The Letters of Ignatius · §1.9 · Ignatius of Antioch

The Ephesians as stones of the Father's temple

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Ignatius is praising the Ephesian church for refusing to let false teachers sow their bad teaching among them, and he is describing their spiritual state as stones being lifted up to God.

I have learned that certain people passed through from there carrying evil teaching, and you did not let them sow it among you. You plugged your ears so as not to receive what they were sowing, since you are stones of the Father's temple, prepared for the building of God the Father. You are being lifted up to the heights by the crane of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, with the Holy Spirit as the rope. Your faith is the crane that lifts you, and love is the road that carries you up to God.

So you are all fellow travelers, bearers of God and bearers of the temple, bearers of Christ, bearers of holy things, adorned in every way with the commandments of Jesus Christ. And I rejoice in these things, since I have been counted worthy through what I write to speak with you and to rejoice with you, because according to the life of humans you love nothing except God alone.

Greek

Ἔγνων δὲ παροδεύσαντάς τινας ἐκεῖθεν, ἔχοντας κακὴν διδαχήν: οὓς οὐκ εἰάσατε σπεῖραι εἰς ὑμᾶς, βύσαντες τὰ ὦτα, εἰς τὸ μὴ παραδέξασθαι τὰ σπειρόμενα ὑπ’ αὐτῶν, ὡς ὄντες λίθοι ναοῦ πατρός, ἡτοιμασμένοι εἰς οἰκοδομὴν θεοῦ πατρός, ἀναφερόμενοι εἰς τὰ ὕψη διὰ τῆς μηχανῆς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν σταυρός, σχοινίῳ χρώμενοι τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ: ἡ δὲ πίστις ὑμῶν ἀναγωγεὺς ὑμῶν, ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη ὁδὸς ἡ ἀναφέρουσα εἰς θεόν.

ἐστὲ οὖν καὶ σύνοδοι πάντες, θεοφόροι καὶ ναοφόροι, χριστοφόροι, ἁγιοφόροι, κατὰ πάντα κεκοσμημένοι ἐντολαῖς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ: οἶς καὶ ἀγαλλιώμενος ἠξιώθην δἰ ὦν γράφω προσομιλῆσαι ὑμῖν καὶ συγχαρῆναι, ὅτι κατ’ ἀνθρώπων βίον οὐδὲν ἀγαπᾶτε εἰ μὴ μόνον τὸν θεόν.

About this text

The seven letters Ignatius of Antioch wrote on his way to martyrdom in Rome, urging each church to stand united with its bishop.

Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 110) was the bishop of Antioch in Syria. He wrote these letters while being taken under guard from Syria to Rome, where he expected to be executed for his Christian faith during the reign of Emperor Trajan.

The letters were written in great haste, modelled after the biblical epistles of Paul, Peter, and John. Ignatius wrote to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome from Smyrna, and to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Polycarp the bishop of Smyrna from Troas. In them he urges each church to unite around its bishop, the council of elders, and the deacons as the visible order willed by God. He warns against teachers who deny the real flesh, suffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and against any return to Judaism.

A reader will meet bishops such as Onesimus of Ephesus, Damas of Magnesia, Polybius of Tralles, and Polycarp of Smyrna, along with deacons and companions who visited Ignatius. , and he reports words of the Spirit. He presents his own coming death by wild beasts as the completion of his discipleship.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Ignatius of Antioch The Apostolic Fathers Kirsopp Lake Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann 1912 1 Loeb Classical Library (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.