11.23.2013 CHURCH FATHERS 2 - st. ignatius, bishop of antioch (69-107), martyr

bishop of antioch from about 69-107

antioch was situated in the northwest of syria, about 20 miles up the orontes from the port seleucia;
which derived its name from seleucus, the general, who, on alexander the great's death,
took syria as his share of the macedonian empire.
according to the account inthe acts of the apostles,
st. paul and st. barnabas were more concerned than st. peter
in first preaching the gospel at antioch:
but tradition has always attributed the foundation of the church to st. peter,
and declared that he live there as bishop for 7 or 8 years before visiting rome.
on this account, it was an apostolic church;
and later a patriarchate with jurisdiction extending far away into the east.
the successors of st. peter at antioch, however,
never made the claims to universal rule, which were made by roman bishops.

...judaizing and docetism are the heresies denounced in these epistles
(note: the seven epistles by ignatius which were judged genuine)
but according to lightfoot, these were really one;
or rather the same set of teachers in each case were at work,
jews by birth, who were teaching a form of docetism.
this word will be more fully explained..in connection with gnosticism.
it is enough for the present to say that the docetic view
was that Christ never really suffered in the flesh, but only seemed to do so.
either the whole life of Christ was phantasmal;
or else they distinguished between the Divine Being and the human Jesus,
affirming that the Christ or Logos, descended on Jesus at His baptism,
and deserted Him before the crucifixion.
thus ignatius continually speaks of the REAL passion
and says that Christ was truly born, died and rose again
and that the Christ, who reappeared, ate and drank and was no incorporeal phantom.

the best way to guard against such errors
was to cling to the bishop (note: what if he was not following the bible?_
to remain united and to follow his teaching.
'where the bishop is, there is the church'.
(note: where ever Christ is, there is His body?)
..he clearly shows that bishops existed throughout asia minor,
for he alludes to those of ephesus, magnesia, tralles, philadelphia and smyrna;
he also speaks of them as established in the farthest parts of the earth.
nor were they itinerant, like timothy and titus, but localized;
and they ruled, though they were constitutional monarchs.
in rome also there was a bishop, though apparently with even less autocratic power than in asia;
perhaps because there was less heresy.
the point that ignatius leaves undecided is whether at that time
episcopacy was considered a divine institution, possessing doctrinal significance
and therefore a necessity to a true church;
or whether it was to be supported
because it happened to be the order of the churches he was addressing,
and therefore the only existing bond of discipline.
there is no proof that he looked on it as more than the latter.
on the other hand there is no proof that he did not.
in face of the very strong words he used, it is dangerous to argue from silence.

..as regards docetism, the following is the strongest quotation,
and a splendid defence of Christ's bodily resurrection:
'for i know and believe that He was in the flesh after the resurrection:
and when He came to peter and his company, He said
'lay hold and handle Me, and see that I am not a bodiless spirit
and straightway they touched Him and believed,
being joined to His flesh and blood.
 wherefore also they despised death, nay, were found superior to it;
and after His resurrection He ate and drank with them,
as one in the flesh, though spiritually He was united with the Father.

..here and there in his writings are little flashes of epigram
(a witty, ingenious, pointed expression tersely expressed),such as:
he that truly possesses the words of Jesus is able also to listen to His silence
form yourselves into an harmonious chorus, of which the key note is God
the one bread, which is the medicine of life, the antidote of death
faith is the beginning of life, Love is the end