Guides Along the Way: The Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians

I continue the Guides on the Way series with the next chronological step: St. Ignatius of Antioch.  Considered by some historians to be the child Jesus spoke of when answering who was greatest in the Kingdom of God (cf. Matthew 18:1ff), St. Ignatius was the 2nd or 3rd bishop of Antioch (in modern-day Turkey), is thought to have been an apostle of St. John, and wrote a number of letters to various Churches as he was taken to Rome to face martyrdom.

The Letter of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians is marked by

Important notes and commentary:

1. St. Ignatius is also known as Theophorus, a name meaning "God-bearer." Ignatius, having a Latin name, seems also to have been known by a Greek name. This could seem to indicate that he was from a higher class, as Latin-speaking, high-class, educated, traveling Romans generally used Greek as the lingua franca of the empire. It could also indicate that he felt the need to have a more diverse persona to reach and evangelize various cultures. In his greeting, St. Ignatius seems to define true happiness and blessedness as resulting from taking a share in the glory and grace of God.
2. St. Ignatius then goes on to praise the Ephesians in the salutary tradition of St. Paul. He specifically praises them for the prayers they have offered for his effort to seek martyrdom for his witness to Christ. It is important in a time so filled with news of self-martyring terrorists to keep in mind that authentic martyrdom is always first witnessing to God, not a statement against one's enemies. The martyrdom of Christianity says, "I will speak the truth no matter what you do to me and I will gladly die if it will show you how strongly I believe." The martyrdom of Islam says, "I will carry out the wrath of my religion on my enemies, even at the expense of my life." Christian martyrdom is an act of faith, hope, and love; Islamic martyrdom is an act of hatred.
3. Ignatius goes on to say, "for though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples with me." Upon reading these words, I must ask myself: if St. Ignatius of Antioch, who is on his way to being a martyr, says that he is imperfect and only just starting to be a disciple, where to I stand? What is the criterion for true discipleship? A disciple is a student, a follower of the Lord, and to be a perfect disciple is to follow the Lord perfectly. We ought to make that our goal in this life.
4. Next St. Ignatius exhorts the Ephesians to unity with the bishop, Onesimus, using the time-honored analogy of strings on a harp: "For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ." The strings on the harp of the bishop are his priests, and the harp urges on and directs the singing of the choir, the Church.
   
5. The unity of the faithful to the bishop is analogous to the unity of the Church to Christ and Christ to the Father.  The power of the prayer of the bishop and his Church in greater than the power of a mere two or more gathered.  Those who oppose the bishop and the Church are prideful and condemned. 
   
6. The respect owed to the bishop is the same that should be owed to Christ.  This, of course, does not mean that the bishop is to be worshipped, but that his words should be considered according to the saying of Christ: "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16). 
   
7. St. Ignatius' warning against heretics, apostates, and other false teachers leads him to an interesting description of Christ, stating explicitly some things the Council of Nicaea finally settled and defined some 200 years later: "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."
   
8. The holiness of the Church of Ephesus is exalted.
9. The Church of Ephesus has not fallen prey to the teachings of heretics. St. Ignatius indicates that through faith and love, human beings cooperate with God in holiness.
10. The Church should pray for those who are not with Christ and also evangelize them, especially by their works. All the vices of those who oppose Christ should be met with the opposite virtues.
11. St. Ignatius interestingly says, "For let us either stand in awe of the wrath to come, or show regard for the grace which is at present displayed— one of two things. Only [in one way or another] let us be found in Christ Jesus unto the true life." Regarding faith, there seems always to be a split between two attitudes, one which seems more focused on the eschaton (the end times - death, judgment, heaven, hell) while others seem more focused on glorying in God's works in this life. Some might say this is the split between the "gloomy" saints and the "joyful" saints. I disagree. I suspect that it is simply a matter of focus and motivation; perhaps this is a way of saying that there are some saints who focus their devotion on the Suffering Servant and others who focus their spirituality on the Risen Christ. I do not have much time for this thought now, but perhaps it will bear further elaboration in the future. The saintly bishop says that both attitudes may find their purpose in Christ. What can be said is that a proper spirituality is not one or the other, but both one and the other.
12. St. Ignatius points out the different circumstances between the Corinthians and himself.
13. Coming together in worship (most especially the Divine Liturgy of the Holy Mass) produces peace and destroys the works of Satan.
14. Faith finds its end in love and it is by our love that we will be judged.
15. Those who teach should act out what the teach. Even the good Christ did in silence was an offering to the Father, not just His teachings.
16. False prophets and false teachers will suffer a terrible fate.
17. It is foolishness to follow any teachings besides Christ's.
18. St. Ignatius repeats the sentiment of St. Paul that all is as nothing for the sake of the Cross of Christ.
19. Here St. Ignatius teaches three of the mysteries which were hidden from Satan himself: the virginity of Mary, the Christ Himself (or the fact that Jesus was the Christ), and the death of the Christ. We see that if these three mysteries were hidden from Satan, the Son of God was able to storm creation and mankind, as well as the gates of sheol.
20. The saintly bishop promises another letter to the Corinthians, if it is God's will.
21. St. Ignatius concludes referencing St. Polycarp and saying goodbye in Jesus Christ.

His Servant and Yours,

Micah