ST. IGNATIUS BISHOP OF ANTIOCH: ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ANTIQUITY

St. Ignatius who is also called Theophorus which is a Greek word for "God-Bearer", was one of the so-called Apostolic Fathers having learned directly from St. John the Apostle the Catholic Faith. Not much is known in his early life although he was said to be one of the children that Jesus Christ held. He was ordained by St. Paul as Presbyter and before the death of St. John he was appointed Bishop. St. Peter who ordained Evodius Presbyter and later bishop to succeed him as 1st Bishop of Antioch agreed with St. Paul for St. Ignatius to succeed Evodius. Thus St. Ignatius became the 3rd Bishop of Antioch succeeding Bishop Evodius as the Bishop of the Catholic Church in Antioch. He ruled the church of Antioch for at least 40 years from 70 AD until his martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Trajan who convicted and sentenced him to death by feeding him to hungry lions sometime in 117 AD.

Therefore we can safely say that St. Ignatius, therefore, is a reliable source of what was the Catholic Church at that time om 70 AD to the time of his death aside from the other Apostolic Fathers who learned directly from the Apostles. Their writings are our window as to what was the Early Church then was like. The writings of St. Ignatius who was the Bishop of Antioch for more than 40 years can serve as testimonial documents of the church, the Catholic Church as he himself called it.

It is clear from the Letters of Ignatius, which were similar to the Letters of St. Paul in form to whom he was by tradition closely associated with having initially ordained by the great Apostle as Presbyter (Priest) and later on Bishop of Antioch, that between 70 A.D. to the date of his Letter to Smyrnians the Church of God was already known as the Catholic Church. This validates the verse in Acts 9:31 that Luke also called the church, universal or Catholic in his original Greek version of Act. It is also clear that the Bishops had succeeded the Apostles and that there was already an established hierarchy in the Catholic Church. In fact, the Lord's Day service which is a Sunday or the first day of the week in the Jewish Calendar was already being observed by the early Christians including the Sacrament.

Just like the Catholic Church today, the early church experienced the same problems among the members and the enemies who wanted nothing more than the total destruction of the church. Heresies already abound at that time just as St. John and the other Apostles were warning the Catholics. In fact St. Ignatius had to wrest with false teachings and false churches that were already sprouting to deceive the Catholics away from the true faith like the heretic followers of Docetism who deny the dual nature of the Lord Jesus as true man and true God.

Docetism came about during the second century, and just like the Gnostics their adherents and followers did not accept the doctrine of the twofold nature of Jesus Christ which was expounded by the Apostles. The questioned that if Jesus was truly divine, he could have never been truly human. They teach that Jesus may have been a spirit or phantom with the outward appearance of a man but its more of a vision. In reality, he was not a human being and therefore did not know hunger, pain, or death. St. Ignatius continue the fight against such heresy and wrote Letters against such.

During the reign of Emperor Domitian, persecution of Christians and the Catholic Church came up. Domitian reign covered the period 81 A.D. to 96 A.D. and in that persecution, St. Ignatius kept the courage of the flock by daily preaching, by prayer, and fasting. The persecution ceased temporarily after the death of Domitian who succeeded by Emperor Nerva but it was just a short respite of 15 months because, upon assumption to the throne of Emperor Trajan, the number of Catholic Martyrs increased into record numbers although there was really no order of general persecution was purely out of contempt of the Christians.

Emperor Trajan laid down the principle of why Christians should be put to death if formally reported and found. Such principle was in the letter of Trajan to Pliny the Younger who was governor of the Black Sea province of Rome called Bithynia. The Christians were not sought out for punishment but that if any one of them was reported as having refused to acknowledge divinities of pagan gods of the Dacians and the Scythians to whom Trajan owed his gratitude for his victories that made him ascend to the throne as Emperor, he authorized the death penalty for the Christians as seen fit by the Governors of Rome in the territories occupied and ruled by the Empire.

The story of tradition would show how St. Ignatius was sentenced to die. Emperor Trajan himself examined then aging Bishop Ignatius in the year 115 A.D. and questioned him and here is the text of the questioning as handed down through the generations to remember the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius:

Trajan: "Who are you a spirit of evil who dare disobey my orders and goad others on to their destruction?"

St. Ignatius: "No one calls Theophorus a spirit of evil," he replied.

Trajan: "Who is Theophorus?"

St. Ignatius: "He who bears Christ within him."

Trajan: "And do we not bear within ourselves the gods who help us against our enemies?"

St. Ignatius: "You are mistaken when you call gods those who are no better than devils. There is but one God, who created heaven and earth and all that in them is; and one Jesus, made Christ, into whose kingdom I earnestly desire to be admitted."

Trajan: "Do you mean Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?"

St. Ignatius: "Yes, the same, who by His death has crucified both sins and its author, and who has proclaimed that every malice of the devil shall be trodden underfoot by those who bear Him in their hearts."

Trajan: "Do you then, asked the Emperor, "bear Christ within you?" 

St. Ignatius: "Yes," said Ignatius, "for it is written, 'I will dwell in them and will walk with them.’"

According to the story that sealed the fate of the bishop. Trajan ruled he, St. Ignatius should die and to be fed to the lions and wild beasts in the Colosseum. He was ordered bound and conveyed to Rome to be executed as ordered by the Emperor. This story is firmly grounded in history. with St. Ignatius' own letters, seven of which are still extant, telling us the story. He then boarded a ship at the seaport of Seleucia which made many stops along the shores of Asia Minor before proceeding directly to Rome. Some of his friends took the direct route west and they reached Rome before him to await his arrival. He was accompanied by deacon Philo and friend Agathpos who were supposedly authors of the account of his martyrdom. He was closely guarded by ten soldiers that were said to be so brutal that he spoke of them as the "Ten Leopards" and he added that they grew worse when kindly treated.

Wherever port the ship anchored on the way to Rome, words got out to the Catholic community and Christians, bishops and priests would meet the venerable St. Ignatius. They will gather to receive his benediction. At Smyrna, he met his former, Bishop Polycarp, his fellow disciple of St. John. He would receive delegations from three ancient cities of Asia Minor namely Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles which had growing Christian communities. He wrote letters to be carried back to the various churches in the said ancient cities exhorting the members to keep in harmony with their bishops and other clergies, to assemble in prayer, to be meek and humble, and to suffer injuries without protest. He praises them for their zeal against heresy and particularly warned them of the spread of Docetic heretic teaching.

There were seven (7) extant letters was addressed to the Christians of Rome whom he passionately begs not to do anything that will prevent him his martyrdom which he embraced willingly because during those time there were already Christians in high places with influence and they may try to have his sentence mitigated.

The guards were anxious to reach Rome with their prisoners before the great public games were over because the main attraction was St. Ignatius being venerable of Christians. The ship stopped at Troas and sailed to the Macedonian port of Neapolis which was then Philippi. The party crossed Macedonia and Epirus on foot and took ship for the trip around Italy. These details, along with the account of the arrival of Rome can be found in the Acts of the Martyrs. When they set foot at Rome, he was greeted by the Christians rejoicing in his presence but at the same time grieving for they knew they will soon lose him. He again prevented them from taking steps to obtain his release because there already Christians who are keeping their identities secret and they were in the service of the Emperor government. They can exert some influence on their friends in high offices but St. Ignatius doesn't want to do such a thing. He willingly embraced his martyrdom. He reportedly reached Rome on December 20 about 117 AD which was the last day of the games at the Colosseum where he was to be the main attraction. After processing his sentence contained in the letter of the Emperor he was hurriedly led to the arena where two fierce hungry lions were let out that devoured him alive. Thus the prayer of St. Ignatius for a martyr's death was answered.

St. Ignatius left us Seven (7) Authentic Letters which shows the Catholic Church is really the true church founded by Jesus Christ. They are real evidence and preserved for all generations of Christians. However, some of the letters were questioned by some groups especially the Protestants except that of the Letter to the Smyrneans which was fully documented and affirmed as historical truth.
:

• The Letter to the Ephesians,
• The Letter to the Magnesians,
• The Letter to the Trallians,
• The Letter to the Romans,
• The Letter to the Philadelphians,
• The Letter to the Smyrnaeans,
• The Letter to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

By Bro. Manny, OTFS Apologist

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