The three most prominent figures were Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. They served as church leaders and missionaries. They wrote letters, to individuals, churches, and to one another, and it is these letters that are our primary sources for their lives and ministry.
Ignatius of Antioch:
Around 110 AD, a ship sets sail from the port city of Antioch, bound for Rome. On board the ship is a prisoner who is to be taken to Rome to be punished for blasphemy. The punishment for this was cruel. If anyone refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods—and especially to the emperor—as a sign of loyalty, they risked death in the most brutal manner. Those who were to be punished were forced into an arena, and in front of thousands of cheering spectators, ferocious predators—lions and tigers—were set loose on them.
The man on the ship was named Ignatius, and he was well aware of the punishment that awaited him. You could certainly say that he had chosen this fate himself by actively rejecting the demand to make a sacrifice in honor of the emperor. This seemingly simple and trivial act of loyalty would have ensured that he could have continued his work as bishop of the Christian congregation in Antioch.
But for Ignatius, this was absolutely crucial. To call a human being “God”—as the emperor demanded to be worshipped—was, for Ignatius and the early Christians, idolatry. It also meant that, in practice, people accepted that the emperor stood above God. They were therefore willing to suffer a cruel and agonizing death rather than agree to call the emperor divine.
The letters of Ignatius:
It was aboard the ship, on his way to Rome and the punishment that awaited him there, that Ignatius wrote seven letters that have been preserved to this day and are now our best source of information about who he was. Polycarp of Smyrna, who was also the recipient of one of the letters, was the one who collected and transcribed these letters, ensuring that they were preserved for posterity.
Five of the letters were addressed to various churches in Asia Minor, one was addressed to Rome, and one was a personal letter to Polycarp.
It is clear from his letters that Ignatius has a thorough knowledge of the various churches he is writing to. He comforts, rebukes, and admonishes. He is deeply committed to ensuring that the churches preserve the teachings that have been handed down to them from the apostles. In his letter to the Trallians, he warns, among other things, against deviant teachings:
“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that you use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.”
Ignatius defends the doctrine that Jesus was a true human being:
A key point for Ignatius seems to be to challenge a doctrine and a teaching that deny that Jesus was truly human. He goes on to write in the same letter:
“But if, as some that are without God, that is, the unbelieving, say, that He only seemed to suffer (they themselves only seeming to exist), then why am I in bonds? Why do I long to be exposed to the wild beasts? Do I therefore die in vain? Am I not then guilty of falsehood against [the cross of] the Lord?”
(Source: https://app.hiddentreasures.org/en/hidden-treasures/1916/8/1-the-epistle-of-ignatius-to-the-trallians)
So Ignatius was willing to endure great suffering and a cruel death rather than renounce the teachings of the Apostles. For him, therefore, compromising on the teachings about Jesus—who he was and what he preached—was out of the question.
If Jesus’ temptations and sufferings were merely an illusion, something that “seemed” to be, then there would be no real victory over sinful human nature in which we could share. Jesus’ humanity was the very guarantee that “a new and living way” had truly been opened, as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it. A path where we can truly follow him and share in that same victory.
Furthermore, he goes on to write, it is the fruit that reveals what kind of tree these are. Here are Jesus’ own words from the Sermon on the Mount, to which Ignatius refers:
“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:16-20, retrived from <https://app.hiddentreasures.org/en/bible/ESV/MAT.7>
The unity of the faithful:
One of the good fruits that Ignatius highlights is the unity of the faithful. A church where the members love one another and are united in the same faith, where they submit to one another and show respect for those who have been appointed to lead the churches. He writes in detail about this to the church in Smyrna:
“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
(Source: https://app.hiddentreasures.org/en/hidden-treasures/1916/9/1-the-epistle-of-ignatius-to-the-smyrnaeans)
To modern readers, such an emphasis on subordination may seem foreign and strange. We are used to standing up for ourselves and our rights as individuals. But Ignatius’ point is not about religious power and oppression. Of course, it is also about a divine order, but above all, it is about what I learn about myself and the practical process of sanctification I experience through submission.
There is a great deal of pride, know-it-all attitude, and self-righteousness that comes to the surface when I am told to submit. It may seem as though I am right, in my own eyes. But that is not divine. It needs to be cleansed out. This process is necessary to attain the unity that Ignatius describes, and that unity thus becomes the fruit of such a process in the Christian’s life.
The martyrdom of Ignatius:
According to the story, Ignatius is said to have been martyred in the Colosseum itself, in front of tens of thousands of people, and most likely in the presence of Emperor Trajan himself.
Later accounts describe how many of these martyrs made an indelible impression on those who witnessed their executions, through their calm and composure in the midst of the terrible situation they found themselves in. This helped to spread the Christian message further, in direct opposition to the emperor’s intention, which was to intimidate Christians into abandoning their resolve not to offer sacrifices in honor of the emperor, thereby acknowledging the emperor’s divinity.
These days, the idea of dying as a martyr is very distant and foreign to most people. Nevertheless, we can learn a great deal from the early Christians’ faithfulness and steadfastness in their faith. Even when faced with the most dramatic consequences of their faith, they chose to stand firm in what they believed. In this way, they became role models for Christians, not only in their own time, but for centuries to come.
Just as Ignatius refused to compromise and physically bow down to the emperor, we are called today to refuse to bow down to the demands of sin in our own nature. This is how Jesus’ life is manifested in us today.
Watch the film about Ignatius here.