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BOOK 10 (from: _Apostolic Fathers,_ Kirsopp Lake, 1912 (Loeb Classical Library))

                         IGNATIUS to the Smyrnaeans

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CHAPTER 0
 0:0  Greeting
 0:1  |Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the
Church of God the Father and the Beloved Jesus Christ,
which has obtained mercy in every gift, and is filled
with faith and love, and comes behind in no gift, most
worthy of God, and gifted with holiness, -- the Church
which is in Smyrna in Asia -- abundant greeting in a
blameless spirit and in the Word of God.

CHAPTER 1
 1:0  The faith of the Smyrnaeans
 1:1  |I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who has
thus given you wisdom; for I have observed that you are
established in immoveable faith, as if nailed to the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, both in flesh and
spirit, and confirmed in love by the blood of Christ,
being fully persuaded as touching our Lord, that he is
in truth of the family of David according to the flesh,
God's son by the will and power of God, truly born of a
Virgin, baptised by John that "all righteousness might
be fulfilled by him,"
 1:2  truly nailed to a tree ^1 in the flesh for our
sakes under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch, (and
of its fruit are we from his divinely blessed Passion)
that "he might set up an ensign" for all ages through
his Resurrection, for his saints and believers, whether
among the Jews, or among the heathen, in one body of
his Church.

== small type on ==
 ^1  "Tree" is not expressed in the Greek: but seems to be implied
by the "fruit" in the next sentence, though the exact meaning of the
passage is obscure.
== small type off ==

CHAPTER 2
 2:0  Against Docetism
 2:1  |For he suffered all these things for us that we
might attain salvation, and he truly suffered even as
he also truly raised himself, not as some unbelievers
say, that his Passion was merely in semblance, -- but
it is they who are merely in semblance, and even
according to their opinions it shall happen to them,
and they shall be without bodies and phantasmal.

CHAPTER 3
 3:0  The Resurrection in the flesh
 3:1  |For I know and believe that he was in the flesh
even after the Resurrection.
 3:2  And when he came to those with Peter he said to
them: "Take, handle me and see that I am not a phantom
without a body." And they immediately touched him and
believed, being mingled both with his flesh and spirit.
Therefore they despised even death, and were proved to
be above death.
 3:3  And after his Resurrection he ate and drank with
them as a being of flesh, although he was united in
spirit to the Father.

CHAPTER 4
 4:0  Warning against heretical teachers
 4:1  |Now I warn you of these things, beloved, knowing
that you also are so minded. But I guard you in advance
against beasts in the form of men, whom you must not
only not receive, but if it is possible not even meet,
but only pray for them, if perchance they may repent,
difficult though that be, -- but Jesus Christ who is
our true life has the power over this.
 4:2  For if it is merely in semblance that these
things were done by our Lord I am also a prisoner in
semblance. And why have I given myself up to death, to
fire, to the sword, to wild beasts? Because near the
sword is near to God, with the wild beasts is with God;
in the name of Jesus Christ alone am I enduring all
things, that I may suffer with him, and the perfect man
himself gives me strength.

CHAPTER 5
 5:0  Against Docetism
 5:1  |There are some who ignorantly deny him, but
rather were denied by him, being advocates of death
rather than of the truth. These are they whom neither
the prophecies nor the law of Moses persuaded, nor the
gospel even until now, nor our own individual
sufferings.
 5:2  For they have the same opinion concerning us. For
what does anyone profit me if he praise me but
blaspheme my Lord, and do not confess that he was
clothed in flesh? But he who says this has denied him
absolutely and is clothed with a corpse.
 5:3  Now I have not thought right to put into writing
their unbelieving names; but would that I might not
even remember them, until they repent concerning the
Passion, which is our resurrection.

CHAPTER 6
 6:0  The universal judgment -- The unchristian
behaviour of heretics
 6:1  |Let no one be deceived; even things in heaven
and the glory of the angels, and the rulers visible and
invisible, even for them there is a judgment if they do
not believe on the blood of Christ. "He that receiveth
let him receive." Let not office exalt anyone, for
faith and love is everything, and nothing has been
preferred to them.
 6:2  But mark those who have strange opinions
concerning the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to
us, and see how contrary they are to the mind of God.
For love they have no care, none for the widow, none
for the orphan, none for the distressed, none for the
afflicted, none for the prisoner, or for him released
from prison, none for the hungry or thirsty.

CHAPTER 7
 7:0  Heretics and the Eucharist
 7:1  |They abstain from Eucharist and prayer, because
they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of
our Saviour Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins,
which the Father raised up by his goodness. They then
who deny the gift of God are perishing in their
disputes; but it were better for them to have love,
that they also may attain to the Resurrection.
 7:2  It is right to refrain from such men and not even
to speak about them in private or in public, but to
give heed to the prophets and especially to the Gospel,
in which the Passion has been revealed to us and the
Resurrection has been accomplished. But flee from
divisions as the beginning of evils.

CHAPTER 8
 8:0  Submission to the Bishop and the Presbyters
 8:1  |See that you all follow the bishop, as Jesus
Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as if it
were the Apostles. And reverence the deacons as the
command of God. Let no one do any of the things
appertaining to the Church without the bishop. Let that
be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by
the bishop, or by one whom he appoints.
 8:2  Wherever the bishop appears let the congregation
be present; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is
the Catholic Church. It is not lawful either to baptise
or to hold an "agape'" ^1 without the bishop; but
whatever he approve, this is also pleasing to God, that
everything which you do may be secure and valid.

== small type on ==
 ^1  Agape' means "love": the name was given to some kind of
religious meal. The context here suggests that it is a synonym for
the Eucharist, but the point is doubted by some scholars. In the
A.V. of Jude 12 it is translated "Love feasts."
== small type off ==

CHAPTER 9
 9:0  Honour due to the Bishop
 9:1  |Moreover it is reasonable for us to return to
soberness, while we still have time to repent towards
God. It is good to know God and the bishop. He who
honours the bishop has been honoured by God; he who
does anything without the knowledge of the bishop is
serving the devil.
 9:2  Let all things then abound to you in grace, for
you are worthy. In all respects you have refreshed me,
and may Jesus Christ give refreshment to you. You have
loved me in my absence, and in my presence. God is your
reward, and if for his sake you endure all things, you
shall attain to him.

CHAPTER 10
 10:0  Thanks to the Smyrnaeans
 10:1  |You did well to receive as deacons of God,
Philo and Rheus Agathopous, who followed me in the
cause of God; and they also give thanks to the Lord for
your sake that you refreshed them in every way.
Assuredly shall nothing be lost for you.
 10:2  May my spirit be for your life, and my bonds,
which you treated neither with haughtiness nor shame.
And he who is perfect hope, Jesus Christ, shall not be
ashamed of you.

CHAPTER 11
 11:0  The Church in Syria
 11:1  |Your prayer reached the Church which is in
Antioch in Syria, and I greet all men as one who comes
thence in bonds which are most seemly in God's sight,
though I am not worthy to be from thence, for I am the
least of them; but by the will of God I have been
thought worthy, not that I am conscious of deserts, ^1
but by the grace of God, and I pray that this may be
given to me to the end, and that by your prayers I may
attain to God.
 11:2  In order then that your work may be perfect both
on earth and in heaven, your Church ought to appoint
for the honour of God a delegate of God to go to Syria,
and congratulate them that they have gained peace, and
have recovered their proper greatness, and that their
proper constitution has been restored.
 11:3  It appeared to me therefore a deed worthy of God
for you to send one of your number with a letter to
join in extolling the tranquility which they have
obtained from God, and that through your prayers they
were now gaining a haven. As you are perfect, so also
may your counsel be perfect. For if you desire to do
well God is ready to help you.

== small type on ==
 ^1  Or, possibly, "by my own complicity."
== small type off ==

CHAPTER 12
 12:0  Greetings from Troas
 12:1  |The love of the brethren who are at Troas
salutes you, whence I am writing to you by Burrhus,
whom you together with the Ephesians your brothers sent
with me, and he has in every way refreshed me. Would
that all imitated him, for he is a pattern of the
ministry of God. In all things grace shall reward him.
 12:2  I salute the godly bishop, and the revered
presbytery, and the deacons my fellow-servants, and you
all, individually and together, in the name of Jesus
Christ, and in his flesh and blood, by his Passion and
Resurrection both of flesh and spirit, in union with
God and with you. Grace be to you, mercy, peace and
endurance for ever.

CHAPTER 13
 13:0  Final greetings
 13:1  |I salute the families of my brethren with their
wives and children, and the maidens who are called
widows. Farewell in the power of the Father. Philo who
is with me greets you.
 13:2  I salute the house of Tavia, and pray that she
be confirmed in faith and love, both of the flesh and
spirit. I salute Alce, a name most dear to me, and the
incomparable Daphnus, and Eutecnus, ^1 and all others
by their several names. Farewell in the grace of God.

== small type on ==
 ^1  It is not impossible that _euteknon_ is an adjective meaning
"with good children," and referring to Daphnus. Zahn takes this
view.
== small type off ==