Greeting and Ignatius' Statement of Faith
1 Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the church of God the Father and of Jesus Christ the Beloved, which has been mercifully given every gift, filled with faith and love and lacking in no gift, most worthy of reverence and bearing holy treasures; to the church in Smyrna in Asia, abundant greetings in a blameless spirit and in the word of God. I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who has made you so wise; for I have seen that you are established in unshakable faith, as if nailed to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in flesh and in spirit, and firmly grounded in love by the blood of Christ, fully convinced about our Lord that He is truly of the family of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin and baptized by John so that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him, 2 truly nailed to the cross in the flesh for our sake under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (we are of its fruit, that is, of His most blessed passion), so that through His resurrection He might raise a banner for all the ages, for His saints and faithful people, whether among Jews or among Gentiles, in one body of His Church.
Ignatius on Those Who Say Jesus Suffered in Appearance
1 For He suffered all these things for our sake [that we might be saved]; and He truly suffered, just as He also truly raised Himself; not, as certain unbelievers say, that He suffered in appearance, while they themselves are mere appearance. And as they think, so it will happen to them, for they are bodiless and like demons.
Ignatius on Jesus in the Flesh After the Resurrection
1 For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; 2 and when He came to Peter and those with him, He said to them, Take hold of me and touch me, and see that I am not a bodiless demon. And at once they touched Him and believed, being joined to His flesh and His blood. For this reason they also despised death; in fact, they were shown to be above death. 3 And after His resurrection He [both] ate and drank with them as one in the flesh, although spiritually He was united with the Father.
Avoiding Dangerous Teachers and Facing Death
1 But I warn you of these things, my beloved, knowing that you yourselves think the same way. Yet I am watching over you in advance to protect you from wild beasts in human form, people whom you should not only not receive, but, if possible, not even meet [them]; only pray for them, in case they may repent. This is indeed difficult, but Jesus Christ, our true life, has power over it. 2 For if these things were done by our Lord in appearance, then I am also a prisoner in appearance. And why then have I handed myself over to death, to fire, to the sword, to wild beasts? But to be near the sword is to be near God; to be among wild beasts is to be with God. Only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we may suffer together with Him. I endure all things, since He Himself, who is the perfect human being, gives me strength.
Those Who Deny That Jesus Had a Body
1 But some people deny Him out of ignorance, or rather they have been denied by Him, since they are advocates of death rather than of the truth; and they have not been persuaded by the prophecies or by the law of Moses, or even to this very hour by the Gospel, or by the sufferings each of us has endured; 2 for they think the same about us. For what good is it [to me] if someone praises me but blasphemes my Lord by not confessing that He carried flesh? Whoever does not affirm this denies Him completely, and is himself one who carries a corpse. 3 But since they are unbelievers, I have not thought it right to write down their names; in fact, I would not even want to remember them until they repent and return to the passion, which is our resurrection.
Teachers Who Neglect Widows, Orphans, and Prisoners
1 Let no one be deceived. Even the heavenly beings, and the glory of the angels, and the rulers visible and invisible, if they do not believe in the blood of Christ [who is God], face judgment as well. Whoever can accept this, let him accept it. Let no one's position make him proud; for faith and love are everything, and nothing is preferred before them. 2 But notice those who hold strange teachings about the grace of Jesus Christ that came to us, how opposed they are to the mind of God. They have no concern for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the oppressed, none for the prisoner, none for the hungry or thirsty. They stay away from the eucharist (thanksgiving) and from prayer, because they do not admit that the eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father in His goodness raised up.
Keeping Away from Those Who Reject the Eucharist
1 So those who reject the good gift of God perish in their arguing. It would be better for them to love, so that they may also rise again. 2 So it is right for you to keep away from such people, and not to speak about them either privately or in public; but pay attention to the Prophets, and especially to the Gospel, in which the passion has been shown to us and the resurrection has been accomplished.
Following the Bishop
1 [But] avoid divisions, as the beginning of evils. All of you, follow your bishop as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and follow the presbytery as you would the Apostles; and respect the deacons as God's commandment. Let no one do anything that concerns the Church without the bishop. Consider that eucharist valid which is under the bishop or someone he has entrusted with it. 2 Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus is, there is the universal Church. It is not permitted to baptize or to hold a love feast without the bishop; but whatever he approves is also pleasing to God, so that everything you do may be secure and valid.
Honoring God and the Bishop
1 It is reasonable from now on that we come to our senses, while we [still] have time to repent and turn to God. It is good to acknowledge God and the bishop. Whoever honors the bishop is honored by God; whoever does anything without the bishop's knowledge serves the devil. 2 So may everything abound for you in grace, for you are worthy. You refreshed me in every way, and Jesus Christ will refresh you. You loved me when I was absent and when I was present. May God reward you; if you endure all things for His sake, you will attain to Him.
Thanks for Receiving Philo and Rhaius Agathopus
1 You did well to receive Philo and Rhaius Agathopus, who followed me in the cause of God, as servants of [Christ] God; they also give thanks to the Lord for you, because you refreshed them in every way. Nothing will be lost to you. 2 My spirit is offered up for you, as are my chains, which you did not despise and were not ashamed of. Nor will Jesus Christ, who is perfect faithfulness, be ashamed of you.
Sending an Ambassador to Antioch
1 Your prayer went out to the church in Antioch in Syria. Coming from there as a prisoner in most godly chains, I greet everyone, though I am not worthy to belong to it, since I am the very last of them. This was granted to me by the will of God, not by my own doing, but by God's grace, which I pray may be given to me in full, so that through your prayers I may attain to God. 2 Therefore, for your work to be complete both on earth and in heaven, it is right for your church to appoint, for the honor of God, an ambassador of God to go as far as Syria and congratulate them because they are at peace, have regained their proper stature, and have had their proper body restored to them. 3 So it seemed fitting to me that you should send one of your own people with a letter, to join them in giving glory for the calm that by God's will had come over them, and because through your prayers they were already reaching a harbor. Since you are perfect, let your plans also be perfect; for if you want to do well, God is ready to provide the means.
Greetings from Troas and to the Leaders in Smyrna
1 The love of the brothers in Troas greets you; I am also writing to you from there by the hand of Burrhus, whom you sent with me together with the Ephesians, your brothers. He has refreshed me in every way. I wish everyone would imitate him, for he is a model of the ministry of God. The grace of God will reward him in all things. 2 I greet your godly bishop, your honored presbytery, [and] my fellow servants the deacons, and all of you individually and together, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in His flesh and blood, in His passion and resurrection, which was both physical and spiritual, in the unity of God and of you. Grace to you, mercy, peace, patience, always.
Final Greetings to Households in Smyrna
1 I greet the households of my brothers with their wives and children, and the virgins who are called widows. Farewell in the power of the Father. Philo, who is with me, greets you. 2 I greet the household of Gavia, and I pray that she may be grounded in faith and love, both of flesh and of spirit. I greet Alce, a name very dear to me, and the incomparable Daphnus, and Eutecnus, and everyone by name. Farewell in the grace of God.
An Introduction to Ignatius' Epistle to the Smyrnaeans
4 min read
Ignatius, the leader of the Christian community in Antioch in Syria, wrote this Greek letter in the first part of the second century CE, while ten Roman soldiers were taking him to Rome to be killed by wild beasts.1 He wrote it from Troas to the Christians of Smyrna, who with their bishop Polycarp had welcomed him on his way, and he writes to them with more confidence than usual that they will listen.2 Ignatius tells the Smyrnaeans to keep away from teachers who said that Jesus suffered only in appearance, a view known as docetism, the teaching that Jesus seemed to have a human body and to suffer without really doing so.3 These teachers were very likely members of the Smyrnaean community, possibly led by an elder of the community, and they held their own eucharists apart from the bishop.4 They had praised him, which suggests that Ignatius does not describe them fairly, and his charge in Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6:2 that they neglected widows, orphans, and prisoners is very likely exaggerated.5
In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 1:1–2, Ignatius lists the events of the life of Jesus and insists that each one truly happened. The pairing of descent from David in the flesh with sonship of God echoes the statement of belief in Romans 1:3–4, and the reason he gives for the baptism of Jesus, so that all righteousness might be fulfilled, is close to Matthew 3:15.67 Pilate and Herod appear together, as in Luke 23:6–12 and Acts 4:25–28, and Ignatius describes the cross as a banner that Jesus raises, an image that echoes Isaiah 5:26, 49:22, and 62:10.8 In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 3:2, the risen Jesus tells Peter and those with him to touch him and see that he is not a bodiless demon, language closely connected to Luke 24:39, although Luke and Ignatius more likely share a common tradition than one copying the other.9 The meal of Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 3:3 is also similar to Luke 24:41–43 and Acts 10:41.10 In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6:1, Ignatius teaches that even heavenly powers face judgment if they do not believe in the blood of Jesus, and his formula inviting anyone able to accept this teaching to accept it is close to Matthew 19:12, and the list of the needy in Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6:2 recalls Matthew 25:31–46.11
Other writings from around the time of Ignatius share several of these images. Ignatius' statement in Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 4:2 that to be near the sword is to be near God resembles saying 82 of the Gospel of Thomas, where whoever is near Jesus is near the fire, and a Greek proverb that whoever is near Zeus is near the lightning. Ignatius and the Thomas saying are more likely separate uses of that proverb.12 In Philostratus' Life of Apollonius 8.12, the sage reappears to his disciples after vanishing from his trial and tells one of them to take hold of him and says that if he slips from the disciple's grasp he is a phantom, which shows how accounts of a bodily return were used to confirm a holy man.13 The widow, the orphan, and others in need also appear together in Barnabas 20:2 and Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians 6:1.14
Later writers searched for the source of the bodiless demon saying: Origen knew it from a text called the Teaching of Peter, and Jerome placed it in the Gospel of the Hebrews, but Eusebius could not find it.15 In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 8:2, Ignatius is the earliest known writer to describe the whole Christian community with the word katholikē, "catholic" or "universal." The word has been taken to mean worldwide extent, but it can also refer to wholeness, which fits Ignatius' insistence on avoiding divisions.16 In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 4:2, Ignatius calls Jesus the perfect human being. Many manuscripts instead read that Jesus became the perfect human being, very likely a change prompted by later doctrine about Jesus, and Melito of Sardis later called Jesus both God and perfect human being.17 In Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 7:1, Ignatius identifies the eucharist with the flesh of Jesus that suffered and rose, and Irenaeus later drew a less direct link, arguing from the presence of Jesus in the eucharist that the bodies of believers will rise.18
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