Sophia Scriptura

To the Smyrnaeans 5.2

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

Summary: Denying that Christ had flesh is denying him completely.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:256

καὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν τὸ αὐτὸ φρονοῦσιν. τί γάρ με ὠφελεῖ τις, εἰ ἐμὲ ἐπαινεῖ, τὸν δὲ κύριόν μου βλασφημεῖ, μὴ ὁμολογῶν αὐτὸν σαρκοφόρον; ὁ δὲ τοῦτο λέγων τελείως αὐτὸν ἀπήρνηται, ὢν νεκροφόρος.

English · Claude translation

For they think the same about us. For what good does anyone do me if he praises me but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing that he bore flesh? Whoever does not say this has denied him completely, and is himself a bearer of a corpse.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:256 · 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 5:712a (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.
Scripture
Topics
Christology, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • A wordplay: those who deny that Christ was a “flesh-bearer” (σαρκοφόρον) are themselves “corpse-bearers” (νεκροφόρος), carrying death.

Cite this passage

Ign. Smyrn. 5.2 (PG 5:712a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/5/2/).

Plain text
Ign. Smyrn. 5.2 (PG 5:712a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/5/2/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Report an error in this passage