Sophia Scriptura

To Polycarp

Ad Polycarpum · Πρὸς Πολύκαρπον

Contents

  1. 0Ignatius greets Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna.
  2. 1.1Ignatius rejoices that he has met Polycarp, whose mind is firmly fixed on God.
  3. 1.2Ignatius urges Polycarp to care for his whole church, keep it united, and bear with everyone in love.
  4. 1.3Polycarp should pray constantly, watch, speak to each person, and bear others' weaknesses.
  5. 2.1A bishop must win over difficult people with gentleness, treating each according to need.
  6. 2.2Polycarp should combine wisdom and innocence, care for visible needs, and pray for spiritual insight.
  7. 2.3Like a pilot or athlete, Polycarp must strive to reach God; Ignatius offers himself on his behalf.
  8. 3.1Polycarp must stand firm against false teachers, like an anvil under the hammer.
  9. 3.2Ignatius points to Christ, eternal and invisible, who became visible and suffered for us.
  10. 4.1The bishop must care for widows and oversee everything in the church.
  11. 4.2Polycarp should gather the church more often and know every member by name.
  12. 4.3Slaves and masters should both avoid pride; slaves should seek God's freedom rather than church-funded release.
  13. 5.1Wives should be content with their husbands, and husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church.
  14. 5.2Celibacy must be kept humbly, and marriages should be made with the bishop's consent so that they are according to the Lord.
  15. 6.1Ignatius tells the whole church to obey its bishop, presbyters, and deacons and to work together as God's servants.
  16. 6.2Christians are soldiers of God, armed with baptism, faith, love, and endurance, and rewarded for their works.
  17. 7.1News that the church at Antioch is at peace has cheered Ignatius as he goes to martyrdom.
  18. 7.2Ignatius asks Polycarp to call a council and choose a messenger to go to Antioch.
  19. 7.3A Christian belongs to God; Ignatius trusts the Smyrnaeans to do this good work.
  20. 8.1Ignatius, forced to sail on suddenly, asks Polycarp to write to the other churches on his behalf.
  21. 8.2Ignatius greets members of the church at Smyrna by name.
  22. 8.3Ignatius closes with a farewell and a greeting to Alce.

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
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna
Language
Greek
Genre
letter
Recension
middle recension (seven letters)
Reference system
chapter.section (Funk's divisions, as printed by Lake)
SBL abbreviation
Ign. Pol.
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