Editing Ignatius of Antioch

{{Short description|Patriarch of Antioch from 68 to 107}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
| name             = Ignatius of Antioch
| image            = Hosios_Loukas_(south_west_chapel,_south_side)_-_Ignatios.jpg
| imagesize        = 220px
| caption          = Fresco of Saint Ignatius on the south west chapel of the [[Hosios Loukas]] monastery.
| titles           = Patriarch of Antioch, Theophoros
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 
| birth_place      = [[Syria (Roman province)|Province of Syria]], [[Roman Empire]]
| death_date       = [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]]: {{circa|108}}<ref name="chronicle">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm |title=Chronicle, from the Latin translation of Jerome, p. 276 |access-date=22 October 2008 |archive-date=3 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403233105/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_03_part2.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Richard Pervo|Pervo]]: 135–140<ref name="pervo">{{cite book |last=Pervo |first=Richard I. |title=The Making of Paul - Constructions of the Apostle in Early Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RbGDwsknbdsC |location=Minneapolis, MN |publisher=Fortress Press |pages=134–135 |isbn=978-0-8006-9659-7 |author-link=Richard Pervo |access-date=23 June 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163108/https://books.google.com/books?id=RbGDwsknbdsC |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Barnes]]: 140s AD<ref name="date of ignatius">{{Citation |last=Barnes |first=Timothy D. |title=The Date of Ignatius |journal=[[The Expository Times]] |volume=120 |number=3 |pages=119–130 |date=December 2008 |doi=10.1177/0014524608098730 |s2cid=170585027}}</ref>
| death_place      = [[Rome]], Roman Empire
| canonized_date   = [[Dicastery for the Causes of Saints|Pre-congregation]]
| canonized_by     = [[John the Apostle]] (said in later writings)
| attributes       = Surrounded by lions or in chains
| patronage        = Church in eastern Mediterranean; Church in North Africa
| major_shrine     = [[Basilica]] of [[Basilica of San Clemente|San Clemente]], Rome, Italy
| venerated_in     = [[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodoxy]]<br />[[Church of the East]]<br />[[Anglican Communion]]<br />[[Lutheranism]]
| feast_day        = [[December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|20 December]] ([[Eastern Orthodox Church]])<br />24 [[Koiak]] ([[martyrdom]] – [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Christianity]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/Synaxarium-or-Synaxarion/04-Keyahk/24-Keyahk.html |title=24 كيهك - اليوم الرابع والعشرين من شهر كيهك - السنكسار |access-date=14 August 2018 |archive-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232921/https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/Synaxarium-or-Synaxarion/04-Keyahk/24-Keyahk.html |url-status=live}}</ref>)<br />7 [[Epip]] (commemoration - [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Christianity]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/Synaxarium-or-Synaxarion/11-Abeeb/07-Abeeb.html |title=7 أبيب - اليوم السابع من شهر أبيب - السنكسار |access-date=14 August 2018 |archive-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232834/https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/Synaxarium-or-Synaxarion/11-Abeeb/07-Abeeb.html |url-status=live}}</ref>)<br />17 October ([[Catholic Church]], Church of England, [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]] and [[Syriac Christianity]])<br/>1 February (General Roman Calendar, 12th century–1969)<br /> Monday after 4th Sunday of [[Advent]] ([[Armenian Apostolic Church]])<ref>''Domar - the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Orthodox Church, 2003'', Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2002, p. 603.</ref>
}}

'''Ignatius of Antioch''' ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|g|ˈ|n|eɪ|ʃ|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας|Ignátios Antiokheías}}; died {{circa}} 108/140),<ref name="pervo"/><ref name="date of ignatius"/><ref>{{Citation |author=David Hugh Farmer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry3TCQAAQBAJ |chapter=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Saints |location=New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1987 |isbn=978-0-19-103673-6 |page=220}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkVCYrN8tL4C |title=Eucharistic Doctors - A Theological History |author=Owen F. Cummings |publisher=[[Paulist Fathers|Paulist Press]] |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-8091-4243-9 |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stdiAwAAQBAJ |title=Genesis 1–11 |page=193 |editor=Andrew Louth |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |isbn=978-0-8308-9726-1 |date=2016}}</ref> also known as '''Ignatius Theophorus''' ({{langx|grc|label=none|Ἰγνάτιος ὁ Θεοφόρος|Ignátios ho Theophóros|the God-bearing}}), was an early Christian writer and [[Patriarch of Antioch]]. While en route to [[Rome]], where he met his [[Christian martyrs|martyrdom]], Ignatius wrote a series of letters. This correspondence forms a central part of a later collection of works by the [[Apostolic Fathers]]. He is considered one of the three most important of these, together with [[Clement of Rome]] and [[Polycarp]]. His letters also serve as an example of early [[Christian theology]], and address important topics including [[ecclesiology]], the [[sacraments]], and the role of [[bishops]].

== Life ==
Nothing is known of Ignatius' life apart from the words of his letters and later traditions. It is said Ignatius [[conversion (religious)|converted]] to Christianity<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-10-17|title=Saint Ignatius of Antioch|url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-ignatius-of-antioch/|access-date=2020-07-25|website=Franciscan Media|language=en|archive-date=2020-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725234448/https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-ignatius-of-antioch/|url-status=dead}}</ref> at a young age. Tradition identifies him and his friend [[Polycarp]] as disciples of [[John the Apostle]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia" /> Later, Ignatius was chosen to serve as [[Bishop of Antioch]]; the fourth-century Church historian [[Eusebius]] writes that Ignatius succeeded [[Evodius]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church Fathers - Church History, Book III (Eusebius) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=newadvent.org |archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010173022/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Theodoret]] of [[Cyrrhus]] claimed that [[Saint Peter|St. Peter]] himself left directions that Ignatius be appointed to this [[episcopal see]].<ref name=crawley>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/IGNATIUS.htm |title="St. Ignatius of Antioch", ''Lives of Saints'', John J. Crawley & Co., Inc. |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-date=15 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615120112/http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/ignatius.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Ignatius was called ''Theophorus'' (God Bearer). A tradition exists that he was one of the children whom Jesus Christ took in his arms and blessed.<ref name="The Martyrdom of Ignatius">The Martyrdom of Ignatius</ref>

== Veneration ==
Ignatius' [[calendar of saints|feast day]] was kept in his own Antioch on 17 October, the day on which he is now celebrated in the [[Catholic Church]] and generally in [[western Christianity]], although from the 12th century until 1969 it was put at 1 February in the [[General Roman Calendar]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_zJJtvK2_KsC&dq=Ignatius+antioch+feast&pg=PA220 Farmer, David, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints''], [[Oxford University Press]], 2011 {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002222549/https://books.google.com/books?id=_zJJtvK2_KsC&dq=Ignatius+antioch+feast&pg=PA220 |date=2 October 2023 }} {{ISBN|978-0-19959660-7}}), p. 220</ref><ref>''Calendarium Romanum'' (Vatican City, 1969), p. 106</ref>

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] it is observed on 20 December.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America |url=https://www.antiochian.org/1102795951 |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=antiochian.org |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725225010/https://www.antiochian.org/1102795951 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Synaxarium]] of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] places it on the 24th of the Coptic Month of [[Koiak]] (which is also the 24th day of the fourth month of Tahisas in the Synaxarium of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]), corresponding in three years out of every four to 20 December in the [[Julian Calendar]], which currently falls on 2 January of the [[Gregorian Calendar]].

Ignatius is honored in the [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Church of England]] and in the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church]] on [[October 17|17 October]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Calendar |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar |access-date=27 March 2021 |website=The Church of England |language=en |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309204842/https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEq7DwAAQBAJ |title=Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 |date=17 December 2019 |publisher=Church Publishing |isbn=978-1-64065-235-4 |language=en}}</ref> Likewise, [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]] honor Ignatius on 17 October.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lutheran Service Book |publisher=[[Concordia Publishing House]] |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-7586-1217-5 |pages=xiii}}</ref>

== Martyrdom ==
=== Circumstances of martyrdom ===
Ignatius was condemned to death for his faith, but instead of being executed in his home town of Antioch, the bishop was taken to Rome by a company of ten soldiers:
{{blockquote|'From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts, both by land and sea, both by night and day, being bound to ten leopards, I mean a band of soldiers...'|''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0107.htm Ignatius to the Romans]'' Chapter 5}}
Scholars consider Ignatius' transport to Rome unusual since those [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecuted as Christians]] would be expected to be punished locally. Stevan Davies has pointed out that "no other examples exist from the [[Flavian dynasty|Flavian age]] of any prisoners except citizens or prisoners of war being brought to Rome for execution".<ref name="davies">{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Stevan L. |title=The Predicament of Ignatius of Antioch |journal=[[Vigiliae Christianae]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |date=1976 |pages=175–180 |jstor=1583332 |doi=10.1163/157007276X00249}}</ref>

If Ignatius had been a Roman citizen, he could have appealed to the emperor, with the common result of execution by beheading rather than torture.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38" /> However, Ignatius's letters state that he was put in chains during the journey, but it was against Roman law for a citizen to be put in bonds during an appeal to the emperor.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|175–176}}

[[Allen Brent]] argues that Ignatius was transferred to Rome for the emperor to provide a spectacle as a victim in the [[Colosseum]]. Brent insists, contrary to some, that "it was normal practice to transport condemned criminals from the provinces in order to offer spectator sport in the Colosseum at Rome."<ref name="brent">{{Cite book |last=Brent |first=Allen |author-link=Allen Brent |title=Ignatius of Antioch - A Martyr Bishop and the Origin of Episcopacy |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |location=New York |isbn=9780567032003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iTVAwAAQBAJ |date=2007 |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163108/https://books.google.com/books?id=6iTVAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|15}}

Stevan Davies rejects this idea, reasoning that: "If Ignatius was in some way a donation by the Imperial Governor of Syria to the games at Rome, a single prisoner seems a rather miserly gift."<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}} Instead, Davies proposes that Ignatius may have been indicted by a legate, or representative, of the [[Roman governor|governor]] of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] while the governor was away temporarily, and sent to Rome for trial and execution. Under Roman law, only the governor of a province or the emperor himself could impose [[capital punishment]], so the legate would have faced the choice of imprisoning Ignatius in Antioch or sending him to Rome. Transporting the bishop might have avoided further agitation by the Antiochian Christians.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|177–178}}

Christine Trevett calls Davies' suggestion "entirely hypothetical" and concludes that no fully satisfactory solution to the problem can be found: "I tend to take the bishop at his word when he says he is a condemned man. But the question remains, why is he going to Rome? The truth is that we do not know."<ref name="trevett">{{Cite journal |last=Trevett |first=Christine |title=Ignatius "To the Romans" and 1 Clement LIV–LVI |journal=[[Vigiliae Christianae]] |volume=43 |issue=1 |date=1989 |pages=35–52 |jstor=1584438 |doi=10.1163/157007289X00173}}</ref>

=== Route of travel to Rome ===
During the journey to Rome, Ignatius and his entourage of soldiers made a number of lengthy stops in [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], deviating from the most direct land route from Antioch to Rome.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}} Scholars generally agree on the following reconstruction of Ignatius' route of travel:
# Ignatius first traveled from Antioch, in the province of Syria, to Asia Minor. It is uncertain whether he traveled by sea or by land;
# He was then taken to [[Smyrna]], via a route that bypassed the cities of [[Magnesia on the Meander|Magnesia]], [[Tralles]], and [[Ephesus]], but likely passed through [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0108.htm Ign. Phil.] 7)
# Ignatius then traveled to [[Alexandria Troas|Troas]], where he boarded a ship bound for [[Neapolis (Thrace)|Neapolis]] in [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0110.htm Ign. Pol.] 8)
# He then passed through the city of [[Philippi]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0136.htm Pol. Phil.] 9)
# After this, he took some land or sea route to Rome.<ref name="jefford">{{Cite book |last=Jefford |first=Clayton N. |title=The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament |date=2006 |publisher=[[Baker Publishing Group]] |location=Grand Rapids, MI |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jq4Wo3YFskUC |isbn=978-1-4412-4177-1 |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163109/https://books.google.com/books?id=jq4Wo3YFskUC |url-status=live}}</ref>
During the journey, the soldiers seem to have allowed the chained Ignatius to meet with entire congregations of Christians, at least at [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]] (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0108.htm Ign. Phil.] 7), and numerous Christian visitors and messengers were allowed to meet with him individually. These messengers allowed Ignatius to send six letters to nearby churches, and one to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}}

These aspects of Ignatius' martyrdom are also unusual, in that a prisoner would normally be transported on the most direct route to his destination. Travel by land in the [[Roman Empire]] was far more expensive than by sea,<ref name="oxford">{{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-110 |title=Travel in the Roman World |last=Cioffi |first=Robert L. |date=7 March 2016 |website=Oxford Handbooks Online |publisher=Oxford |access-date=3 July 2019 |quote=Roads were by far the costliest means of transporting goods and traveling; according to calculations made by applying the ORBIS model to data from Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices of 301 AD, transportation by wagon cost between five and fifty-two times more than travel by boat for equivalent distances... |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.110 |isbn=978-0-19-993539-0 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703130450/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-110 |url-status=live}}</ref> especially since Antioch was a major sea port. Davies argues that Ignatius' circuitous route can only be explained by positing that he was not the main purpose of the soldiers' trip and that the various stops in Asia Minor were for other state business. He suggests that such a scenario would also explain the relative freedom that Ignatius was given to meet with other Christians during the journey.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|177}}

=== Date of martyrdom ===
Tradition places Ignatius's martyrdom in the reign of [[Trajan]] ({{circa}} 98–117). The earliest source for this is the 4th-century church historian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]. [[Richard Pervo]] argues that Eusebius may have had an ideological interest in dating church leaders as early as possible, and asserting a continuous succession between the original apostles of Jesus and the leaders of the church in his day.<ref name="pervo"/> However, Jonathon Lookadoo argues that [[John Malalas]] and the [[Acts of the Martyrs|Acts of Martyrdom's]] accounts of Ignatius are independent from Eusebius and they still place his death under Trajan.<ref name="lookadoo">{{Cite book |title=The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch |last=Lookadoo |first=Jonathon |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |date=2023 |isbn=978-1-6667-7068-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cp7UEAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 April 2024 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163135/https://books.google.com/books?id=cp7UEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

While many scholars accept this traditional dating, others have argued for a somewhat later date. Richard Pervo dated Ignatius' death to 135–140.<ref name="pervo"/> British [[Classics|classicist]] [[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Timothy Barnes]] has argued for a date in the 140s, on the grounds that Ignatius seems to have quoted a work of the [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[Ptolemy (gnostic)|Ptolemy]], who became active only in the 130s.<ref name="date of ignatius"/> Étienne Decrept has argued from the testimony of John Malalas and the ''Acts of Drosis'' that Ignatius was martyred under the reign of Trajan during Apollo's festival in July 116, and in response to the earthquake at Antioch in late 115.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Circonstances et interprétations du voyage d'Ignace d'Antioche |journal=Revue des sciences religieuses |url=https://journals.openedition.org/rsr/433 |last=Decrept |first=Étienne |date=1 July 2008 |issue=82/83 |pages=389–399 |doi=10.4000/rsr.433 |language=fr |issn=0035-2217 |access-date=14 August 2022 |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814221949/https://journals.openedition.org/rsr/433 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Death and aftermath ===
Ignatius wrote that he would be thrown to the beasts;<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ignatius of Antioch |editor1-last=Roberts |editor1-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Donaldson |editor2-first=James |title=Epistle to the Romans |chapter=5 |series=Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I}}</ref> in the fourth century, Eusebius reports a tradition that this did happen,<ref name="Eusebius 3.36">{{ws|{{Cite book |author=Eusebius |orig-date=313 |date=1890 |title=Church History of Eusebius |translator-last=McGiffert |translator-first=Arthur Cushman |editor-last1=Roberts |editor-first1=Alexander |editor-last2=Donaldson |editor-first2=James |editor-last3=Coxe |editor-first3=Arthur Cleveland |editor-last4=Schaff |editor-first4=Philip |editor-last5=Wace |editor-first5=Henry |series=[[Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]] |volume=Series 2, Vol. I |title-link=s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book III/Chapter 36}}}}</ref> while [[Jerome]] is the first to explicitly mention lions.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38" /> [[John Chrysostom]] is the first to place of Ignatius' martyrdom at the [[Colosseum]].<ref>Timothy B. Sailors {{Cite news |title=Bryn Mawr Classical Review: Review of ''The Apostolic Fathers - Greek Texts and English Translations'' |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html |access-date=21 May 2023 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921163149/http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Modern scholars are uncertain whether any of these authors had sources other than Ignatius' own writings.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38">{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=B.J. |title=Justification in the Second Century |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |series=Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) |date=2017 |isbn=978-3-11-047823-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qc2DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |access-date=15 April 2018 |page=38 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163135/https://books.google.com/books?id=9qc2DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Eusebius 3.36" />

According to a medieval Christian text titled ''Martyrium Ignatii'', Ignatius' remains were carried back to Antioch by his companions after his martyrdom.<ref name="ante">{{Cite web |title=Church Fathers - The Martyrdom of Ignatius |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0123.htm |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=newadvent.org |archive-date=1 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701032014/https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0123.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The sixth-century writings of [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] state that the reputed remains of Ignatius were moved by the Emperor [[Theodosius II]] to the Tychaeum, or Temple of [[Tyche]], and converted it into a church dedicated to Ignatius.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Evagrius Scholasticus |chapter=Chapter XVI - Translation Of The Remains Of Ignatius |orig-date=593 |title=Ecclesiastical History |translator-first=E. |translator-last=Walford |date=1846 |chapter-url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/evagrius_1_book1.htm |author-link=Evagrius Scholasticus |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=2 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402194022/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/evagrius_1_book1.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> In 637, when [[Battle of the Iron Bridge|Antioch was captured]] by the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], the [[relic]]s were transferred to the [[Basilica di San Clemente]] in Rome.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Joseph |last=Mullooly |title=Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr, and his Basilica in Rome |date=1873 |location=Rome |publisher=G. Barbera |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n88XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA137 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002222635/https://books.google.com/books?id=n88XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA137 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===The ''Martyrium Ignatii''===
{{Main|Martyrium Ignatii}}

The ''Martyrium Ignatii'' is an account of the saint's martyrdom.<ref name="ante" /> It is presented as an eye-witness account for the church of Antioch, attributed to Ignatius' companions, [[Philo of Cilicia|Philō of Cilicia]], deacon at [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], and [[Rheus Agathopus]], a Syrian.<ref name="jefford" />

Its most reliable manuscript is the 10th-century collection ''[[Codex Colbertinus]]'' (Paris), in which it is the final item. The ''Martyrium'' presents the confrontation of Bishop Ignatius with Emperor Trajan at Antioch, a familiar [[trope (literature)|trope]] of ''Acta'' of the martyrs, and many details of the long journey to Rome. The [[Synaxarium]] of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] says that he was thrown to the wild beasts that devoured him.<ref name="synaxarium">{{Cite web |title=Lives of Saints - Kiahk 24 |url=http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/4_24.html#1 |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=copticchurch.net |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418205241/https://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/4_24.html#1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Epistles ==
[[File:Ignatius of Antioch.jpg|thumb|220px|An icon of Ignatius of Antioch from the [[Menologion of Basil II]] ({{circa}} 1000)]]

The following seven epistles preserved under the name of Ignatius are generally considered authentic since they were mentioned by the historian Eusebius in the first half of the fourth century.

'''Seven original epistles:'''
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians|Epistle to the Ephesians]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians|Epistle to the Magnesians]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians|Epistle to the Trallians]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans|Epistle to the Romans]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians|Epistle to the Philadelphians]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans|Epistle to the Smyrnaeans]];
* The [[Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp|Epistle to Polycarp]], a [[bishop]] of [[Smyrna]].

=== Recensions ===
The text of these epistles is known in three different [[recension]]s, or editions: the Short Recension, found in a [[Syriac language|Syriac]] [[manuscript]]; the Middle Recension, found in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], [[Latin]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Slavic languages|Slavonic]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Arabic]], [[Ethiopic]] and Syriac manuscripts; and the Long Recension, found in Greek, Latin and [[Georgian language|Georgian]] manuscripts.<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|120–121}}<ref name="Quasten1-80-72">{{Cite book |last1=Quasten |first1=Johannes |translator-last1=Beghin |translator-first1=Nello |date=1980 |orig-date=1950 |title=Patrologia - fino al Concilio di Nicea |language=it |volume=1 |location=Turin |publisher=Marietti |pages=72–73 |isbn=9788821167027 |oclc=886651889}}</ref><ref name="lookadoo"/>{{rp|4}}<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Les lettres de saint Ignace d'Antioch en géorgien |journal=Le Muséon |last=Outtier |first=Bernard |issue=1–2 |volume=136 |pages=89–93 |doi=10.2143/MUS.136.1.3291856 |date=2023 |language=fr |issn=1783-158X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Slavonic Tradition of Ignatius' Epistula ad Romanos (''CPG'' 1025.4) |journal=Le Muséon |last=Sels |first=Lara |issue=1–2 |volume=136 |pages=95–125 |doi=10.2143/MUS.136.1.3291857 |date=2023 |issn=1783-158X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=New Light on Old Manuscripts: The Sinai Palimpsests and Other Advances in Palimpsest Studies |last=Kessel |first=Grigory |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |date=2023 |isbn=978-3-7001-9159-9 |editor-last=Rapp |editor-first=Claudia |page=106 |chapter=A Catacomb of Syriac Texts - Codex Arabicus (Sin. ar. 514) Revisited |series=Veröffentlichungen zur Byzanzforschung |doi=10.1553/978oeaw91575s101 |editor-last2=Rossetto |editor-first2=Giulia |editor-last3=Grusková |editor-first3=Jana |editor-last4=Kessel |editor-first4=Grigory |doi-access=free}}</ref>

For some time, it was believed that the Long Recension was the only extant version of the Ignatian epistles, but around 1628 a Latin translation of the Middle Recension was discovered by [[Archbishop]] [[James Ussher]], who published it in 1646. For around a quarter of a century after this, it was debated which recension represented the original text of the epistles. But ever since [[John Pearson (bishop)|John Pearson]]'s strong defense of the authenticity of the Middle Recension in the late 17th century, there has been a scholarly consensus that the Middle Recension is the original version of the text.<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|121}} The Long Recension is the product of a fourth-century [[Arianism|Arian]] Christian, who [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolated]] the Middle Recension epistles in order posthumously to enlist Ignatius as an unwitting witness in theological disputes of that age. This individual also forged the six spurious epistles attributed to Ignatius (see {{section link||Pseudo-Ignatius}} below).<ref name="trobisch-2007">{{Cite journal |last=Trobisch |first=David |author-link=David Trobisch |title=Who Published the New Testament? |journal=Free Inquiry |publisher=Council for Secular Humanism |location=Amherst, NY |volume=28 |issue=December 2007/January 2008 |pages=30–33 |url=http://trobisch.com/david/wb/media/articles/20071226%20FreeInquiry%20Who%20Published%20Christian%20Bible%20BW.pdf |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421231238/http://trobisch.com/david/wb/media/articles/20071226%20FreeInquiry%20Who%20Published%20Christian%20Bible%20BW.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Manuscripts representing the Short Recension of the Ignatian epistles were discovered and published by [[William Cureton]] in the mid-19th century. For a brief period, there was a scholarly debate on the question of whether the Short Recension was earlier and more original than the Middle Recension. But by the end of the 19th century, [[Theodor Zahn]] and [[J. B. Lightfoot]] had established a scholarly consensus that the Short Recension is merely a summary of the text of the Middle Recension, and was therefore composed later.<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|121}}

=== Authenticity ===
The original{{check|date=February 2025}}<!-- misleading; what is meant is that CML/CC are the primary textual sources. Some of the CML text is spurious/corrupt and nees corroboration from other recensions; the text used in present-day studies is thus a draft composite, with no definite version yet for some passages. --> texts of six of the seven original letters are found in the [[Codex Mediceo Laurentianus]], written in Greek in the 11th century (which also contains the pseudepigraphical letters of the Long Recension, except that to the Philippians),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koester |first=H. |title=Introduction to the New Testament: History, culture, and religion of the Hellenistic age |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Walter de Gruyter]] |series=Einführung in das Neue Testament |date=1995 |isbn=978-3-11-014693-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWflda5Erq4C&pg=PA58 |page=58 |access-date=1 September 2017 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163614/https://books.google.com/books?id=qWflda5Erq4C&pg=PA58 |url-status=live}}</ref> while the letter to the Romans is found in the [[Codex Colbertinus]].<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm O'Connor, John Bonaventure, "St. Ignatius of Antioch", The Catholic Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125140055/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm |date=25 January 2023}} Vol. 7, New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1910, 15 February 2016</ref>

Though the [[Catholic Church]] has always supported the authenticity of the letters,<ref name="Catholic Encyclopedia" /> some [[Reformation|Protestants]] have tended to deny the authenticity of all the epistles because they seem to attest to a [[monarchical episcopate]] in the second century. [[John Calvin]] called the epistles "rubbish published under Ignatius' name".<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|119}}

In 1886, [[Presbyterian]] minister and church historian [[William Dool Killen]] published a long essay attacking the authenticity of the epistles attributed to Ignatius. He argued that [[Pope Callixtus I|Pope Callixtus&nbsp;I]], bishop of Rome, [[Pseudepigrapha|forged]] the letters around 220&nbsp;AD to garner support for a [[Apostolic succession|monarchical episcopate]], modeling Saint Ignatius after his own life to give precedent for his own authority.<ref name="Killen 1886">{{Citation |last=Killen |first=William Dool |date=1886 |title=The Ignatian epistles entirely spurious - A reply to the Right Rev. Dr. Lightfoot |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |url=https://depts.drew.edu/jhc/KillenIgnatius.pdf |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513060425/http://www.depts.drew.edu/jhc/KillenIgnatius.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|137}} Killen contrasted this [[episcopal polity]] with the [[presbyterian polity]] in the writings of Polycarp.<ref name="Killen 1886" />{{rp|127}}

Doubts about the letters' authenticity continued throughout the 20th century and beyond. In the 1970s and 1980s, the scholars [[Robert Joly]],<ref>Robert Joly, ''Le dossier d'Ignace d'Antioche'', Éditions de l'université de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, 1979.</ref> Reinhard Hübner,<ref>Reinhard M. Hübner, « Thesen zur Echtheit und Datierung der sieben Briefe des Ignatius von Antiochien », ''Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum'', vol. 1, n° 1 (1997), p. 44–72.</ref> [[Markus Vinzent]],<ref>Markus Vinzent, "Ich bin kein körperloses Geistwesen", in Reinhard M. Hübner and Markus Vinzent, ''Der Paradox Eine: Antignostischer Monarchianismus im zweiten Jahrhundert'', Vigilae Christianae Supplements, 50, Leiden, Brill, 1999, p. 241–256.</ref> and Thomas Lechner<ref>Thomas Lechner, ''Ignatius adversus Valentinianos? Chronologische und theologiegeschichtliche Studien zu den Briefen des Ignatius von Antiochien'', vol. 47 of the ''Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae'', Brill, 1999 [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaLqb3ALOfkC&q=lechner%20%22ignatius%20adversus%20valentinianos%22 Presentation online] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002222621/https://books.google.com/books?id=BaLqb3ALOfkC&q=lechner%20%22ignatius%20adversus%20valentinianos%22 |date=2 October 2023}}.</ref> argued forcefully that the epistles of the Middle Recension were forgeries from the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]] (161–180). Joseph Ruis-Camps published a study arguing that the Middle Recension letters were pseudepigraphically composed based on an original, smaller, authentic corpus of four letters ([[Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans|Romans]], [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians|Magnesians]], [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians|Trallians]], and [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians|Ephesians]]). In 2009, Otto Zwierlein support the thesis of a forgery written around 170&nbsp;AD.<ref>Otto Zwierlein, ''Petrus in Rom'', Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, vol. 96, Berlin, [[De Gruyter|Walter de Gruyter]], 2009 (2 éd. 2010), p. 183–237.</ref>

These publications stirred up heated scholarly controversy,<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|122}} but by 2017, most patristic scholars accepted the authenticity of the seven original epistles.<ref name="date of ignatius"/>{{rp|121ff}}<ref>{{Cite book |author=Paul Gilliam III |title=Ignatius of Antioch and the Arian Controversy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6clDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |date=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-34288-0 |page=5 |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163110/https://books.google.com/books?id=K6clDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Jordan Cooper |title=The Righteousness of One - An Evaluation of Early Patristic Soteriology in Light of the New Perspective on Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZ9JAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |date=2013 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-62189-771-2 |page=78 |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163130/https://books.google.com/books?id=DZ9JAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Stephen E. Young |title=Jesus Tradition in the Apostolic Fathers - Their Explicit Appeals to the Words of Jesus in Light of Orality Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bY_z7T41h84C&pg=PA158 |date=2011 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=978-3-16-151010-6 |page=158 |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163611/https://books.google.com/books?id=bY_z7T41h84C&pg=PA158#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> However, starting with a collection of studies published in 2018, the view that all the letters are a pseudepigraphy most likely composed by a Roman pro-monepiscopate faction in 160–180 is again proposed by "a significant number of Ignatian researchers"; as of 2020, most of them were from Germany, with UK/US authors generally accepting the 7 Middle Recension letters as genuine. In notable contrast to previous research, 21st-century Ignatian studies &ndash; regardless of their conclusions &ndash; usually treat the questions of dating and authenticity as independent of each other and requiring separate proofs or refutations. A very early (pre-110) or extremely late (post-180) date is widely (but not universally) dismissed nowadays; as of 2020 most authors either propose the letters to be authentic and date from the mid-late 110s, or date them to almost 150 (with either view as regards authenticity), or consider them pseudepigraphic &ndash; and possibly a deliberate novel-like hagiographic fiction, closely tied in some way to Lucian's ''Peregrinus Proteus'', and unrelated except in name to the Ignatius mentioned by Polycarp &ndash; dating from post-160.<ref>Lookadoo, Jonathon (2020). The Date and Authenticity of the Ignatian Letters: An Outline of Recent Discussions. ''Currents in Biblical Research'' '''19'''(1): 88-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476993X20914798</ref>

Resolving the questions of dating and authenticity is made difficult by the comparative lack of reception of the Ignatian letters in [[Proto-orthodox_Christianity|proto-orthodox]] writings. The [[Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians]] seems to imply that the Ignatian letters were collated into a collection before 150&nbsp;AD already, but the pertinent passages [[Epistle_of_Polycarp_to_the_Philippians#Authorship_and_unity|are considered suspect]] by most authors today. [[Irenaeus]], who was said to be familiar with Ignatius' close acquaintance Polycarp, in his ''[[Against Heresies]]'' V,28:4 ([[Lugdunum]], c.180 AD) seems to quote a passage from the [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans]] almost verbatim, but actually claims the phrase in question to have been "said" by "someone of our[ people]" (''quidam de nostris dixit''), contrasting with his usual tendency to reference his authorities by name. [[Origen]] gives an abbreviated quotation from [[Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians]] in his 6th homily on Luke ([[Caesarea (Mazaca)|Caesarea]] c.&nbsp;240&nbsp;AD), attributing it to Ignatius but speaking of "the letter" in the singular form, and at about the same time in his ''Commentary on the Song of Songs'' (prologue, chapter 2) gives a brief quote from Ignatius' Roman epistle as something which Ignatius "said" and Origen "remembered". Eusebius is the first author to provide unequivocal testimony to multiple Ignatian letters, proving they were known in southern [[Syria Palaestina]] by about 300 AD. But even as late as around 400&nbsp;AD, [[John Chrysostom]] &ndash; an Antiochene who knew of Ignatius supposed relics located there &ndash; in his [[homily]] on Ignatius neither gives any corroborating details of his venerated compatriot's life, nor references the letters; compare, for example, his first homily on [[Priscilla and Aquila]] which quotes the primary sources verbatim. Neither do pre-Eusebius authors <!-- several; details in 19th century soures mentioned above --> in the [[Proto-orthodox_Christianity#Proto-orthodoxy_versus_other_Christianities|doctrinal disputes]] which started in the mid-late 2nd and became highly divisive in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD refer to or quote the Ignatian letters, even when doing so would have given a decisive authority to the argument. In summary, during the initial ~150 years during which a compilation of all Ignatian letters was supposedly available, only one letter (Ephesians) is attested to exist in written form, while two passages from another (Romans) are independently cited as having been "said" &ndash; once by Ignatius, and once by an unspecified "someone". This widespread absence of Ignatian references in authors that could be expected to quote or at least paraphrase Ignatius' letters, and attribute them by name, is in striking contrast to their use of Polycarp or [[Clement of Rome]], and to the subsequent popularity of the Ignatian letters. It was already noted by the 19th-century authors mentioned above.<!-- please add pertinent citations -->

=== Style and structure ===
Ignatius's letters bear signs of being written in great haste, such as [[run-on sentences]] and an unsystematic succession of thought. Ignatius modelled them after the biblical epistles of Paul, Peter, and John, quoting or paraphrasing these apostles' works freely. For example, in his letter to the Ephesians he quoted 1 Corinthians 1:18:
{{blockquote|Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling-block to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal.|''Letter to the Ephesians'' 18, Roberts and Donaldson translation<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.christianhistoryproject.org/to-the-decian-persecution/ignatius-of-antioch |title=''A Pinch on Incense'', (Ted Byfield, ed.), p. 50 |access-date=13 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226135352/http://www.christianhistoryproject.org/to-the-decian-persecution/ignatius-of-antioch/ |archive-date=26 December 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

== Theology ==
=== Christology ===
Ignatius is known to have taught the deity of Christ:
{{blockquote|There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible, even Jesus Christ our Lord.|source=''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch. 7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation}}

The same section in text of the Long Recension says the following:
{{blockquote|But our Physician is the Only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For "the Word was made flesh". Being incorporeal, He was in the body, being impassible, He was in a passible body, being immortal, He was in a mortal body, being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.|source=''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch. 7, longer version}}

He stressed the value of the [[Eucharist]], calling it a "medicine of immortality" (''Ignatius to the Ephesians'' 20:2). He regarded persecution and suffering as conferring grace and earnestly longed for his own martyrdom.<ref>Cobb, L. Stephanie; ''Dying To Be Men - Gender and Language in Early Christian Martyr Texts'', p. 3, [[Columbia University Press]], 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-231-14498-8}}</ref>

Ignatius is claimed to be the first known Christian writer to argue in favor of Christianity's replacement of the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]] with the [[Lord's Day]]:
{{blockquote|Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace. ...If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him ... how shall we be able to live apart from Him?|source=''Ignatius to the Magnesians'' 8:1, 9:1–2, [[J. B. Lightfoot|Joseph Barber Lightfoot]] translation.}}

{{blockquote|If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death – whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master – how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead.|source=''[[s:Ante-Nicene Christian Library/Epistle to the Magnesians|Letter to the Magnesians]]'' 9, Roberts and Donaldson translation, p. 189.}}

This passage has provoked textual debate since the only Greek manuscript extant read Κατα κυριακήν ζωήν ζωντες which could be translated "living according to the Lord's life". Most scholars, however, have followed the Latin text (secundum dominicam) omitting ζωήν and translating "living according to Lord's Day".<ref>J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, 2nd ed, vol 2, part 2, p. 129.</ref>

=== Ecclesiology ===
Ignatius is the earliest known Christian writer to emphasize [[loyalty]] to a single [[bishop]] in each city (or [[diocese]]) who is assisted by both [[presbyter]]s (elders)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4244/kjv/tr/0-1 |title=Strong's Concordance G4244 |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111100119/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4244/kjv/tr/0-1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4245/kjv/tr/0-1/ |title=Strong's Concordance G4245 |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111100119/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4245/kjv/tr/0-1/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Although the English word "priest" is derived from "πρεσβύτερος ''presbyteros''" (literally meaning "old man" or "elder"), there is no clear evidence that this Greek word's original, intended usage among Biblical and ''early'' Patristic writers was of a [[priest|sacramental priesthood]], or even as being synonymous with the position of "pastor," as it has been used in Catholicism. Hence the comparatively very different usage of the term by, for example, the Christian denomination of [[Presbyterianism]] (which defines a presbyter as one of several senior leading members of a local church body).}} and [[deacon]]s. Earlier writings only mention {{em|either}} bishops {{em|or}} presbyters.

For instance, his writings on bishops, presbyters and deacons:
{{blockquote|Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God, and with the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and is at last made manifest.|source=''Letter to the Magnesians 2'', 6:1.}}

He is also responsible for the first known use of the Greek word ''[[Catholicos|katholikos]]'' (καθολικός), or catholic, meaning "universal", "complete", "general", and/or "whole" to describe the Church, writing:
{{blockquote|Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.  It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid.|source=''Letter to the Smyrnaeans'' 8, J.R. Willis translation.}}

Anglican bishop and theologian [[Joseph Lightfoot]] states the word "[[Catholic (term)|catholic]] (καθόλου)" meant "universal" to Ignatius, as that term was commonly used at the time by classical and ecclesiastical writers. Later usages of "[[Catholic Church]]" denote a particular church with orthodox beliefs and apostolic succession, as opposed to heretical or schismatic church bodies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lightfoot |first1=Joseph Barber |title=The Apostolic Fathers - Revised Texts with Introductions, Notes, Dissertations and Translations. S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp |date=1889 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=413–415 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Glff5uXQPDMC&q=Catholic+Joseph+lightfoot&pg=PA413 |access-date=22 July 2021 |archive-date=2024-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163627/https://books.google.com/books?id=Glff5uXQPDMC&q=Catholic+Joseph+lightfoot&pg=PA413#v=snippet&q=Catholic%20Joseph%20lightfoot&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Ignatius of Antioch is also attributed one of the earliest uses of the term "[[Christianity]]" ({{Langx|el|Χριστιανισμός|links=no}}) {{circa|100}} AD.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Elwell |first1=Walter |last2=Comfort |first2=Philip Wesley |date=2001 |title=Tyndale Bible Dictionary |publisher=[[Tyndale House|Tyndale House Publishers]] |isbn=0-8423-7089-7 |pages=266, 828}}</ref>

== Parallels with Peregrinus Proteus ==
Several scholars have noted that there are striking similarities between Ignatius and the Christian-turned-[[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic]] philosopher [[Peregrinus Proteus]], who is satirized by [[Lucian]] in ''[[Passing of Peregrinus|The Passing of Peregrinus]]'':<ref name="brent"/><ref name="schoedel">{{Cite book |last=Schoedel |first=William R. |title=A Commentary on the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch |page=279 |editor1-last=Koester |editor1-first=Helmut |publisher=Fortress Press |location=Philadelphia |date=1985 |isbn=0-8006-6016-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnZmngEACAAJ |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163622/https://books.google.com/books?id=HnZmngEACAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Both Ignatius and Peregrinus show a morbid eagerness to die;
* Both are or have been, Christians;
* Both are imprisoned by Roman authorities;
* Upon the arrest of both prisoners, Christians from all over Asia Minor come to visit them and bring them gifts; (cf. [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/peregrinus.htm ''Peregrinus''] 12–13).
* Both prisoners send letters to several Greek cities shortly before their deaths as "testaments, counsels, and laws", appointing "couriers" and "ambassadors" for the purpose.<ref name="schoedel"/>

It is generally believed that these parallels are the result of Lucian intentionally copying traits from Ignatius and applying them to his satire of Peregrinus.<ref name="brent"/>{{rp|73}} If the dependence of Lucian on the Ignatian epistles is accepted, then this places an [[Terminus post quem|upper limit]] on the date of the epistles during the 160s AD, just before ''The Passing of Peregrinus'' was written.

In 1892, Daniel Völter sought to explain the parallels by proposing that the Ignatian epistles were in fact ''written'' by Peregrinus, and later attributed to the saint, but this speculative theory has failed to make a significant impact on the academic community.<ref name="harrison">{{Cite book |last=Harrison |first=Pearcy N. |date=1936 |title=Polycarp's Two Epistles to the Philippians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRk9AAAAIAAJ |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=68–69 |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163618/https://books.google.com/books?id=iRk9AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Pseudo-Ignatius<!--'Pseudo-Ignatius' redirects here--> ==
Epistles attributed to Saint Ignatius, but of spurious origin (their author is often called '''Pseudo-Ignatius'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> in English) include:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church Fathers - Spurious Epistles (Ignatius of Antioch) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0114.htm |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=newadvent.org |archive-date=6 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106002957/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0114.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Epistle to the Tarsians;
* Epistle to the Antiochians;
* Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch;
* Epistle to the Philippians;
* Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius;
* Epistle to Mary at Neapolis, Zarbus;
* First Epistle to St. John;
* Second Epistle to St. John;
* Epistle of Ignatius to the Virgin Mary.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[Apostolic succession]]
* [[Christianity in the 1st century]]
* [[Christianity in the 2nd century]]
* [[Early centers of Christianity]]
* [[List of Patriarchs of Antioch]]
* [[Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 17|Saint Ignatius of Antioch, patron saint archive]]
* [[Apostolic Fathers]]
* [[Clementine literature]]
* [[Catholicity]]
* [[Ignatius of Loyola]]

== Notes and references ==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|group=note}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |title=Holy Letters and Syllables, the function and character of Scripture Authority in the writings of St Ignatius |first=Benno A. |last=Zuiddam |journal=Ned. Geref. Teoligiese Tydskrif |language=en |url=http://historiaeecclesiasticae.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Britz-en-Zuiddam-Holy-letters-and-syllables-The-function-and-character-of-Biblical-authority-in-the-second-century-1.pdf |volume=38 |issue=3 |date=1997 |access-date=17 October 2022 |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017054218/http://historiaeecclesiasticae.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Britz-en-Zuiddam-Holy-letters-and-syllables-The-function-and-character-of-Biblical-authority-in-the-second-century-1.pdf |url-status=live}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Brent |first=Allen |title=Ignatius of Antioch and the Second Sophistic - a study of an early Christian transformation of Pagan culture |date=2006 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |location=Tübingen |isbn=3-16-148794-X}}
* {{Cite journal |last=De Ste. Croix |first=G.E.M. |author-link=G. E. M. de Ste. Croix |title=Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? |journal=Past and Present |date=November 1963 |issue=26 |pages=6–38 |doi=10.1093/past/26.1.6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Apostolic Fathers |date=2003 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |chapter=The Letters of Ignatius |others=Bart D. Ehrman, trans}}
* {{Cite book |last=Frend |first=W. H. |title=Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church - A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus |date=1965 |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Apostolic Fathers |date=1912–1913 |publisher=Heinemann |location=London |chapter=The Epistles of St. Ignatius |others=Kirsopp Lake, trans}}
* {{cite book |last=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch |date=1946 |location=Westminster, MD |publisher=Newman Bookshop |others=James E. Kleist, trans}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Lane Fox |title=Pagans and Christians |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=0-14-102295-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Löhr |first=Hermut |title=The Apostolic Fathers - An Introduction |date=2010 |publisher=[[Baylor University Press]] |location=Waco (TX) |chapter=The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch |pages=91–115 |isbn=978-1-60258-308-5}}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Thurston |editor1-first=Herbert |editor2-last=Attwater |editor2-first=Donald |title=Butler's Lives of the Saints |date=1956 |publisher=Christian Classics |location=Westminster, MD}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vall |first=Gregory |title=Learning Christ - Ignatius of Antioch and the Mystery of Redemption |date=2013 |publisher=[[The Catholic University of America Press]] |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-8132-2158-8}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource author}}
{{Commons category|Ignatius of Antioch}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Ignatius of Antioch}}
* {{Librivox author|id=4854}}
* [http://early.xpian.info/eng/ignatiusofantioch.html An extensive catalogue of English translations of Ignatius's letters]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080121044055/http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html Early Christian writings: ''On-line texts of St. Ignatius' letters'' (archived)] ([http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html non-archived link])
* [http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.11.en.the_ecclesiology_of_st._ignatius_of_antioch.01.htm The Ecclesiology of St. Ignatius of Antioch] by Fr. John S. Romanides
* [http://www.ntcanon.org/Ignatius.shtml Saint Ignatius]
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_10_0030-0100-_Ignatius_Antiochensis,_Sanctus.html Opera Omnia by Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0114.htm Catholic Encyclopedia - Spurious Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch]
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.v.html Ignatius writings in the Ante-Nicene Fathers]
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lake/fathers2.iii.html Greek text of Ignatius writings]
* [http://www.biblicalaudio.com/ignatius.htm 2012 Translation & Audio Version] (Authentic Seven Letters and Martyrdom of Ignatius)
* [http://www.christianiconography.info/ignatiusAntioch.html Saint Ignatius of Antioch] at the [http://www.christianiconography.info/ Christian Iconography] web site
* [http://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/ignatius.htm Here Followeth the Life of St. Ignatius, Bishop] from Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints/St%20Ignatius%20of%20Antioch-102/StIgnatius.htm Colonnade Statue in St Peter's Square]
* {{Cite book |author=Ignatius of Antioch |author-link=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch |series=Translations of Christian Literature |translator=[[James Srawley|James Herbert Srawley]] |publisher=[[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]] |date=1919 |orig-date=1900 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WMMAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book |author=Ignatius of Antioch |author-link=Ignatius of Antioch |title=The Epistles of St. Ignatius |type=Epistles in Greek |series=Issue 10 of Texts for Students |editor-last=Crafer |editor-first=Thomas Wildred |publisher=[[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]] |date=1919 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYEKAAAAIAAJ}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|grt}}
{{succession box
| before = [[Evodius]]
| title  = [[List of Patriarchs of Antioch|Bishop of Antioch]]
| years  = 68–107
| after  = [[Herodion of Antioch|Herodion]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Patriarchs of Antioch}}
{{Christian History|collapsed}}
{{History of Catholic theology||uncollapsed}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{Authority control}}

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