We Should Be Christians in Deed
From the beginning of a letter to the Magnesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. c. 107)
We should be Christians in deed, as well as in name
Narrated by Frank Dugan, Huntington Beach, California
Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the church at Magnesia on the Meander, a church blessed with the grace of God the Father in Christ Jesus , our Savior, in whom I salute you. I send you every good wish in God the Father and in Jesus Christ.
I was delighted to hear of your love of God, so well ordered and devout, and so I decided to address you in the faith of Jesus Christ. Honored as I am with a name of the greatest splendor, though I am still in chains I sing the praises of the churches, and pray that they be united with the flesh and the spirit of Jesus Christ, who is our eternal life; a union in faith and love, to which nothing must be preferred; and above all a union with Jesus and the Father, for if in him we endure all the power of the prince of this world, and escape unharmed, we shall make our way to God.
I have had the honor of seeing you in the person of Damas your bishop, a man of God, and in the persons of your worthy presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius, and my fellow-servant, the deacon Zotion; may I continue to take delight in him for he is obedient to the bishop as to the grace of God, and to the presbyters as to the law of Jesus Christ.
Now it hardly becomes you to presume on your bishop’s youth, but rather, having regard to the power of God the Father, to show him every mark of respect. This, I understand, is what your holy presbyters do, not taking advantage of his youthful condition but deferring to him with the prudence which comes from God, or rather not to him but to the Father of Jesus Christ, to the bishop of all. So then, for the honor of him who loves us, it is proper to obey without hypocrisy; for a man does not so much deceive the bishop he can see as try to deceive the bishop he cannot see. In such a case he has to reckon not with a man, but with God who knows the secrets of the heart.
We should then really live as Christians and not merely have the name; for many invoke the bishop’s name but do everything apart from him. Such men, I think, do not have a good conscience, for they do not assemble lawfully as commanded.
All things have an end, and two things, life and death, are side by side set before us, and each man will go to his own place. Just as there are two coinages, one of God and the other of the world, each with its own image, so unbelievers bear the image of this world, and those who have faith with love bear the image of God the Father through Jesus Christ. Unless we are ready through his power to die in the likeness of his passion, his life is not in us.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Ignatius (d. c. 107) was consecrated a bishop by Saint Peter and appointed bishop of Antioch following the death of Evodius, first bishop of the see of Antioch. Ignatius governed for forty years but was arrested under the persecution of Emperor Trajan, condemned to death, and was sent under guard to Rome for execution. The ship he was on traveled along the coast of Asia Minor, then Greece, and finally reached Rome. Wherever the ship touched port, he was greeted by crowds of Christians, but he received ill-treatment by his captors.
He arrived in Rome on December 20, 107. the last day of the public games. He was escorted to the amphitheater and there was killed by lions in the arena. A detailed description of the trip to Rome is provided by Agathopus and a deacon named Philo, who were with him, and who also wrote at his dictation seven letters of instruction to different churches. Knowing he would soon be a martyr, he expresses his willingness to die for Christ. In all the letters, Ignatius gives insights to the structure of the Church, marriage, the Trinity, the Incarnation, Redemption, and the Eucharist, which are among the most important of the earliest Christian writings.