*Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the church which is at Tarsus, saved in Christ, worthy of praise, worthy of remembrance, and worthy of love: Mercy and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, be ever multiplied.*
1
His own sufferings: exhortation to steadfastness
From Syria even to Rome I fight with beasts: not that I am devoured by brute beasts, for these, as you know, by the will of God, spared Daniel. But by beasts in the shape of men, in whom the merciless wild beast himself lies hid, and pricks and wounds me day by day. But none of these hardships “move me, neither count I my life dear to myself,” in such a way as to love it better than the Lord. Wherefore I am prepared for [encountering] fire, wild beasts, the sword, or the cross, so that only I may see Christ my Savior and God, who died for me. I therefore, the prisoner of Christ, who am driven along by land and sea, urge you: “stand fast in the faith,” and be you steadfast, “for the just shall live by faith;” be you unwavering, for “the Lord causes those to dwell in a house who are of one and the same character.”
1Acts xx. 24.
11 Cor. xvi. 13.
1Hab. ii. 4; Gal. iii. 11.
1Ps. lxviii. 7 (after the LXX.).
2
Cautions against false doctrine
I have learned that certain of the ministers of Satan have wished to disturb you, some of them asserting that Jesus was born [only ] in appearance, was crucified in appearance, and died in appearance; others that He is not the Son of the Creator, and others that He is Himself God over all. Others, again, hold that He is a mere man, and others that this flesh is not to rise again, so that our proper course is to live and partake of a life of pleasure, for that this is the chief good to beings who are in a little while to perish. A swarm of such evils has burst in upon us. But you have not “given place by subjection to them, no, not for one hour.” For you are the fellow-citizens as well as the disciples of Paul, who “fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem, and round about to Illyricum,” and bare about “the marks of Christ” in his flesh.
2Some omit this.
2That is, as appears afterwards from chap. v., so as to have no personality distinct from the Father.
2The translation is here somewhat doubtful.
2Gal. ii. 5.
2Rom. xv. 19.
2Gal. vi. 17.
3
The true doctrine respecting Christ
Mindful of him, do you by all means know that Jesus the Lord was truly born of Mary, being made of a woman; and was as truly crucified. For, says he, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus.” And He really suffered, and died, and rose again. For says [Paul], “If Christ should become passible, and should be the first to rise again from the dead.” And again, “In that He died, He died to sin once: but in that He lives, He lives to God.” Otherwise, what advantage would there be in [becoming subject to] bonds, if Christ has not died? what advantage in patience? what advantage in [enduring] stripes? And why such facts as the following: Peter was crucified; Paul and James were slain with the sword. John was banished to Patmos; Stephen was stoned to death by the Jews who killed the Lord? But, [in truth,] none of these sufferings were in vain; for the Lord was really crucified by the ungodly.
3Gal. vi. 14.
3Acts xxvi. 23 (somewhat inaccurately rendered in English version).
3Rom. vi. 10.
4
Continuation
And [know you, moreover], that He who was born of a woman was the Son of God, and He who was crucified was “the first-born of every creature,” and God the Word, who also created all things. For says the apostle, “There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things.” And again, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” and, “By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and on earth, visible and invisible; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
4Col. i. 15.
41 Cor. viii. 6.
41 Tim. ii. 5.
4Col. i. 16, 17.
5
Refutation of the previously mentioned errors
And that He Himself is not God over all, and the Father, but His Son, He [shows when He] says, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” And again, “When all things shall be subdued to Him, then shall He also Himself be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” Wherefore it is one [Person] who put all things under, and who is all in all, and another [Person] to whom they were subdued, who also Himself, along with all other things, becomes subject [to the former].
5John xx. 17.
51 Cor. xv. 28.
6
Continuation
Nor is He a mere man, by whom and in whom all things were made; for “all things were made by Him.” “When He made the heaven, I was present with Him; and I was there with Him, forming [the world along with Him], and He rejoiced in me daily.” And how could a mere man be addressed in such words as these: “Sit You at my right hand?” And how, again, could such an one declare: “Before Abraham was, I am?” And, “Glorify me with Your glory which I had before the world was?” What man could ever say, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent me?” And of what man could it be said, “He was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world: He was in the world. And the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came to His own, and His own received Him not?” How could such a one be a mere man, receiving the beginning of His existence from Mary, and not rather God the Word, and the only-begotten Son? For “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And in another place, “The Lord created me, the beginning of His ways, for His works. Before the world did He found me, and before all the hills did He beget me.”
6John i. 3.
6Prov. viii. 27, 30.
6Ps. cx. 1.
6John viii. 58.
6John xvii. 5.
6John vi. 38.
6John i. 9, 10, 11.
6John i. 1.
6Some insert here John i. 3.
6Prov. viii. 22, 23, 25.
7
Continuation
And that our bodies are to rise again, He shows when He says, “Truly I say to you, that the hour comes, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.” And [says] the apostle, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” And that we must live soberly and righteously, he [shows when he] says again, “Be not deceived: neither adulterers, nor effeminate persons, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor fornicators, nor revilers, nor drunkards, nor thieves, can inherit the kingdom of God.” And again, “If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; our preaching therefore is vain, and your faith is also vain: you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If the dead-rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” But if such be our condition and feelings, in which shall we differ from asses and dogs, who have no care about the future, but think only of eating, and of indulging such appetites as follow after eating? For they are unacquainted with any intelligence moving within them.
7John v. 25, 28.
71 Cor. xv. 53.
71 Cor. vi. 9.
71 Cor. xv. 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 32.
7Literally, “coming also to the appetite of those things after eating.” The text is doubtful.
8
Exhortations to holiness and good order
May I have joy of you in the Lord! Be you sober. Lay aside, every one of you, all malice and beast-like fury, evil-speaking, calumny, filthy speaking, ribaldry, whispering, arrogance, drunkenness, lust, avarice, vainglory, envy, and everything akin to these. “But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts of it.” You presbyters, be subject to the bishop; you deacons, to the presbyters; and you, the people, to the presbyters and the deacons. Let my soul be for theirs who preserve this good order; and may the Lord be with them continually!
8Rom. xiii. 14.
9
Exhortations to the discharge of relative duties
You husbands, love your wives; and you wives, your husbands. You children, reverence your parents. You parents, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Honor those [who continue] in virginity, as the priestesses of Christ; and the widows [that persevere] in gravity of behavior, as the altar of God. You servants, wait upon your masters with [respectful] fear. You masters, issue orders to your servants with tenderness. Let no one among you be idle; for idleness is the mother of want. I do not enjoin these things as being a person of any consequence, although I am in bonds [for Christ]; but as a brother, I put you in mind of them. The Lord be with you!
9Eph. vi. 4.
10
Salutations
May I enjoy your prayers! Pray you that I may attain to Jesus. I commend to you the church which is at Antioch. The churches of Philippi, from where also I write to you, salute you. Philo, your deacon, to whom also I give thanks as one who has zealously ministered to me in all things, salutes you. Agathopus, the deacon from Syria, who follows me in Christ, salutes you. “Salute you one another with a holy kiss.” I salute you all, both male and female, who are in Christ. Fare you well in body, and soul, and in one Spirit; and do not you forget me. The Lord be with you!
10Literally, “of the Philippians.”
101 Pet. v. 14.