To the Magnesians 4.1

Ignatius of Antioch · To the Magnesians · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: Those who acknowledge the bishop but act without him are Christians in name only.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:200

Πρέπον οὖν ἐστιν μὴ μόνον καλεῖσθαι Χριστιανούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἶναι· ὥσπερ καί τινες ἐπίσκοπον μὲν καλοῦσιν, χωρὶς δὲ αὐτοῦ πάντα πράσσουσιν. οἱ τοιοῦτοι δὲ οὐκ εὐσυνείδητοί μοι εἶναι φαίνονται διὰ τὸ μὴ βεβαίως κατʼ ἐντολὴν συναθροίζεσθαι.

English · Claude translation

It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians but also to be Christians, just as some speak of “the bishop” but do everything without him. Such people do not seem to me to have a good conscience, since they do not meet validly according to the commandment.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:200 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 172–277 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Also in: PG 5:665b (found by text match)
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Church office

Notes

Translation notes

“Validly” (βεβαίως): firmly, properly; that is, in gatherings recognized by the bishop.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip: word split in two): Χρις τιανούς → Χριστιανούς.

Cite this passage

Ign. Magn. 4.1 (PG 5:665b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-magnesians/4/1/).

Plain text

Ign. Magn. 4.1 (PG 5:665b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-magnesians/4/1/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Report an error in this passage