Church Fathers, Part 3
“Introduction to Ignatius”

August, 2008

by: Edward Wilde

Sometime during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, between 107 and 117 A.D., Ignatius, the pastor of the church at Antioch was arrested and sent to Rome for execution. The why and when and how of his arrest are unknown. All that is certainly known of him comes from a series of letters to six churches and a personal letter to Polycarp [another preacher, of whom we will learn more in the future] during the trip.

These letters provide an important look into the nature and beliefs of Christian churches during the period immediately after all of the Apostles had died. Before we consider these letters in detail, I want you to consider what being a Christian was at this time:

First, there was no “New Testament.” Yes, the books which would comprise the New Testament had all been written, but the books had not yet been wholly collected and distributed among believers.

For example, if you were a Christian in Corinth, you might have a copy of Luke and Paul’s letters, while you might not know about the Book of Hebrews or Matthew or 3 John. The Philippians may never have seen Peter’s letters. A church in Alexandria may never have seen John’s writings. The difficulty in transcribing and collecting the books was a slow process.

Second, while travel about the Empire was certainly possible, communication was nothing like it is currently. A letter could take weeks to deliver and several weeks to obtain a return.

Third, no one would know exactly how many churches existed or where they were. Christian churches would come into being with the progress of the Gospel. The churches were not always welcomed well, which would tend to make their existence difficult to track. And, even if the church was not subject to persecution at a particular location, it still may have been a relatively small gathering located in a home. You couldn’t exactly open up the phone book and find a local church.

Fourth, Christianity was beginning to come under pressure from syncretists. These were people who would accept portions of the Christian proclamation and then add to whatever seemed to make sense. The letters in the New Testament deal with this sort of problem on a fairly regular basis. For example, in the letter to the Galatians, Paul dealt with those who wished to “add” Mosaic law to the Gospel of Christ.

The religious scene in 100 A.D. was very complex. There were hundreds of religious variations and combinations from which to choose. Do you wish to worship Isis? Go ahead. Do you want to know how to cast out demons using spells originally written by King Solomon? We got those. These sorts of things were continually brought together to create individualized religious combinations which would vary from person to person. When Christianity came along, there were those who wished to pick up some portion of Christianity and add it to their current religious beliefs.

Christianity obviously did not fit with any other religious claims. The claims of the Gospel are exclusionary of other beliefs. However, that did not stop people from continually attempting to couple Christianity to Isis worship or whatnot.

While the Apostles were alive, such problems were easy to solve. An Apostle could just write a letter and correct the problem. The Apostles could set up boundaries to the Gospel which all Christians could accept. But after the last apostle, John, dies, what should one do?

Now, religious combinations were not the only sort of problem facing the Church. There was the difficulty of making sense of various claims for truth made in the Scriptures. What is the relationship of the Old Testament to the Apostolic preaching? What is the relationship of a Jew to a Christian? What is the relationship of Christianity to philosophy? Can you use Plato to help read the books of Moses? Why or why not?

Think of the “basic” doctrines of Christ and God. The Christians proclaimed a man to be God: What in the world is that supposed to mean? How could the infinite be confined to the finite? How could the immortal die? How can God in Jesus pray to God as the Father? How can the Holy Spirit be God and be sent by Jesus? Remember, the word “Trinity” is not in use until about 100 years into the future.

Fifth, being a Christian was dangerous. The Roman government was not sure of exactly what to make of the Christians. A Roman governor of Syria in 112 A.D. wrote a letter to the Emperor asking what to do about the Christians. When Pliny, the Governor, had come to a particular town, the people were complaining that no one was buying meat for the sacrifices to pagan gods. The problem was from the Christians. Pliny summoned the Christians and killed them if they would admit that they were Christians.

Pliny found out that the Christians would meet before dawn on a fixed day to sing hymns to “Christ as if to a god” and then promise not to commit crimes or do wrongs. They would eat “food of an ordinary harmless kind.” While Pliny thought that Christians should be killed for their “stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy,” he wanted to get the Emperor’s approval of the tactic.

The Emperor Trajan wrote back that it was right to kill Christians, but only if they admit to being Christians. There was no need to “hunt” for them. Moreover, a person couldn’t be convicted of being a Christian on the basis of anonymous evidence, because that would be “quite out of keeping with the spirit of our age.”

Apparently Ignatius admitted to be a Christian and refused to deny Christ when pressed by the legal authority. Thus, he was arrested and sent to Rome to be fed to some wild animal for entertainment, which apparently was in “keeping with the spirit of our age.” Over the next several issues, we will look at the various letters of Ignatius.