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Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–c. 107). Born around 35 AD, possibly in Syria, Ignatius was an early Christian bishop of Antioch, one of the Apostolic Fathers, and a disciple of the Apostle John. Little is known of his early life, but he emerged as a key leader in the Antiochene church, emphasizing unity under episcopal authority. Arrested during a persecution, likely under Emperor Trajan, he was sentenced to death in Rome’s Colosseum. While being transported as a prisoner, he wrote seven letters to churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and to Polycarp, which survive as vital early Christian texts. These letters defend the Incarnation, the Eucharist as Christ’s flesh, and the centrality of bishops, countering heresies like Docetism. Martyred around 107 AD, he was devoured by wild beasts, leaving only a few bones. His fearless embrace of death for Christ’s sake inspired early believers. Ignatius wrote, “I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ.”
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Ignatius of Antioch emphasizes his willingness to die for God and urges the Churches not to hinder him, desiring to become food for wild beasts to attain God. He sees himself as the wheat of God, being ground by the teeth of wild beasts to be the pure bread of God, wishing for the beasts to become his tomb. Ignatius longs to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, seeking to be a sacrifice to God through his suffering and eventual freedom in Christ, learning not to desire anything worldly while in bonds for Him.
Allow Me to Fall a Prey to the Wild Beasts
I write to all the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may not be found troublesome to any one. Then shall I be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat the Lord for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles of Jesus Christ, but I am the very least [of believers]: they were free, as the servants of God; while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus Christ, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being in bonds for Him, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.
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Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35–c. 107). Born around 35 AD, possibly in Syria, Ignatius was an early Christian bishop of Antioch, one of the Apostolic Fathers, and a disciple of the Apostle John. Little is known of his early life, but he emerged as a key leader in the Antiochene church, emphasizing unity under episcopal authority. Arrested during a persecution, likely under Emperor Trajan, he was sentenced to death in Rome’s Colosseum. While being transported as a prisoner, he wrote seven letters to churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and to Polycarp, which survive as vital early Christian texts. These letters defend the Incarnation, the Eucharist as Christ’s flesh, and the centrality of bishops, countering heresies like Docetism. Martyred around 107 AD, he was devoured by wild beasts, leaving only a few bones. His fearless embrace of death for Christ’s sake inspired early believers. Ignatius wrote, “I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ.”