After the ApostlesEarly church writer
Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius was bishop of the church at Antioch in Syria, one of the first great centres of Christianity outside Palestine. Tradition says he was arrested and taken under guard to Rome to be put to death, usually dated to the reign of the emperor Trajan, in the early second century. Some scholars argue for a somewhat later date.
On the journey he was met by delegations from churches in Asia Minor, and he wrote seven letters: to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome and Philadelphia, to the church in Smyrna, and to its bishop, Polycarp. The first four are said to have been written from Smyrna and the last three from Troas. Together they are a major early source for how Christians thought about Christ, the church, the Lord's Supper and martyrdom.
Ignatius's letters survive in a shorter and a longer form, and in the seventeenth century scholars showed that the shorter form is the original and the longer an expansion. This site prints only the shorter form. Ignatius also appears in the Martyrdom of Polycarp tradition and in Polycarp's own letter, which mentions collecting his letters.
Read Ignatius of Antioch on this site
Ignatius to the Ephesians
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
The longest of the seven letters: a warm thank-you to the Ephesians, with Ignatius's call for unity and his hymn-like description of Christ's coming.
Ignatius to the Magnesians
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
A short letter on unity with the bishop and on leaving behind old Jewish practices for life in Christ.
Ignatius to the Trallians
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
Ignatius on church order, and a firm insistence that Christ truly suffered.
Ignatius to the Romans
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
The most personal and best-known of the seven letters: a bishop on his way to be killed, asking his friends not to save him.
Ignatius to the Philadelphians
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
Ignatius appeals for unity and takes on a dispute with Christians who said that they believed only what they found in "the archives".
Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
Includes the earliest known use of the phrase "the catholic church", and a sharp warning against those who deny Christ's real suffering.
Ignatius to Polycarp
Ignatius of Antioch · About AD 110 (traditional)
A short, personal letter of advice from one bishop to a younger one.
Dates are traditional or approximate, and scholars debate many of them. Who were the church fathers?