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Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to Polycarp

Chapter 3

Exhortations.

Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,1 fill thee with apprehension. Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten. It is the part of a noble2 athlete to be wounded, and yet to conquer. And especially, we ought to bear all things for the sake of God, that He also may bear with us. Be ever becoming more zealous than what thou art. Weigh carefully the times. Look for Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and impassible, yet who became passible on our account; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes.

Notes

  1. Comp. 1 Tim. i. 3, vi. 3.↩
  2. Literally, “great.”↩

Translation by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and Frederick Crombie: The Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 1: The Apostolic Fathers (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1870).
Text from Project Gutenberg eBook #77576, proofread by Distributed Proofreaders from Internet Archive scans. Public domain.