Pastoral Christology in Ignatius of Antioch
In light of the current political and social turmoil, some wonder if doctrines not directly applicable to apologetics or evangelism are really all that important. Rather than exploring the doctrines of the Trinity or Reformed Arminian soteriology, wouldn’t our time be better spent developing new outreach methods or political activist organizations?
Keeping a fervent Gospel vision is essential. But believing the doctrines of the faith will remain unchallenged and unchanged without consistent attention is foolish. C.S. Lewis illustrated this point well: “If you don’t read good books, you will read bad ones. If you don’t go on thinking rationally, you will think irrationally.”[1] Despite the many dangers and imminent trials we face in any time, we must continue developing and reinforcing right thinking (orthodoxy), or else wrong thinking will take hold.
Ignatius of Antioch (d. early ad 100s) exemplifies defending orthodoxy during extreme social and cultural circumstances. While traveling to his martyrdom, his singular concern was not imminent death. Rather, he discussed the importance of right doctrine, especially concerning Christ’s nature.[2] In a similar manner we also should not concern ourselves with only the turmoil of our times, but also the doctrines of the faith.
Ignatius of Antioch
In Michael Holmes’s words, Ignatius is like a “meteor . . . [that] blazes briefly through the atmosphere before dying in a shower of fire.”[3] This is because our knowledge of him is derived almost completely from his final letters. Though the glimpse is brief, he was “universally remembered” several centuries later.[4] And his writings have remained popular even to the present day.
Ignatius became famous around when Emperor Trajan came to power in ad 98 and persecution was widespread.[5] Though we don’t know the occasion of his arrest, Ignatius was taken from Syria between ad 107 and 110 and escorted to Rome. Tradition holds he was fed to lions after his arrival.[6]
During his journey, Ignatius recorded precious information about the first-century church. His descriptions of early ecclesiology, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, and martyrdom have perennially piqued Christians’ interest. Yet his writings also emphasize ecclesial unity and orthodoxy. The early church historian Eusebius (AD c. 260-339) wrote that Ignatius was primarily concerned with warning churches to “guard most carefully against the heresies which were then first becoming prevalent.”[7] Ignatius wanted to encourage them in “the apostolic tradition” that he was entrusting to them since he was “on his way to martyrdom.”[8] In particular, Ignatius gave attention to Christology.
Heresies concerning Christ’s nature had been present since the apostles’ time (and still are). John’s Gospel seems to address false teachings that variously over-emphasized Christ’s humanity or deity to the practical exclusion of the other. Both heresies remained common in the early church.[9] Ignatius took these false teachings seriously. And on his way to martyrdom, he left a lasting defense of the apostolic faith handed down to him.
They Hypostatic Union in Ignatius’s Thought
The hypostatic union of Christ is a doctrine that asserts Jesus’ complete humanity and deity. Being of one substance with the Father, He assumed human flesh, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit by the virgin, Mary. This is Scripture’s testimony, but it’s nonetheless a great mystery.
The church’s concept of the hypostatic union of Christ was not fully articulated until the Council of Nicea in ad 325. Nevertheless, the early church developed a “common” way of discussing it.[10] And each of Ignatius’s epistles illustrates this, reaffirming accepted teachings, and combating the heresies surrounding Christ’s nature.
Truly God
Throughout these epistles Ignatius presents Jesus as divine. He repeatedly ascribes God’s power and duties to Christ. More explicitly, he refers to Jesus as God in his letter to the Romans greeting them “in Jesus Christ our God” and describing them as having “faith in and love for Jesus Christ our God.”[11]
Writing to the Magnesians, Ignatius affirms “there is one God who revealed himself through Jesus Christ his Son, who is his Word that came forth from silence.”[12] Echoing John 1, Ignatius describes Jesus as God’s Son Who has revealed and communicated the Father. And to the Philadelphians, he writes that the Holy Spirit is Christ’s spirit.[13]
Just as Ignatius believed Jesus was God, he also understood Him to be a man descended from David.
Truly Man
Writing to the Trallians, Ignatius presents Jesus as a real human enjoying food and bearing the pain of true death. He warns them to “be deaf” to anyone presenting false doctrine and states that Jesus Christ “was of the family of David . . . the son of Mary; who really was born, who both ate and drank; who really was persecuted under Pontius Pilate, who really was crucified and died.”[14]
Ignatius also bears witness to Jesus’ human, fleshly existence by writing to the Smyrnaeans that he “know[s] and believe[s] that [Jesus] was in the flesh even after the resurrection . . . [and not] disembodied.”[15] He explains that Jesus’ suffering and death weren’t “as some atheists . . . say . . . in appearance only,” which he considered blasphemy.[16] He also encourages them to shun anyone denying Jesus’ humanity. Instead, they should be “fully convinced about the birth and the suffering” of Jesus Who has “most assuredly done” them.[17]
Pre-Nicene Statement
Bringing both elements together into one statement, Ignatius describes Jesus as “the Eternal, the Invisible, who for our sake became visible; the Intangible, the Unsuffering, who for our sake suffered.”[18] He is “totally convinced with regard to our Lord that he is truly of the family of David with respect to human descent, Son of God with respect to the divine will and power.”[19] Again, although these doctrines weren’t fully developed for another 200 years, Ignatius’s statements provide a glimpse of the their development.
Applying the Hypostatic Union
Ignatius includes the doctrine of the hypostatic union in his final words for more than preservation. He believed the doctrine of Christ’s nature is important because it is essential to living the Christian life. He argues that the hypostatic union provides unity for believers with God and with each other, while also bringing all things under Christ’s lordship.
The Unifying Effect of the Hypostatic Union
Though we often focus only on the wonder of Jesus’ birth and death, Ignatius was just as fascinated by Jesus’ unique nature as the God-man: “For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan, both from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit. He was born and was baptized in order that by his suffering he might cleanse the water.”[20] For Christ to cleanse us (what Ignatius refers to as “the water”), He must first identify with us in His human nature. Further, Christ’s unique nature also brings resurrection: “In the same way his Father will likewise also raise up in Christ Jesus us who believe in him.”[21]
Not only are we united with Christ through His nature, but we’re also united with each other. Ignatius calls for us to “gather together . . . in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who physically was a descendant of David, who is Son of Man and Son of God, in order that you may . . . [break] one bread.”[22] Therefore, Christ’s incarnation provides the means of union with God and man for each of us.
The Hypostatic Union for All of Life
Ignatius also argues that this doctrine brings all of life under Christ’s lordship. In his epistle to the Ephesians, Ignatius commends them for not listening to “anyone unless he speaks truthfully about Jesus Christ.”[23] Ignatius connects false teaching about Jesus with those “who are accustomed to carrying about the Name maliciously and deceitfully while doing other things unworthy of God.”[24]
Concerning these “unworthy” deeds, Ignatius argues that nothing in this world is beyond the lordship of Christ. Because Jesus was both God and man “even those things that you do according to the flesh are in fact spiritual, for you do everything in Jesus Christ.”[25] Therefore, the hypostatic union of Christ is for all of life.
Conclusion
Free Will Baptists have historically ordered their faith and practices around Scripture and the apostolic church. Ignatius comes from a generation of Christians who still remembered meeting the apostles and hearing them preach. He provides a rare glimpse into how these early believers interpreted and applied Scripture.
He also provides a rare example of remembering the importance of right teaching, even when life is challenging. Facing martyrdom only served to increase Ignatius’s concern for preserving right doctrine. We need to consider such examples from the past as we struggle through our own times.
Ignatius provides ancient perspectives on familiar doctrines and passages through rich writings we should reclaim. Christ’s God-man nature brings us into union with God and His church while also affirming that all of life lies under Christ’s lordship. For Ignatius, the doctrine of Christ’s nature is essential to the church under attack not only because it is faithful to Scripture, but also because it teaches us how to live.
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[1] C.S. Lewis, “Learning in War-Time” preached at Evensong in St. Mary the Virgin on 22 October, 1939 reprinted in C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory: And Other Addresses rev. ed. (New York: HarperOne, 1980), 52.
[2] His seven letters are written to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans, and the bishop Polycarp.
[3] Michael W. Holmes, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers: Greek and English Translations 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 166.
[4] Eusebius, 3. 36; for a summary treatment of the various recensions and spurious letters attached to Ignatius’ name and how scholars have dealt with them see Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers, 171-177.
[5] Eusebius, 3. 22.
[6] Ignatius to the Romans 5:1 (hereafter, Romans).
[7] Eusebius, 3. 36.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language 3rd ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 50.
[10] Michael A.G. Haykin, Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 42.
[11] Romans, “Salutation”; see also Romans 3:3, Ignatius to Smyrnaeans 1:1 (hereafter, Smyrnaeans), and Ignatius to Polycarp 8:3 (hereafter, Polycarp); italics added.
[12] Ignatius to the Magnesians 8:2b (hereafter, Magnesians).
[13] Ignatius to the Philadelphians “Salutation” (hereafter, Philadelphians).
[14] Ignatius to the Trallians 9:1-2 (hereafter, Trallians).
[15] Smyrnaeans, 3:1-2.
[16] Trallians, 10, 11:1; Smyrnaeans, 2, 4, 5:2.
[17] Magnesians, 11.
[18] Ignatius to Polycarp, 3:2 (hereafter, Polycarp).
[19] Smyrnaeans, 1:1.
[20] Ephesians, 18:2; italics added.
[21] Trallians, 9:2; italics added.
[22] Ephesians, 20:2.
[23] Ephesians, 6:2.
[24] Ibid., 7:1.
[25] Ephesians, 8:2.
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