Ignatius, as a condemned man, was sent to Rome by the governor of Syria as a donation to the Roman games. However, Davies says that the evidence doesn’t fit either of these explanations.

First, Ignatius writes that he is being transported in chains by Roman soldiers. Roman law, however, said that Roman citizens being transported for appeal could not be put in chains. Second, if he was not a citizen, he would not have had the right to appeal. Additionally, Davies says there are no known examples during the 2nd century of any prisoners being transported to Rome for execution except prisoners of war.

Furthermore, Ignatius mentions no other prisoners being transported with him. A lone prisoner would have made a pretty meager gift from a governor to the Emperor. Since neither of these two common explanations fit the evidence, how can we explain the elaborate effort to transport Ignatius to Rome?

Davies offers an instructive example: he mentions that several decades after Ignatius’ time, in the year 177 CE, a situation arose in the Roman province of Lyon, where Christians were imprisoned by a representative or legate of the Lyon governor in the governor’s absence. Since only the governor could order executions, the Christians remained imprisoned until he returned and ordered their deaths.

Moreover, Ignatius hints in his letters that there have been conflicts in the church at Antioch. Davies concludes, then, that the governor of Syria was absent for some reason when Ignatius was arrested. He also posits that the reason for his arrest was that he had been stirring up trouble against other Christians with whom he disagreed, threatening a disturbance of the peace. The legate may then have decided that since he couldn’t order an execution, it would preserve the peace most effectively if he shipped a rabble rouser like Ignatius off to Rome for execution.

This view agrees with Bart Ehrman’s introduction to his translation of Ignatius’ letters which notes that many scholars believe that Ignatius’ arrest and condemnation were not the result of external persecution of Christians, but rather internal church conflicts over doctrine or the authority of church offices. So, if we understand why Ignatius was sent to Rome, do we know how he was transported?

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Most scholars agree, based on his letters, on the route probably taken by the soldiers transporting Ignatius to Rome. In The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament, Clayton Jeffords outlines the journey like this:

Ignatius first traveled from Antioch, in the province of Syria, to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), by sea or land. He was then taken to the city of Smyrna, on a route that avoided the cities of Magnesia, Tralles, and Ephesus, but probably went through Philadelphia.

Next he was then taken to the Greek city of Troas, where he boarded a ship for Neapolis in Macedonia. He afterwards went through the city of Philippi, subsequently taking either a land or sea route to Rome.

This itinerary is important because it determines in part the letters Ignatius wrote to the Christian churches in cities along or near his route. He wrote six letters to churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Rome. In addition, he wrote one letter to an individual named Polycarp, a friend who was bishop of Smyrna.

Let’s take a look at the content of Ignatius’ letters. I should mention, however, that while the majority of scholars accept these seven letters as authentic, Jonathan Lookadoo notes that some scholars believe that not all the letters were entirely written by Ignatius or may contain later interpolations.

What the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch Tell Us

Here, I’ll provide a summary of each letter, with commentary when necessary. Examining the  themes of the letters gives historians valuable information about Christian concerns in the 2nd century.

Epistle to the Ephesians

Ignatius starts by praising the Ephesian church and especially its bishop Onesimus. This may or may not be the same runaway slave named Onesimus whom Paul wrote about in the Epistle to Philemon. Ignatius then writes that bishops are the representatives of Christ on earth and must, therefore, be obeyed:

He then tells of a tradition not explicitly referred to elsewhere in which God’s very silence is the cause of three profound Christian mysteries:

Epistle to the Magnesians

The churches of Magnesia and Tralles sent their bishops, Polybius and Damas, along with two presbyters or priests from Magnesia, to meet Ignatius, who was being held at Smyrna at that time. Ignatius wrote this letter to thank the church of Magnesia.

Like many Christian documents of the time, the letter begins with a plea for unity among churches and against false doctrines, that is, doctrines with which he disagreed (these were not called “heresy” until the writings of Irenaeus later in the 2nd century CE). Included in this group of “false teachers” were Jewish Christians who still followed the Torah:

Accordingly, he advocates for observing Sunday as a holy day rather than the traditional Sabbath on Saturday:

We can only assume that Ignatius had heard about and/or encountered Jewish Christians continuing to observe Jewish practices. This is an indication that even at this early point, some gentile Christians were already attempting to separate Christianity from Judaism.

Epistle to the Trallians

Although Ignatius did not pass through the city of Tralles, he wrote to their church to thank them for sending their bishop Polybius to visit him in Smyrna.

As in the letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius warns the Trallians about false teachings. In the following quote, he seems concerned primarily with heretical teachings called Docetism, a Christian schism which believed that Jesus had only appeared to be human but was instead wholly divine:

Epistle to the Philadelphians

Again, Ignatius is concerned in this letter with schisms, something that he was probably dealing with in the conflicts in his own church in Antioch:

Also, while Ignatius is clearly worried about any doctrines that deviate from his own, he once again reminds those in the church at Philadelphia not to follow Jewish practices:

It should be clear by now that Christianity and Judaism were not entirely separate at this point, except in the minds of some gentile Christians. We see similar anti-Judaism rhetoric from John Chrysostom, the bishop of Antioch two centuries later, indicating that the complete separation of Judaism and Christianity took a very long time.

Finally, this letter also tells us that Ignatius’ home church at Antioch is no longer experiencing conflict, reinforcing that there was conflict before. Did this conflict end because of Ignatius’ own forced departure?

Epistle to the Smyrnaeans

In this letter, we get another clear reference to the Docetic notion of Jesus:

He then makes further accusations against the Docetists regarding the Eucharist:

Epistle to the Romans

This letter is somewhat unique because Ignatius writes it in anticipation of his arrival in Rome,  his (very) final destination. While he wants to visit with representatives of the Roman church, he doesn’t want them to advocate for his release:

This demonstrates that not only did Ignatius see martyrdom as the highest honor, but that many early Christians seem to have believed the same. Note the metaphor of Ignatius as bread, not unlike Jesus’ metaphor of himself as the bread of life in John 6:32-35.

It’s also interesting to note that Ignatius assumes that the Roman church has the power to advocate successfully for Christian prisoners, implying perhaps that it has already done so before.

Epistle to Polycarp

In addition to the letter to the church at Smyrna, Ignatius wrote a letter to its bishop Polycarp who would later become a famous martyr himself. Ignatius begins this letter by telling Polycarp that his church at Antioch is finally at peace, asking him to write a letter to the Antiochene church encouraging them:

He further asks Polycarp to send a letter to several other churches, asking that they too send letters of congratulations and encouragement to the church of Antioch.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of information we have about the life of Ignatius of Antioch, his letters have long given scholars sources for 2nd-century developments in Christian thought and church authority.

Ignatius was a bishop in Antioch, Syria, where there seems to have been some kind of conflict in the Church, either over doctrine or over authority (or both). It may very well be this division among the Antiochene church that caused Ignatius to be arrested and condemned. Whatever the reason, he was transported for his execution to Rome, possibly because the governor of Syria was not available.

On the way to Rome, accompanied by Roman soldiers, Ignatius wrote six letters to churches and one to an individual. Themes of these letters included railing against people he perceived as heretics — although he didn’t use that word — such as the Docetists and Jewish Christians, the importance of the authority of Christ as manifested through bishops, and the honor of martyrdom, something he was looking forward to for himself.

While we may not know a lot about Ignatius’ life, his letters provide us with an abundance of information about the dynamics of the early church. If you’d like to know more about early Christianity, check out Bart Ehrman’s course Paul and Jesus: The Great Divide.