The Letters of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians

By E. I. Sanchez on May 3, 2009 | 1835 views | Be the first one to comment

If you are new to the Alert, let me give you the 411. About 14 months ago, I started reading The Apostolic Fathers by Michael W. Holmes and -- unfortunately after six month of reading -- I realized that on my haste to finish it, I wasn't really paying attention to the actual text in the pages so I decided to go back and re-read the book from page numero uno.

Little by little, I've been making my way through the book, and today, I bring you my latest report: Ignatius letter to the Ephesians.

St. Ignatius of Antioch is a mysterious figure we meet briefly through seven letters he wrote sometime between 98 A.D - 138 A.D (Dates are debated but 138 A.D. is the upper most range) as he was led to his death somewhere in Rome where it is assumed he died a martyr since he's never heard of again and Polycarp (we'll meet him later) and others refer to his death later on.

To the Ephesians, he wrote:

He calls Jesus "Our God" and "Our Savior" (p. 137)
He warns that "whoever" doesn't meet with the congregation, is arrogant and separates himself from God (p. 141)
He regards the "bishop" or "church elder" as "The Lord" himself (Ibid).
He reminds us that there are many who "carry" the Name but are "unworthy of God" (ib.)
He (at least from my reading) is one of the first ones to mention Mary outside the New Testament. He says: Jesus "was born from Mary and From God" - [quoting Matthew] (ib.)
He quotes Paul: Those that are "Carnal" cannot do the things of the "Spirit"
He alludes to trinitarian formula as follows: [we are stones of a temple] "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" (p. 143)
He encourages us to pray for non-Christians that slander against us
In discussing the end times he says, "For Let us either fear the wrath to come or love the grace which is present, one of the two; only let us be found in Christ Jesus, which leads to true life." (p. 145).
St. Ignatius says: "faith is the beginning, and love is the end, and the two, when they exist in unity, are God." (p. 147)
Addressing unbelief and asking rhetorically: where is the wise?, where is the debater? he quotes Matthew saying "Christ was conceived by Mary according to God's plan" and discuss the birth narrative.(p. 149)