The Letters of Ignatius · §5.5 · Ignatius of Antioch

The Prophets and Apostles as One Hope in Christ

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Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, is writing to the church in Philadelphia while being taken under guard to Rome, and here he speaks of his own incompleteness and the unity of prophets and apostles in the gospel.

My brothers and sisters, I am utterly poured out in love for you, and with overflowing joy I am working to make you secure. Yet it is not I who do this, but Jesus Christ. Because I am still bound in him, I am all the more afraid, since I am still incomplete. But your prayer to God will complete me, so that I may attain the lot in which I was shown mercy. I have taken refuge in the gospel as in the flesh of Jesus, and in the apostles as in the council of elders of the church.

We also love the prophets, because they too announced the gospel beforehand, hoped in him, and waited for him. By believing in him they were saved, being in the unity of Jesus Christ. They are saints worthy of love and worthy of wonder, witnessed to by Jesus Christ and numbered together in the gospel of our common hope.

Greek

Ἀδελφοί μου, λίαν ἐκκέχυμαι ἀγαπῶν ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑπεραγαλλόμενος ἀσφαλίζομαι ὑμᾶς: οὐκ ἐγὼ δέ, ἀλλ’ Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἐν ᾧ δεδεμένος φοβοῦμαι μᾶλλον, ὡς ἔτι ὢν ἀναπάρτιστος: ἀλλ’ ἡ προσευχὴ ὑμῶν εἰς θεόν με ἀπαρτίσει, ἵνα ἐν ᾧ κλήρῳ ἠλεήθην ἐπιτύχω, προσφυγὼν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὡς σαρκὶ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ὡς πρεσβυτερίῳ ἐκκλησίας.

καὶ τοὺς προφήτας δὲ ἀγαπῶμεν, διὰ τὸ καὶ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον κατηγγελκέναι καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλπίζειν καὶ αὐτὸν ἀναμένειν, ἐν ᾦ καὶ πιστεύσαντες ἐσώθησαν, ἐν ἑνότητι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄντες, ἀξιαγαπητοι καὶ ἀξιοθαύμαστοι ἅγιοι, ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεμαρτυρημένοι καὶ συνηριθμημένοι ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τῆς κοινῆς ἐλπίδος.

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.