Chapter Two -- The Martyrdom of Ignatius
Chapter Two -- The Martyrdom of Ignatius
Ignatius's Theology of Martyrdom
{L57} St. Ignatius was martyred in Rome some time during the reign of the emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117). From his letters we can infer a sequence of events as follows. He must have faced a trial in Antioch which ended in his being sent off to Rome, either to stand trial before the emperor or to be put to death. He traveled by land through Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) under a Roman guard which he refers to as "ten leopards" in Rom 5:1. He stopped in Smyrna to visit his fellow bishop Polycarp and the church there under his care. [1] While at Smyrna Ignatius wrote to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, all in Asia Minor, as well as sending a missive to the church in Rome. The tenor of the Letter to the Romans suggests that there may have been some possibility of Ignatius's execution being stayed. He begs the Christians in Rome not to try to stop his martyrdom (see Rom 1:2; 2:1,2; 4:1-3). After visiting Smyrna, Ignatius traveled on to Troas where he wrote letters to the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna along with a personal one to Polycarp. From Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians we learn that Ignatius stayed in Philippi for a while before moving on to Rome (13:2). This information is as much as we possess from the time of Ignatius himself.
{L58} 1 Bart Ehrman assumes that Ignatius did not know Polycarp or the other bishops he mentions in his letters prior to his journey to Rome. See Ehrman The Apostolic Fathers (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003) p. 204. This is a gratuitous assumption. We simply do not know whether Ignatius was acquainted with the bishops of Asia Minor personally. In any case, his stress upon the divinely ordained authority of the bishop and his belief in the catholic nature of the church would have made him view them as his cohorts in faith. In this sense he would have known them even if he had never met them.
The Martyrdom Itself
{L59} Eusebius tells us that Ignatius underwent martyrdom "in the tenth year of Trajan" (i.e. 107 or 108) but we don't know on what the date is based. Many nineteenth century scholars (e.g. Lightfoot, Harnack) thought that the martyrdom probably took place between 110-118. The accounts of the martyrdom from a later period come down to us in two forms: the Antiochean Acts and the Roman Acts. The Roman Acts are a more elaborate and hagiographic account. Most scholars see little historical value in this document. The Antiochean Acts are more restrained in their description and may contain some historical accuracy. Internal indications in both Acts suggest they came from the fourth century.
{L60} Though both Acts are intent upon glorifying Ignatius in a style typical of hagiographies, they do contain plausible passages which accord with other accounts of martyrdom in the second century such as the Martyrdom of Polycarp. Perhaps most striking is Ignatius's contempt for the present world which seems to have inspired many martyrs. When given the possibility of his being spared from torture, Ignatius responded that Christ was his only life. As he wrote in his letters, Christ for him was "true life" (Eph 11:1), his "constant life," (Eph 3:2), and his "pure light" (Rom 6:2).
Ignatius's Theology of Martyrdom
{L61} More important than the historical circumstances of Ignatius's death is his rich theology of martyrdom. From within the letters themselves we may glean many references to his impending death and its meaning for him. Earlier in chapter one we noticed how important being a disciple was for Ignatius. It seems that this was the most fundamental category through which he viewed his life. Careful contextual analysis reveals, however, that an integral part of discipleship for Ignatius was sharing in the passion of Jesus Christ. In Eph 1:2 he links reaching the arena in Rome with becoming a disciple. This awareness of being an incomplete disciple is contrasted with "becoming perfect in Jesus Christ" since he "possesses just the beginning of learning to be a disciple" (Eph 3:1). In the Letter to the Magnesians Ignatius wishes not only to be called a Christian but to be one in fact (4:1). The Christian has the "stamp of God the Father through Jesus Christ" (stamp = character) in Mag 5:2, a reference perhaps to the indelible mark of baptism. [2] One becomes a disciple through faithful participation in the mystery of Christ's death (Mag 9:1). However, it is in his Letter to the Romans that we find Ignatius's most poignant expressions of the connection between discipleship and martyrdom. In Rom 5:1 Ignatius sees his martyrdom as already beginning in his journey to Rome ("I fight the beasts from Syria to Rome") under the Roman guard ("ten leopards") conducting him to his destination. The injustices which he experiences at their hands are the means by which he is "becoming a disciple." These trials en route to Rome prepare his mind and heart; he is emboldened to ask the Romans to "coax the beasts into becoming his tomb" so that he can truly become "a disciple of Jesus Christ" (Rom 4:2). So, for Ignatius, martyrdom is not only a form of death; it is a way of life. It is the path to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
{L62} 2 For an explanation of the Greek term character see the commentary at Mag 5:2.
{L63} Ignatius's idea of martyrdom becomes clearer when we look at references to his chains. [3] His confined and constricted movements are in the name of Christ (Eph 3:1) and in Rom 1:1 Ignatius hopes to greet the Romans even though he is "bound in Christ Jesus." Rom 4:3 is especially significant:
{L64} 3 Ignatius uses the verb deo ("bound") 14 (of 15) times to speak of himself as a prisoner. While some of the references to being bound are simply descriptive (e.g. Eph 21:2; Philad 5:1), several texts are embedded in a theology of martyrdom. The noun desmos ("chains") occurs 8 times in Ignatius's letters.
{L65} I do not command you as Peter and Paul did. They were apostles; I am a criminal. They were free but I am a slave even now. Rather, if I suffer I will be liberated for Jesus Christ and I will rise again free in him. For now I am learning as a prisoner to desire nothing else.
{L66} Here the contrast is not so much between Peter and Paul as apostles and Ignatius as a bishop but with Ignatius as a criminal (katakritos) which diminishes his power to command from a legal and social point of view. But such a worldly point of view contrasts with Ignatius's understanding that suffering makes him a person free for Jesus Christ. Such suffering in chains helps him desire nothing in this world. [4]
{L67} 4 Cf. Rom 6:1, "it is better for me to die in Jesus Christ than to rule the ends of the earth."
{L68} The contrast between being bound and being free surfaces again in Mag 12:1, "For since I am bound [in chains] I am not like even one of you who are at liberty. I know that you are not puffed up. You have Jesus Christ in you." Such language may appear as overly sentimental piety to a modern reader but in reality his criminal status has effected a greater depth of humility in Ignatius. This humility is preparing him for the final giving of his life. Ignatius sees his being under arrest as God's way of preparing him for the final test as the unusual phrase of Smyrn 11:1 has it, "bound in the most God-fitting chains." [5] This phrase seems to imply both that the chains in which the Romans have bound him are ultimately from God and that his bound status is most appropriate for his reaching God.
{L69} 5 Ehrman translates dedemenos theoprepestatois desmois as "chains that are most acceptable to God." See Ehrman at Smyrn 11:1.
{L70} Being in chains, under guard, being thought a criminal, all these are only the martyrdom before the martyrdom for Ignatius. And Ignatius is conscious that his own life is lived on behalf of the church itself as he expresses it in Smyrn 10:2 and Polyc 2:3. Ignatius employs the word antipsuchon in close conjunction with desmos ("chains") in both texts: "My spirit and my bonds are your substitute soul" (Smyrn 10:2) and "I and my bonds that you love are your substitute soul in every way" (Polyc 2:3). [6] His sharing in the passion of Christ serves to advance the spiritual welfare of those to whom he writes since he is their "substitute soul" (antipsuchon). Since in his mind Ignatius's martyrdom began while still in chains, he is conscious that it is for more than his own salvation.
{L71} 6 BAG gives "ransom" as the meaning of antipsuchon. It does not occur in the NT nor in any other writings of the apostolic fathers. Ignatius's use seems to reflect his awareness of its etymological meaning "substitute soul." Ehrman rightly renders Smyrn 10:2, "My spirit is given in exchange for yours, as are my chains" and Polyc 2:3, "I am given in exchange for you in every way."
{L72} All this implies that martyrdom leads to eternal life in Ignatius's mind. He is aware of a reality beyond death, either for eternal blessing or eternal damnation. [7] Eternal life is connected with the death of Christ in Eph 7:2 ("the one physician ... brought ... true life in death") and in Mag 9:1 ("on this day, our life dawned through him and his death, which some deny"). Especially telling is Eph 18:1 in which Ignatius views the cross as the path to eternal life and his connection to it as a sacrifice of his life fitting for the sacrifice which Christ offered up: "My spirit is in sacrificial service for the cross, which is a scandal to unbelievers, but to us it is salvation and eternal life."
{L73} 7 Eph 16:2, "Such a man (i.e. one who corrupts through heresy) because he is defiled, will end up in unquenchable fire. The same is true for the one who listens to him."
{L74} For Ignatius, then, martyrdom is more than the end of life, even more than the end of the Christian life. For him, martyrdom is a way of life because, as in the thought of Paul, Ignatius sees his life as flowing out of the life of Jesus Christ (cf. Gal 2:20). Ignatius views his union with the cross as his way not only to prepare for death but as carrying the death of Jesus Christ within himself (2 Cor 4:10). [8] And like John the apostle, Ignatius sees eternal life as the present possession of one who is united to Christ. [9] It is the presence of Christ's death within him that allows Ignatius to call himself "a substitute soul" ( antipsuchon ) and "a sacrificial offering" (peripsema ) because he embraces the cross for the benefit of the members of the body of Christ. His whole life -- his chains and his mistreatment -- constitutes a sacrificial martyrdom for Christ and for the church. [10]
{L75} 8 In other texts Ignatius draws on the terminology of imitation to express the union of the church (and himself) with Christ. For a fuller explanation see chapter three.
{L76} 9 For references to eternal life in the Johannine writings see Jn 1:4; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40; 11:25; 14:6.
{L77} 10 Camelot summarizes Ignatius's view of martyrdom well, "For the martyr death is not only giving witness to the truth, nor is it the supreme gesture of love. It is the reproduction of the death of Christ." Camelot, p. 33.