Ignatius of Antioch — Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6

Ignatius of Antioch · Epistle to the Smyrnaeans · c. 110

Let no one be deceived. Even the beings of heaven, the glory of the angels, and the rulers seen and unseen (Colossians 1:16), if they do not believe in the blood of Christ, face judgment too. Let anyone who can accept this accept it (Matthew 19:12). Let no one be puffed up by rank. Faith and love are everything. Nothing is preferred to them.

Take note of those who hold other opinions about the grace of Jesus Christ that has come to us, and see how opposed they are to the mind of God. They have no concern for love. They do not care for the widow or the orphan or the oppressed, for the prisoner or the freed, for the hungry or the thirsty.

Greek

Μηδεὶς πλανάσθω: καὶ τὰ ἐπουράνια καὶ ἡ δόξα τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ὁρατοί τε καὶ ἀόρατοι, ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσωσιν εἰς τὸ αἷμα Χριστοῦ, κἀκείνοις κρίσις ἐστίν: ὁ χωρῶν χωρείτω. τόπος μηδένα φυσιούτω: τὸ γὰρ ὅλον ἐστὶν πίστις καὶ ἀγάπη, ὧν οὐδὲν προκέκριται.

καταμάθετε δὲ τοὺς ἑτεροδοξοῦντας εἰς τὴν χάριν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθοῦσαν, πῶς ἐναντίοι εἰσὶν τῇ γνώμῃ τοῦ θεοῦ. περὶ ἀγάπης οὐ μέλει αὐτοῖς, οὐ περὶ χήρας, οὐ περὶ ὀρφανοῦ, οὐ περὶ θλιβομένου, οὐ περὶ δεδεμένου ἢ λελυμένου, οὐ περὶ πεινῶντος ἢ διψῶντος.

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