Christian Pure

Ignatius of Antioch: The Bishop Who Wrote Seven Letters on His Way to Die in Rome

Équipe Christian Pure

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Résumé

  • Ignatius was bishop of Antioch in Syria. He called himself Theophoros, “God-bearer,” and was a friend of Polycarp of Smyrna.
  • Early in the second century, by tradition under the emperor Trajan, he was sent under guard to Rome to die by wild beasts; he called his guards “ten leopards.”
  • On the way he wrote seven letters: to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians and Romans from Smyrna, and to the Philadelphians, the Smyrnaeans and Polycarp from Troas.
  • Most scholars accept the seven-letter text, the middle recension, as genuine; the long recension adds fourth-century rewriting and six forged letters, and the Syriac “short recension” is a three-letter abridgment.
  • The letters teach one bishop in each church with presbyters and deacons, call the Eucharist “the medicine of immortality,” reject the teaching that Christ only seemed to suffer, and contain the first surviving use of “catholic church” (Smyrnaeans 8).
  • The date of his death is uncertain: tradition puts it around 107 to 110, the Episcopal Church gives about 115, and some scholars date the letters as late as the 140s.
  • Western churches keep his feast on 17 October; the Orthodox Church keeps 20 December. Catholics and Orthodox read his letters much alike on bishops and the Eucharist and differ over Rome; many Protestants read his bishops and his Eucharist differently.

Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch who wrote seven letters on his way to die in Rome. Early in the second century, by tradition under the emperor Trajan, soldiers took him from Syria to die by wild beasts. On the road he wrote to six churches and to Polycarp of Smyrna, and those letters hold almost everything known about him. Who was Ignatius of Antioch? Antioch was one of the three great cities of the Roman Empire, with Rome and…

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Bibliographie (cliquer pour afficher)
  • The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Matthew 18:2–3; Acts 11:25–26), via BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/
  • Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans and Polycarp, translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Pères anténicéens, vol. 1 (1885), revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0104.htm (Ephesians; Magnesians 0105, Trallians 0106, Romans 0107, Philadelphians 0108, Smyrnaeans 0109, Polycarp 0110)
  • Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Romans, shorter version, Roberts–Donaldson translation, Early Christian Writings. https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-romans-roberts.html
  • Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to the Romans, Smyrnaeans, Ephesians, Trallians and Magnesians, translated by J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, Lightfoot and Harmer (1891), Early Christian Writings. https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-smyrnaeans-lightfoot.html
  • Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, chapters 9 and 13, Pères anténicéens, vol. 1, New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0136.htm
  • Irénée de Lyon, Contre les hérésies, book 5, chapter 28, Pères anténicéens, vol. 1, New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103528.htm
  • Eusèbe de Césarée, Histoire ecclésiastique, book 3, chapters 22 and 36, Pères nicéens et post-nicéens, second series, vol. 1, New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm
  • Jérôme, De viris illustribus, chapter 16, Pères nicéens et post-nicéens, second series, vol. 3, New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm
  • Jean Calvin, Institution de la religion chrétienne, book 1, chapter 13, section 29, translated by Henry Beveridge, Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/institutes/cache/institutes.txt
  • John Bonaventure O’Connor, “St. Ignatius of Antioch,” l'Encyclopédie catholique, vol. 7 (1910), New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm
  • William R. Schoedel, on the recensions and date of the letters, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 3, pp. 384–385, as quoted on Early Christian Writings. https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html
  • Timothy D. Barnes, “The Date of Ignatius,” The Expository Times 120, no. 3 (December 2008): 119–130 (abstract). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0014524608098730
  • Philip Schaff, Histoire de l'Église chrétienne, vol. 2, Ante-Nicene Christianity (third edition, revised), §§ 45, 69, 137, 164 and 165, Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/s/schaff/hcc2/cache/hcc2.txt
  • “Philip Schaff,” author biography, Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff
  • Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church (the Ravenna Document), 13 October 2007, Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. https://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/dialoghi/sezione-orientale/chiese-ortodosse-di-tradizione-bizantina/commissione-mista-internazionale-per-il-dialogo-teologico-tra-la/documenti-di-dialogo/testo-in-inglese.html
  • North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, “A Common Response to the Joint International Commission … Regarding the Ravenna Document,” 24 October 2009, Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. https://www.assemblyofbishops.org/ministries/ecumenical-and-interfaith-dialogues/orthodox-catholic/response-ravenna
  • “Church,” La foi orthodoxe, vol. 1, Orthodox Church in America. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/church
  • “Holy Orders,” La foi orthodoxe, vol. 2, Orthodox Church in America. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/holy-orders
  • “Holy Eucharist,” La foi orthodoxe, vol. 2, Orthodox Church in America. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/holy-eucharist
  • Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on Saint Ignatius of Antioch, 14 March 2007, vatican.va. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070314.html
  • Catéchisme de l'Église catholique, paragraph 1405, vatican.va. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P43.HTM
  • “St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr in Rome,” Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/10/17/st–ignatius-of-antioch–bishop–martyr-in-rome.html
  • Vatican News, Saint of the Day, 17 October. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/10/17.html
  • “Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, Bishop of Antioch,” Orthodox Church in America. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/12/20/103594-hieromartyr-ignatius-the-god-bearer-bishop-of-antioch
  • Church of England, Common Worship calendar. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar
  • The Episcopal Church, Lectionary Page, October 2026. https://lectionary.episcopalchurch.org/2026/10
  • The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Commemorations. https://www.lcms.org/worship/church-year/commemorations

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