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Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Smyrnaeans

Chapter 5

Their dangerous errors.

Some ignorantly1 deny Him, or rather have been denied by Him, being the advocates of death rather than of the truth. These persons neither have the prophets persuaded, nor the law of Moses, nor the gospel even to this day, nor the sufferings we have individually endured. For they think also the same thing regarding us.2 For what does any one profit me, if he commends me, but blasphemes my Lord, not confessing that He was [truly] possessed of a body?3 But he who does not acknowledge this, has in fact altogether denied Him, being enveloped in death.4 I have not, however, thought good to write the names of such persons, inasmuch as they are unbelievers. Yea, far be it from me to make any mention of them, until they repent and return to [a true belief in] Christ’s passion, which is our resurrection.

Notes

  1. Or, “foolishly.”↩
  2. i.e. As they imagine Christ to have suffered only in appearance, so they believe that we suffer in vain.↩
  3. Literally, “a flesh-bearer.”↩
  4. Literally, “a death-bearer.”↩

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.