Ignatius of Antioch (probably died somewhere around AD 107) was the third patriarch of Antioch, after Saint Peter and Euodius , who died around AD 68. Eusebius, (Historia Eccl., II.iii.22) records that Ignatius succeeded Euodius. Making his apostolic succession even more immediate, Theodoret (Dial. Immutab., I, iv, 33a) reported that Peter himself appointed Ignatius to the see of Antioch.

Ignatius, who also called himself Theophorus ("vessel of God"), was most likely a disciple of both Apostles Peter and John. Seven of his letters, used by Eusebius, have survived to this day; he is generally considered to be one of the Apostolic Fathers the earliest authoritative group of the Church Fathers), and a saint by both the Catholic, who celebrate his feast day on February 1, and the Orthodox churches, who celebrate his feast day on December 20.

Ignatius was arrested by the Roman authorities and transported to Rome under trying conditions:

"From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated." — Ignatius to the Romans,5.

His fate: to die a martyr in the arena. The Roman authorities hoped to make an example of him and thus discourage Christianity from spreading. Instead, he met with and encouraged Christians who flocked to meet him all along his route, and he wrote letters to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia on the Maeander, Tralles , Philadelphia, Smyrna, and at Rome, as well as a letter to Polycarp, who was Bishop of Smyrna and, according to Christian tradition, a disciple of John the Evangelist.

A detailed but spurious account of Ignatius' arrest and his travails and martyrdom is the material of the Martyrium Ignatii which is presented as being an eyewitnesss account for the church of Antioch, and as if written by Ignatius' companions, Philo of Cilicia, deacon at Tarsus, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian. Though Bishop Ussher regarded it as genuine, if there is any genuine nucleus of the Martyrium, it has been so greatly expanded with interpolations that no part of it is without questions. Its most reliable manuscript is the 10th century Codex Colbertinus (Paris), in which the Martyrium closes the collection. The Martyrium presents the confrontation of the bishop Ignatius with Trajan at Antioch, a familiar trope of Acta of the martyrs, and many details of the long, partly overland voyage to Rome.

After Ignatius' martyrdom in the Flavian Amphitheatre, his remains were honorably carried back to Antioch by his companions, and were first interred outside the city gates, then removed by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychaeum, or Temple of Tyche which was converted into a Christian church dedicated to Ignatius. In 637 the relics were translated to St Clement's, Rome.

The letters of Ignatius have proved to be important testimony to the development of Christian theology, since the number of extant writings from this period of church history is very small. They bear signs of being written in great haste and without a proper plan, such as run-on sentences and an unsystematic succesion of thought. Ignatius is the first known Christian writer to put great stress on loyality to a single bishop in each city, who is assisted by both presbyters (priests) and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. Ignatius also stresses the value of the Eucharist, calling it "a medicine to immortality". The very strong desire for bloody martyrdom in the arena, which Ignatius expresses rather graphically in places, may seem quite odd to the modern reader, but an examination of his theology of soteriology shows that he regarded salvation as being from the power and fear of death. So, for him, to try to escape his martyrdom would be to fear death and place himself back under its power.

By the 5th century, the collection had been enlarged by spurious letters, and the original letters had been improved with interpolations, created to postumously enlist Ignatius as an unwitting witness in theological disputes of that age, while the purported eye-witness account of his martyrdom is also thought to be a forgery from around the same time.

External links

• Early Christian writings: on-line texts of Ignatius' letters
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St Ignatius of Antioch; the manuscript traditions and the controversy over authenticity
• The Ecclesiology of St. Ignatius of Antioch by Fr. John S. Romanides