Only pray ye for strength to be given to me from within and from without, that I may not only speak, but also may be willing, and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but also may be found to be [one]; for if I am found to be [so], I may then also be called [so]. Then [indeed] shall I be faithful, when I am no longer seen in the world. For there is nothing visible that is good. The work is not [a matter] of persuasion; but Christianity is great when the world hateth it.

IV. I write to all the Churches, and declare to all men, that I willingly die for the sake of God, if so be that ye hinder me not. I entreat of you not to be [affected] toward me with a love which is unseasonable. Leave me to become [the prey of] the wild beasts, that by their means I may be accounted worthy of God. I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts shall I be ground, that I may be found the pure bread of God. Provoke ye greatly the wild beasts, that they may be for me a grave, and may leave nothing of my body, in order that when I have fallen asleep I may not be a burden to any one. Then shall I be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world seeth not even my body. Entreat of our Lord in my behalf, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not, like Peter and Paul, issue orders unto you. They are apostles, but I am one condemned; they indeed are free, but I am a slave, even until now. But if I suffer I shall be the freedman of Jesus Christ, and I shall rise in him from the dead, free. And now, being in bonds, I learn to desire nothing.

V. From Syria, and even unto Rome, I am cast among wild beasts, by sea and by land, by night and by day, being bound between ten leopards, which are the bonds of soldiers, who, even when I do good to them, all the more do evil unto me. I, however, am the rather instructed by their injurious treatment; but not on this account am I justified to myself. I rejoice in the beasts which are prepared for me, and I pray that they may in haste be found for me; and I will provoke them speedily to devour me, and not be as those which are afraid of some other men, and I will not approach them; even should they not be willing to approach me, I will go with violence against them. Know me from myself what is expedient for me. Let no one envy me of those things which are seen and which are not seen, that I should be accounted worthy of Jesus Christ. Fire, and the cross, and the beasts that are prepared, cutting off of the limbs, and scattering of the bones, and crushing of the whole body, harsh torments of the devil-let these come upon me, but only let me be accounted worthy of Jesus Christ.

VI. The pains of the birth stand over against me.

VII. And my love is crucified, and there is no fire in me for another love. I do not desire the food of corruption, neither the lusts of this world. I seek the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ; and I seek his blood, a drink which is love incorruptible.

FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXII.—3

IX. My spirit saluteth you, and the love of the Churches which received me as the name of Jesus Christ; for those also who were near to [my] way in the flesh preceded me in every city. Now, therefore, being about to arrive shortly in Rome, I know many things in God; but I keep myself within measure, that I may not perish through boasting, for now it is needful for ine to bear the more, and not to pay regard to those who puff me up. For they who say such things to me scourge me; for I desire to suffer, but I do not know if I am worthy. For zeal is not visible to many, but with me it has war. I have need, there-` fore, of meekness, by which the prince of this world is destroyed. I am able to write to you of heavenly things, but I fear lest I should do you an injury. Know me from myself. For I am cautious lest ye should not be able to receive [such knowledge,] and should be perplexed. For even I, not because I am in bonds, and am able to know heavenly things, and the places of angels and the stations of the powers that are seen and that are not seen, am on this account a disciple; for I am far short of the perfection which is worthy of God. Be ye perfectly strong in the patience of Jesus Christ our God.‡

Although few in number, some scholars regard the whole body of the Ignatian literature as spurious. Baur, following out the principles of the Tübingen school in relation to the earliest patristic writings, considers it a fiction of the later half of the second century. Dr. W. D. Killen, too, declares them to be forgeries.§ The principal reasons, based upon internal evidence, which Dr. Killen applies specially to the Syriac epistles, are applicable to all the letters. If the Syriac version is spurious, a fortiori is the Greek.

"1. The way in which the word of God is ignored in these epistles argues strongly for their spuriousness. Every one acquainted with the early Fathers must have observed their frequent use of the sacred records. A considerable portion of a chapter is sometimes introduced in a quotation. Hence it has been remarked that were all the copies of the Bible lost, and the writings of these Fathers preserved, a large share of the holy volume might thus be recovered. But Ignatius would contribute nothing to the work of restoration; as, in the whole * Chap. viii of the Greek is not contained in the Syriac version. The remainder is also found substantially in Trallians iv, v. "Ante-Nicene Christian Library," vol. i, pp. 281–285.

§ See "The Ancient Church: Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution Traced for the First Three Hundred Years," by W. D. Killen, D.D. London. 1859. Pp. 414-428.

of the three letters, not a single verse of Scripture is given at length.

"2. The chronological blunders prove their spurious character. "3. Various words are employed in a meaning which they did not acquire till a time long after the death of Ignatius. 'Purity' or 'chastity' and 'bishop' are such terms.

“4. The puerilities, vaporing, and mysticism of these letters proclaim their forgery.

"5. The unhallowed and insane desire and anxiety for martyrdom which appears throughout these letters is another decisive proof of fabrication.”

But in favor of the genuineness of at least a certain part of the Ignatian literature several arguments are presented, the evidence of which, controverting the points just cited, amounts to hardly less than positive proof. It may here be remarked that the most strenuous defenders of this literatnre do not at the present day claim genuineness for other than the seven epistles to the Ephesians, to the Magnesians, to the Trallians, to the Romans, to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrnæans, and to Polycarp. The following arguments are limited in their application to these seven letters.

1. The testimony of the Fathers. In the epistle of Polycarp to the Church at Philippi, written probably in the first quarter of the second century, the author remarks: "The epistles of Ignatius which he wrote unto us, together with his other letters which have come to our hands, we have sent to you according to your order, subjoined to this epistle; and ye may be greatly profited by them, for they treat of faith and patience, and of all things that pertain to edification in the Lord Jesus." Eusebius, in his "Ecclesiastical History," informs us that these letters of Ignatius, alluded to by Polycarp, were quoted by Irenæus. In the third century, Origen twice cites Ignatius by But the most important testimony is that of Eusebius, which is remarkably full and exact :—

name.

Ignatius, who is celebrated among many, even to the present time, had obtained the episcopate, being secured in the succession from Peter at Antioch. Of whom it is related that being sent from Syria to the city of Rome, he was devoured by wild beasts on account of his confession of Christ. And passing through Asia under the vigilant guard of his keepers, confirming the dioceses, as he stayed at each city, by verbal discourses and exhorta

tions, he charged them most especially to beware of the heresies then springing up and beginning to abound, and exhorted them to maintain resolutely the tradition of the apostles, which for the more security he thought it necessary to set forth in writing also, thus confirming it by his own testimony. Having, therefore, arrived at Smyrna, where Polycarp was, he writes one epistle to the Church at Ephesus, mentioning its pastor, Onesimus; another to that at Magnesia on the Mæander, in which again he makes mention of their bishop, Damus; and another to that in Tralles, mentioning Polybius as then being its ruler. Besides these, he writes to the Church of the Romans; to whom he addresses an entreaty that they would not disappoint him of his hope and desire by interceding for the remission of his sentence. [Here follows the narrative found in Romans v, as quoted.] After he had set forth from Smyrna he wrote again from Troas to the Philadelphians and to the Church of the Smyrnæans, and particularly to Polycarp, its president, to whom-forasmuch as he well knew him to be an apostolical man-like a true and good shepherd he committed his flock at Antioch, entreating him diligently to take the charge of it. Moreover, in his epistle to the Smyrnæans he reports a saying, I know not whence derived, speaking in this manner concerning Christ: But I know and believe him to have been in the flesh, even after his resurrection. And when he came to Peter and the rest, he said unto them: Take hold, handle me, and see that I am not a spirit without body.

2. The vigor and freshness of their style also indicate the genuineness of these letters. These qualities are exemplified in the liberal quotations we have made, and are not such as a forger could easily counterfeit.

3. The quotations from the New Testament are very few. This proves that they were written at a time when the MSS. of the New Testament were difficult to obtain; that is, in the sub-apostolic age.

4. The directness and simplicity of its method of opposing the principal heresies of the early Church, particularly Gnosticism, show that these errors were in the first stage of development.

5. Though episcopacy is lauded,* the primacy of Rome is not recognized even in the epistle to the Romans. This fact, though allowing no inference as to a definite date, indicates that the letters were composed not later than the third century.

The question, however, still remains for consideration, Does the Syriac or the shorter Greek recension more accurately represent the original Ignatius? That the longer Greek recension * See Tral., vii, et alias. Schaff's "History," i, 470.

was formed by interpolations in the shorter is now granted by the common consent of scholarship. Respecting the genuineness of the Syriac or of the shorter Greek version, we incline toward the belief that the Greek more correctly represents the epistles as they were written by the martyr. The following reasons appear to us conclusive:—

1. The testimony of Eusebius, of the fourth century, proves the existence of the seven epistles which we now have in Greek. But, according to Dr. Cureton, the MS. of the Syriac version is not earlier than the sixth or seventh century, two or three centuries later than the date of Eusebius" "History," when the Greek version was circulating through the East.

2. The Greek version agrees with the citations made by the Fathers, not only of the first three centuries, but also with those of the fourth, fifth, and sixth, with an accuracy similar to that which is observed in the patristic quotations of the Scriptures. 3. The Syriac version is in places obscure for the lack of words which the Greek text supplies.

4. The translation and abridgment of Greek MSS. into Syriac was not uncommon in the first centuries of the Christian era. 5. A careful scrutiny and comparison of the Syriac and the Greek text indicates that the former is an abridgment of the latter. Baur, Hilgenfeld, and Uhlhorn, after a most minute examination of the two versions, arrived at this conclusion.*

6. The sixth and last argument that we present for the genuineness of the Greek text is derived from the personal characteristics of the author which are impressed upon the writings. These characteristics, it will be remembered, we found to be in the first division of the paper, courage, spirituality, enthusiasm, spiritual pride, extreme loyalty to the Church, and courtesy. These personal qualities, it must be observed, could not be inferred from the Syriac version.

The introduction of those personal elements into the problem of the genuineness of the Ignatian epistles materially aids its solution. The first question to be considered in relation to them is, Are these the characteristics which would be demanded in the bishop of the Church at Antioch, and which would be disciplined by the duties of that office. If they are, a strong argument follows for the genuineness of the letters; if they * See "Quarterly Review" for 1851, pp. 97, 98; Schaff's "History," i, p. 471.