The Ignatian Epistles Entirely Spurious | Page 8

for His name's sake, let us glorify Him" (§ 8). He speaks of men
"encircled in saintly bonds;" (§ 1) and praises the Philippians for the
courage which they had manifested in sympathizing with these
confessors. He reminds them how, "with their own eyes," they had seen
their sufferings (§ 9). All these statements suggest times of tribulation.
A careful examination of this letter may convince us that it contains no
reference to the Epistles attributed to Ignatius of Antioch. Of the seven
letters mentioned by Eusebius, four are said to have been written from
Smyrna and three from Troas. But the letters of which Polycarp speaks
were written from neither of these places, but from Philippi. In the
letters attributed to Ignatius of Antioch, the martyr describes himself as
a solitary sufferer, hurried along by ten rough soldiers from city to city
on his way to Rome; in the letter of Polycarp to the Philippians,
Ignatius is only one among a crowd of victims, of whose ultimate
destination the writer was ignorant. A considerable time after the party
had left Philippi, Polycarp begs the brethren there to tell him what had
become of them. "Concerning Ignatius himself, and those who are with
him, if," says he, "ye have any sure tidings, certify us." [21:1] In the
Ignatian Epistle addressed to Polycarp, he is directed to "write to the
Churches," to "call together a godly council," and "to elect" a
messenger to be sent to Syria (§7). Polycarp, in his letter to the
Philippians, takes no notice of these instructions. He had obviously
never heard of them. It is indeed plain that the letter of the Philippians
to Polycarp had only a partial reference to the case of Ignatius and his
companions. It was largely occupied with other matters; and to these
Polycarp addresses himself in his reply.
The simple solution of all these difficulties is to be found in the fact
that the Ignatius mentioned by Polycarp was a totally different person

from the pastor of Antioch. He lived in another age and in another
country. Ignatius or Egnatius--for the name is thus variously
written--was not a very rare designation; [21:3] and in the
neighbourhood of Philippi it seems to have been common. The famous
Egnatian road, [21:4] which passed through the place, probably derived
its title originally from some distinguished member of the family. We
learn from the letter of Polycarp that his Ignatius was a man of Philippi.
Addressing his brethren there, he says, "I exhort you all, therefore, to
be obedient unto the word of righteousness, and to practise all
endurance, which also ye saw with your own eyes in the blessed
Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, and IN OTHERS ALSO AMONG
YOURSELVES" (Sec. 9). These words surely mean that the
individuals here named were men of Philippi. It is admitted that two of
them, viz. Zosimus and Rufus, answered to this description; and in the
Latin Martyrologies, as Dr. Lightfoot himself acknowledges, [22:2]
they are said to have been natives of the town. It will require the
introduction of some novel canon of criticism to enable us to avoid the
conclusion that Ignatius, their companion, is not to be classed in the
same category.
It is well known that when Marcus Aurelius became emperor he
inaugurated a new system of persecution. Instead of at once consigning
to death those who boldly made a profession of Christianity, as had
heretofore been customary in times of trial, he employed various
expedients to extort from them a recantation. He threw them into
confinement, bound them with chains, kept them in lingering suspense,
and subjected them to sufferings of different kinds, in the hope of
overcoming their constancy. It would seem that Ignatius, Zosimus,
Rufus, and their companions were dealt with after this fashion. They
were made prisoners, put in bonds, plied with torture under the eyes of
the Philippians, and taken away from the city, they knew not whither. It
may be that they were removed to Thessalonica, the residence of the
Roman governor, that they might be immured in a dungeon, to await
there the Imperial pleasure. It is pretty clear that they did not expect
instant execution. When Polycarp wrote, he speaks of them as still
living; and he is anxious to know what may yet betide them.

Let us now call attention to another passage in this letter of Polycarp to
the Philippians. Towards its close the following sentence appears
somewhat in the form of a postscript. "Ye wrote to me, both ye
yourselves and Ignatius, asking that if any one should go to Syria, he
might carry thither the letters from you." We have here the reading, and
translation adopted by Dr. Lightfoot; but it so happens that there is
another reading perhaps, on the whole,