The Letters of Ignatius · §7.3 · Ignatius of Antioch

Stand firm as an anvil under the blows

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Ignatius is addressing Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, urging him to remain steadfast amid false teachers and to endure all things for God's sake.

Do not let those who seem trustworthy but teach falsely terrify you. Stand firm as an anvil being struck. It is the mark of a great athlete to be beaten and to win. Above all, for God's sake we must endure everything, so that he also may endure us.

Become more eager than you already are. Discern the seasons. I await the one who is beyond time, the timeless one, the invisible one, who for our sake became visible, the one beyond suffering, who for our sake became subject to suffering, who endured in every way for us.

Greek

Οἱ δοκοῦντες ἀξιόπιστοι εἶναι καὶ ἑτεροδιδασκαλοῦντες μή σε καταπλησσέτωσαν. στῆθι ἑδραῖος ὡς ἄκμων τυπτόμενος. μεγάλου ἐστιν ἀθλητοῦ τὸ δέρεσθαι καὶ νικᾶν. μάλιστα δὲ ἕνεκεν θεοῦ πάντα ὑπομένειν ἡμᾶς δεῖ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ὑπομείνῃ.

πλέον σπουδαῖος γίνου οὗ εἶ. τοὺς καιροὺς καταμάνθανε. τὸν ὑπὲρ καιρὸν προσδόκα, τὸν ἄχρονον, τὸν ἀόρατον, τὸν δἰ ἡμᾶς ὁρατόν, τὸν ἀψηλάφητον, τὸν ἀπαθῆ, τὸν δἰ ἡμᾶς παθητόν, τὸν κατὰ πάντα τρόπον δἰ ἡμᾶς ὑπομείναντα.

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.