Sophia Scriptura

To the Philadelphians

Ad Philadelphenses · Φιλαδελφεῦσιν

Contents

  1. 0Ignatius greets the church at Philadelphia, united with its bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
  2. 1.1The Philadelphian bishop received his office from God and leads by quiet gentleness.
  3. 1.2Ignatius praises the bishop's steady, gentle character.
  4. 2.1Avoid division and follow the bishop as sheep follow their shepherd.
  5. 2.2Unity protects the church from deceptive wolves.
  6. 3.1Avoid false teachers; Ignatius found the church purified, not divided.
  7. 3.2Those who belong to God are with the bishop; the repentant may return.
  8. 3.3Following a schismatic excludes one from God's kingdom.
  9. 4.1One Eucharist, one flesh and cup of Christ, one altar, one bishop.
  10. 5.1Ignatius relies on the gospel and the apostles, and asks prayer to be made perfect.
  11. 5.2The prophets proclaimed the gospel beforehand and were saved by faith in Christ.
  12. 6.1Do not listen to those who teach Judaism instead of Christ.
  13. 6.2Resist the devil's snares and stay united in love.
  14. 6.3Ignatius has a clear conscience toward the Philadelphians.
  15. 7.1While among them, Ignatius cried out by the Spirit: heed the bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
  16. 7.2Ignatius's call to unity came from the Spirit, not from human reports.
  17. 8.1God forgives those who repent and return to the church's unity.
  18. 8.2Against those who demand proof from the old scriptures, Ignatius says Christ's cross and resurrection are his “archives.”
  19. 9.1Christ the High Priest is the door through which all God's people enter.
  20. 9.2The prophets pointed to Christ; the gospel completes their message.
  21. 10.1The church at Antioch is at peace; Philadelphia should send a deacon as envoy.
  22. 10.2Other churches have already sent bishops, presbyters, and deacons to Antioch.
  23. 11.1Ignatius commends two companions, Philo and Rheus Agathopus.
  24. 11.2Greetings from Troas; Burrhus is carrying or writing the letter.

About this work

Author
Ignatius of Antioch
Attribution
authentic · One of the seven letters of the 'middle recension', accepted as genuine by most scholars since the work of Zahn and Lightfoot. A minority dates them later or doubts their authenticity; longer, interpolated versions and further spurious letters also circulated.
Date
ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) (disputed) · Traditionally dated to the reign of Trajan (98–117), from Eusebius; some scholars place the letters in the 120s or 130s.
Written at
Troas, Asia (western Asia Minor) (probable)
Addressed to
The church at Philadelphia
Language
Greek
Genre
letter
Recension
middle recension (seven letters)
Reference system
chapter.section (Funk's divisions, as printed by Lake)
SBL abbreviation
Ign. Phld.
Clavis
CPG 1025 (unverified)
Text from
Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 172–277 (Printed edition in the public domain; digital text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Critical editions
Michael W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007); Bart D. Ehrman, The Apostolic Fathers, LCL 24-25 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003) (cited, not reproduced)
CTS URN
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg1443.tlg001