This article is part of a series on the apostolic fathers. See also “Polycarp: Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr (Feb. 23),” and download a timeline of The Ancient Church (PDF).
Ignatius (died c. AD 110), also called “Theophorus” or “God-bearer,” was a bishop (chief pastor) of the ancient city of Antioch in Syria and a famous martyr for Christ. Ignatius is regarded as one of the “apostolic fathers,” a term used to refer to the group of writers who came directly after the apostles. Still in existence are seven letters of Ignatius written to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Trallians, the Romans, the Philadelphians, the Smyrnaeans, and Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. The Feast Day of St. Ignatius is celebrated on October 17 in the West and December 20 in the East.
Antioch in the New Testament and Greco-Roman World
Antioch in Syria or “Syrian Antioch”—not to be confused with Antioch in Pisidia or “Pisidian Antioch” (Acts 13:14)—is mentioned repeatedly in the book of Acts as a center of early Christianity, and was the place where followers of Christ were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26). Known as the “Queen of the East,” Antioch was the capital of the Roman province of Syria, a center of trade and culture, and a bustling city with a population of around half a million people.
When Stephen was martyred in Acts 7, persecution broke out, scattering some of the Christians 300 miles north to Antioch, where they preached Christ and converted a large number of Jews and Gentiles (Acts 11:19–21). When the church in Jerusalem heard about the gospel’s success in Antioch, they sent Barnabas to help establish the church there (Acts 11:22). Through Barnabas’s ministry, the church was strengthened and many more believed (Acts 11:23–24). Barnabas then brought Paul from Tarsus to work with him in Antioch, and for a whole year they ministered there together, meeting with the church and teaching many (Acts 11:26).
Antioch was also the early “missionary base” of the Apostle Paul. Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the church at Antioch to embark on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:2–3), after which they returned to Antioch, reported on their work, and remained with the church for a considerable amount of time (Acts 14:26–28). After the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas carried the council’s letter back to Antioch, where they again remained for some time, teaching and preaching the word (Acts 15:30–35) before embarking on another journey to check in on and strengthen the churches (Acts 15:36–41). After his second missionary journey, Paul returned again to Antioch (Acts 18:22).
At some point while Paul was in the city (probably before the Jerusalem Council), “Peter came to Antioch” (Gal. 2:11). At first, Peter ate with the Gentile Christians there, but when some from “the circumcision party” arrived from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew from them at table fellowship (Gal. 2:11–14). Peter was confronted by Paul and evidently repented. Peter may have stayed in Antioch for a significant period of time (or left and then returned), since Eusebius of Caesarea (c. AD 260–339), the first major church historian, wrote that Peter went on to become bishop of Antioch (Ecclesiastical History 3.36). According to Eusebius, Peter then appointed a man named Evodius as his successor (EH 3.22) and, in turn, Evodius was followed by the most famous of the early bishops at Antioch, the esteemed Ignatius (EH 3.36).
From “An Untimely Birth” to Bishop of Antioch
Not much is known about Ignatius’s early life. He may have been suddenly converted from a wicked life, since he referred to himself as “the least” of the Christians in Syria and of “an untimely birth” (Ign. Rom. 9.2), likening himself to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 15:8). J. B. Lightfoot comments, “Ignatius, like St. Paul, we must suppose, had been suddenly brought to a knowledge of the Gospel. … It is very possible that his early life had been stained with the common immoralities of heathen society; but at all events this expression throws a flood of light on his position and explains the language of self-depreciation which he uses so freely.”
Whatever the circumstances of his early life, Ignatius’s letters reflect a man who had been radically transformed by God’s grace and was marked by godly zeal and exceptional intelligence, virtues which likely account for his appointment as bishop over a church as important as the one at Antioch. According to Theodoret (c. 393–458), a later theologian at Antioch and bishop of the nearby city of Cyrrhus in Syria, the Apostle Peter directly appointed Ignatius to the episcopacy (office of bishop) at Antioch. While this is fairly late testimony, even the great John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), a native of Antioch, believed that Ignatius “held true converse with the apostles” and that “the hands of the blessed apostles touched his sacred head” (Homily on St. Ignatius, 1; 2). Whatever the case, it is clear that Christians in the early centuries regarded Ignatius as embodying the doctrine and spirit of the apostles.
Some of what is commonly claimed about Ignatius comes from a work called The Martyrdom of Ignatius, which purports to be written by those who accompanied him to Rome and witnessed his death (7). Most historians consider it to be spurious (false or inauthentic)—a later composition that sought to honor Ignatius but was based on embellished or contrived stories. The work claims that Ignatius, like Polycarp, was the disciple of John the Apostle (1; 3); escaped persecution under Domitian (1); was tried in Antioch while Trajan was staying there (2), rather than in Rome; and died “on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of January, that is, on the twentieth of December” (7). The work also claims that on the night after his martyrdom, several of the eyewitnesses wept and prayed, fell into a light sleep, and had a vision of Ignatius comforting them, praying for them, or standing by the Lord (7). Despite its questionable origin and accuracy, the account is consistent with much of what we know from other sources—for example, that Ignatius rejoiced in the face of persecution and strengthened the churches on his journey to Rome.
Arrest in Antioch
What we know with greater confidence is that at some point during the reign of Emperor Trajan (AD 98—117), Ignatius was arrested. This was likely the result of a local plot against Christians in Antioch, since it was not Trajan’s policy to seek out Christians to persecute them. When Pliny the Younger (governor of Bithynia in northern Asia Minor) requested guidance from the emperor about the growing number of Christians in his province, Trajan responded, “They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it—that is, by worshiping our gods—even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance.” This meant that although widespread persecution did not occur during Trajan’s reign (or most of the emperors after him), local persecutions could still arise against Christians, as was likely the case with Ignatius and others such as Clement of Rome.
The Martyrdom of Ignatius includes a dramatic dialogue between Trajan and Ignatius at his trial. Though Ignatius’s trial may not have even taken place until he arrived at Rome, the dialogue is consistent with much of what Ignatius says in his actual writings, and again reflects the way in which the early Christians viewed him:
Trajan: Who are you, you evil demon, who so zealously breaks our commands, and persuades others to do the same, so that they should miserably perish?
Ignatius: No one ought to call Theophorus evil; for all of the demons have departed from the servants of God. But if, because I am an enemy to these [demons], you call me wicked in respect to them, I quite agree with you; for inasmuch as I have Christ the King of heaven [within me], I destroy all the devices of these [demons].
Trajan: And who is Theophorus?
Ignatius: He who has Christ within his breast.
Trajan: Do we not then seem to you to have the gods in our mind, whose assistance we enjoy in fighting against our enemies?
Ignatius: You are in error when you call the demons of the nations gods. For there is but one God, who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that are in them; and one Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, whose kingdom may I enjoy.
Trajan: Do you mean Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?
Ignatius: I mean Him who crucified my sin, with him who was the inventor of it, and who has condemned [and cast down] all the deceit and malice of the devil under the feet of those who carry Him in their heart.
Trajan: Do you then carry within you Him that was crucified?
Ignatius: Truly so; for it is written, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them.’
Trajan (pronouncing sentence): We command that Ignatius, who affirms that he carries about within him Him that was crucified, be bound by soldiers, and carried to the great [city] Rome, there to be devoured by the beasts, for the gratification of the people.
Journey to Smyrna and the First Four Letters
After being arrested in Syria, Ignatius began his journey to Rome, escorted by a company of ten soldiers, whom he called “leopards.” Once in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), the guards chose the northern road through the city of Philadelphia to Smyrna instead of the southern route through Tralles, Magnesia, and Ephesus. Lightfoot writes, “It is probable that, at the point where the roads diverged, the Christian brethren sent messengers to the churches lying on the southern road, apprising them of the martyr’s destination; so that these churches would dispatch their respective delegates without delay, and thus would arrive at Smyrna as soon as, or even before, Ignatius himself.”
Once at Smyrna, where Polycarp was bishop, Ignatius was visited by the church’s delegates, who came to encourage him on his journey. These included Onesimus, bishop of Ephesus (who some think is the same Onesimus of which Paul wrote in his letter to Philemon); Bishop Damas and two presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius, from the church in Magnesia on the Meander (today the Büyük Menderes River), just a few miles southeast of Ephesus; and Bishop Polybius from the city of Tralles, just a few miles east of Magnesia.
Ignatius was refreshed by the fellowship of the Christians and the good reports that they gave of their churches. In turn, Ignatius wrote letters to the Ephesians, Magnesians, and Trallians, expressing gratitude for their kindness and exhorting them on the importance of church unity, submission to church leaders (especially the bishop), sound doctrine, and Christlike love. Ignatius lauded the Ephesians as “a church of eternal renown,” “fellow-initiates of Paul,” “who have always agreed with the apostles” (Ign. Eph. 8.1; 12.2; 11.2), expressed his desire to correspond with the Magnesians because of what he had heard about “the great orderliness” of their “godly love” (Ign. Mag. 1.1), and praised the Trallians for their “blameless understanding” and “unwavering endurance” (Ign. Trall. 1.1).
In his letters, Ignatius refers to his chains as his “spiritual pearls” (Ign. Eph. 11.2), and shows not only a willingness but an eagerness to die as a martyr for Christ. It is hard to find a better example of someone taking Matthew 5:9–12 to heart, rejoicing and being glad in the face of persecution and death. In fact, Ignatius was so consumed by his desire to depart and be with Christ that he became worried that the church in Rome would attempt to set him free when he arrived. Ignatius thus wrote a fourth letter and sent it ahead to Rome, urging the church not to interfere:
I am afraid of your love, lest it treat me unjustly [by preventing my martyrdom]. … Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as an offering to God, while an altar is still ready, that becoming a chorus in love, you may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus that God has considered the bishop of Syria worthy to be found at the setting of the sun having summoned him from the rising of the sun. It is good to set from the world to God, that I may rise to him. … Only pray for strength for me, both inward and outward, so that I do not just talk about it, but I also want to do it, that I am not just called a Christian but I may also be found to be a Christian. (Ign. Rom. 1.2; 2.2; 3.2)
In the next section of his letter to the Romans, Ignatius pens one of the lines for which he is best known: “Allow me to be food for beasts, through whom it is possible to reach God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be found pure bread of Christ” (Ign. Rom. 4.1). Irenaeus (Against Heresies 5.28.4), Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 5.36.12), Jerome (On Illustrious Men 16), and others would go on to quote from this passage.
In the same letter, Ignatius writes that his journey had already been perilous, but reaffirms his eagerness to “reach Jesus Christ” through martyrdom:
From Syria to Rome I am fighting with wild beasts, by land and sea, night and day, being imprisoned by ten leopards (that is, a company of soldiers), who also, being treated kindly, become even worse. But in their mistreatments I am becoming more of a disciple, but I have not been justified by these mistreatments [1 Cor. 4:4]. May I enjoy the beasts that have been made ready for me, and I pray they might deal with me speedily. I will also entice them to devour me quickly, not as with some who were so cowardly they have not touched. But even if they are themselves unwilling I will force them myself. Grant me this favor. I know what is best for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible envy me, so that I may reach Jesus Christ. Fire and cross and battles with beasts, mutilation, being torn apart, scattering of bones, mangling of limbs, grinding of the whole body, cruel tortures of the devil; let these come upon me, only that I may reach Jesus Christ. (5)
Journey to Troas and Three More Letters
From Smyrna, Ignatius was taken northwest to the coastal city of Alexandria Troas (often simply called “Troas,” as in Acts 16:8). Ignatius was accompanied there by Burrhus, a deacon who was sent with him by the churches of Smyrna and Ephesus. Once at Troas, Ignatius had the opportunity to write letters back to those he had already visited, perhaps sending them through Burrhus as a courier.
In his letter to the Philadelphians, whom Ignatius had seen on the way to Smyrna, he speaks of being amazed at the gentleness, godly mind, and solid character of their bishop (Ign. Phld. 1.1–2). Ignatius urges the church to stay in harmony with their bishop, pursue unity, flee from false teaching, and keep radically centered on Jesus Christ, who is “the door of the Father through which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and the apostles and the church enter” (Ign. Phld. 9.1).
Ignatius also wrote a letter back to the church in Smyrna, from which he had just come. He expresses gratitude that the church was not ashamed of his chains (Ign. Smyn. 10.2) and praises them for their firm faith in Jesus Christ, who “truly suffered as he also truly raised himself up,” contrary to those who claimed that “his suffering was in appearance only” (Ign. Smyn. 2.1)—a heresy later known as “Docetism,” from a Greek word meaning to “appear” or “seem.” Ignatius again emphasizes the need to submit to the bishop and elders, but only for the sake of unity in the church, and not because officeholders rule the church with an iron hand: “Let an office puff up no one, for faith and love are everything, to which nothing is preferable” (Ign. Smyrn. 6.1).
Along with his letter to the Smyrnaeans, Ignatius sent a letter to their bishop, his friend Polycarp: “Welcoming your godly way of thinking, which is firmly established as if upon an immovable rock, I glory exceedingly, having been considered worthy to see your blameless face, which I have benefited from in God” (Ign. Pol. 1.1). Ignatius encourages Polycarp to “be intent on unity, of which nothing is better” (a constant theme in the Ignatian letters), and to be prayerful, alert, self-controlled, wise, gracious, gentle, and patient, bearing with everyone for the sake of their salvation (Ign. Pol. 1.2–3), especially “the more troublesome ones” (Ign. Pol. 2.1). Ignatius must have assumed that the whole church would see the letter when he wrote, “Pay attention to the bishop, that God may also pay attention to you” (Ign. Pol. 6.1).
Due to the shortness of his stay in Troas, Ignatius ran out of time to write more letters, and charged Polycarp with writing ahead to other churches on his behalf:
Since I could not write to all the churches because of my sudden sailing from Troas to Neapolis, as the divine will commands, you are to write the churches ahead of me as one possessing the mind of God, that they also may do likewise. Some can send messengers, others letters through those being sent by you, so that you may be glorified by an eternal work, as you are worthy. (Ign. Pol. 8.1)
Though Ignatius had set his face like flint to arrive in Rome and die as a martyr, he did not forget his church back at Antioch, and used his letters as an opportunity to encourage other churches to pray for and minister to them (e.g., Ign. Eph. 21.2; Ign. Mag. 14.1). In his letters to Polycarp and the Smyrnaeans, Ignatius requests that a representative from the church be sent to Antioch: “It is fitting for your church to appoint, to the honor of God, a godly ambassador to Syria, to rejoice with them that they are at peace,” for “it appeared to me a deed worthy of God to send someone from your number with a letter that he might join in praising the tranquility which happened to them according to God, and that they were already experiencing a haven by your prayer” (Ign. Smyrn. 11.2). Even to the faraway Romans, Ignatius wrote, “Remember in your prayer the church in Syria which has God as shepherd in my place. Jesus Christ alone will oversee it and your love” (Ign. Rom. 9.1). To the end, Ignatius had the heart of a pastor.
Journey to Rome and Martyrdom
From Troas, Ignatius sailed across the Aegean Sea to Neapolis, a city on the Via Egnatia, a great Roman road that stretched across Macedonia in northern Greece. Along the way, Ignatius passed through Philippi. The Philippians then wrote to Polycarp, requesting a copy of “the letters of Ignatius which were sent to us by him, and others, as many as we had in our possession” (Pol. Php. 13.2). In turn, Polycarp sent the letters, praising their great benefit, “for they contain faith and endurance and all edification which pertains to the Lord” (Pol. Php. 13.2). The collection of letters that Polycarp sent to the Philippians may be the same seven letters that are now commonly attributed to Ignatius. Eusebius would later mention the seven letters of Ignatius and characterize them as a permanent record of the apostolic tradition which he had proclaimed throughout his journey to Rome:
He fortified the parishes in the various cities where he stopped by oral homilies and exhortations, and warned them above all to be especially on their guard against the heresies that were then beginning to prevail, and exhorted them to hold fast to the tradition of the apostles. Moreover, he thought it necessary to attest that tradition in writing, and to give it a fixed form for the sake of greater security. (Ecclesiastical History 3.36.4)
Once on the other side of Greece, Ignatius likely sailed across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, and made his way to Rome. Around AD 110 (or perhaps later, between 115 and 117, at the end of Trajan’s reign), Ignatius came to the end of his three-to-four-month journey, stood before Trajan (if he had not already done so in Antioch), and was condemned to death. Tradition holds that Ignatius was thrown to wild beasts in the Colosseum to entertain the masses. Jerome specifically claims that Ignatius was killed by lions (On Illustration Men 16), which are commonly included in depictions of his martyrdom (see for example the 17th-century painting of Ignatius in the Galleria Borghese, Rome). John Chrysostom celebrates that in God’s sovereignty, the public spectacle allowed Ignatius to have a large and impactful witness:
For not outside the walls, in a dungeon, nor even in a court of justice, nor in some corner, did he receive the sentence which condemned him, but in the midst of the theatre, while the whole city was seated above him, he underwent this form of martyrdom, wild beasts being let loose upon him, in order that he might plant his trophy against the Devil, beneath the eyes of all, and make all spectators emulous of his own conflicts. Not dying thus nobly only, but dying even with pleasure. For not as though about to be severed from life, but as called to a better and more spiritual life, so he beheld the wild beasts gladly. (Homily on St. Ignatius, 5)
Although Ignatius had expressed a desire that the beasts become his tomb, and nothing of his body be left (Ign. Rom. 4.2), the Martyrdom of Ignatius claims that some of his remains were taken to Antioch and wrapped in linen “as an inestimable treasure left to the holy Church by the grace which was in the martyr” (6). Jerome likewise writes that “the remains of his body lie in Antioch outside the Daphnitic gate in the cemetery” (On Illustrious Men 16).
The Letters and Theology of Ignatius
To this day, the letters of Ignatius are among the most discussed works of the apostolic fathers. Three recensions (versions of the collection) have surfaced in church history, including a long recension with 13 letters and a short recension with three letters, but the middle recension with seven letters is considered the most likely to be authentic. As is common with works of such antiquity, some scholars have questioned the letters’ date and authenticity, with John Calvin famously rejecting them as forgeries. However, many other scholars, from J. B. Lightfoot to the present, have defended them as authentic (for a brief discussion of these issues, see Jonathon Lookadoo, Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers, 11.2).
In addition to the testimony of Eusebius to seven letters of Ignatius, Lookadoo shares several arguments in favor of the view that the letters were actually written by Ignatius. For example, despite some similarities to later writings, the letters fit within the rhetorical environment of the early second century, and “if Ignatius did not write these letters, it is difficult to see how he would be a sufficiently authoritative persona in whose name to forge a letter collection” (p. 211). Lookadoo helpfully notes that “scholarship on Ignatius’ letters has continued to study other elements of Ignatius’ letters productively and can do so even when there is disagreement about their date and authenticity” (p. 213).
As we have seen, the letters of Ignatius provide a window into early Christianity in Syria, Asia, and Rome, and the impressive network of churches that had already developed by the early second century. They are also significant in discussions of the development of the canon of Scripture, since Ignatius alludes to many of the books in the New Testament. Most often, though, the Ignatian corpus comes up in discussions of early Christian theology.
Against Docetism and the heresies of his day, Ignatius promotes a high Christology, proclaiming Jesus as God incarnate, born of a virgin, truly God and truly man at the same time: “There is one physician, both fleshly and spiritual, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both of Mary and of God, first subject to suffering and then free of suffering, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ign. Eph. 7.2). By his death and resurrection, Christ destroyed magic, broke the bonds of wickedness, tore down ignorance, annihilated the “old kingdom,” brought eternal life, and abolished death itself (Ign. Eph. 19.3).
Ignatius also promotes a high view of the church, its bishops, and its sacraments. He emphasizes the authority of bishops as a third office above the presbyters and deacons, claiming that bishops “have been appointed throughout the world” and “are in the mind of Jesus Christ” (Ign. Eph. 3.2). The bishop, presbyters, and deacons reflect the heavenly hierarchy of God, Christ, and the apostles (Ign. Mag. 6.1). Ignatius warns against those who were forsaking their bishops to organize unauthorized meetings for sectarian purposes, and stresses the necessity of the true church for salvation: “Let no one be deceived: unless someone is within the sanctuary, he lacks the bread of God” (Ign. Eph. 5:2–3). He condemns those who “abstain from the Eucharist and prayer because they do not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Ign. Smyrn. 7.1), and he encourages the church to “be eager to use one Eucharist” (Ign. Phil. 4.1), which is “the medicine of immortality, the antidote that we should not die but live in Jesus Christ forever” (Ign. Eph. 20.1). When the church meets frequently and maintains unity, the power of Satan is destroyed (Ign. Eph. 19.1). Using one of his frequent musical metaphors, Ignatius writes,
It is fitting for you to run together in harmony with the mind of the bishop, which indeed you also do. For your council of elders, which is worthy of the name and worthy of God, thus is attuned with the bishop as strings to the lyre. Because of this, in your unanimity and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. Now you must join the chorus, each of you, so that being in harmonious unanimity, taking your pitch from God you may sing in unity, in one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, so that he may also hear and may recognize you through your good actions, being members of his Son. Therefore it is useful for you to be in blameless unity so that you may also always share with God. (Ign. Eph. 4.1–2)
These are not the only issues, however, that are worthy of discussion in Ignatius’s letters. For example, Ignatius offers profound insight on the Christian life, suffering, and martyrdom. In perhaps my favorite passage of all the apostolic fathers, Ignatius makes clear that when he embraces his title of Theophorus or “God-bearer” at the beginning of all his letters, he does not intend to promote himself or claim a unique status. He views all Christians as “God-bearers” or “Christ-bearers”—walking, breathing temples of the living God, who represent God and carry his redemptive presence to the world (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet. 2:5):
[You are] stones of the temple of the Father, having been prepared for the building of God the Father, hoisted up to the heights by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, using as a rope the Holy Spirit, and your faith lifts you up, and love is the way that leads to God. Therefore you are all also fellow travelers, God-bearers and temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holy things, having been adorned in every way with the commandments of Jesus Christ, in whom also I rejoice greatly, I have been considered worthy through what I write to converse and to rejoice with you, that you love nothing in human life except only God. (Ign. Eph. 9.1–2)
Conclusion
The life and letters of Ignatius continue to be a source of instruction and edification for the church. To this day, the Feast Day of St. Ignatius is celebrated every October 17 in the West and December 20 in the East. The Book of Common Prayer includes the following collect (short prayer) for the Feast of Ignatius of Antioch, a fitting conclusion to this article:
Almighty God, we praise your Name for your bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch, who offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to you the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept, we pray, the willing tribute of our lives and give us a share in the pure and spotless offering of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Resources for Further Study
- Rick Brannan, The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation
- Jonathon Lookadoo, “The Letters of Ignatius,” The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers, edited by Michael Bird & Scott Harrower.
- J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers: The Early Christian Writings of Church Leaders Who Followed Soon After the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
- Michael Bird, “Bishop, Martyr, God-Bearer” Youtube.
