that ye are so informed For I have received the Exemplar of your love and have it by me in your Bishop whose behaviour is a great Disciplination and his meekness power whom I think that very Atheists do reverence being satisfied that I spare not my self Formerly though I might have matter to write I thought not fit for this cause lest being a condemned person I might seem to command you as an Apostle I am wise in God as to many things yet do I measure my self that I may not be destroyed by boasting For now it behooves me to be very much affraid and not to give heed to those who would puff me up For when such speak unto me they scourge me Truly I love to suffer but know not whether I am worthy For my zeal appears not to many but I have the greater war within I have need therefore of meekness that by it the prince of this world may be defeated Cannot I write unto you of things celestial but I am affraid lest I should give you some offence being yet but babes Therefore pardon me for I would not perplexe you with those things which ye are not able to bear For it is not for a slightie matter that I am a Prisoner being acquainted with things celestial and the Angelical Orders and their governing Constitutions things visible and invisible and besides this I am now a Disciple For many things are wanting to you that we may not fall short of God Therefore I exhort you not I but the love of Jesus Christ to use only the Christian nutriment and to abstain from that strange herb which is heresie For the times are such that persons worthy of credit seemingly do fold in heresie with Jesus Christ like those who administer deadly poison and temper it with a drink made of honey and sowre wine which the ignorant receives with pleasure and so dies by an evil delectation Therefore preserve your selves from such and so it shall be if ye are not puffed up being inseparable from God Jesus Christ and the Bishop and the Orders of the Apostles He who is within the Altar is pure that is he who does any thing without the Bishop Presbyterie and Deacons is of an impure Conscience Not that I have known any such thing among you but foreseeing the subtilties of the devil I take care of you before hand being my beloved Do ye therefore re-assuming your mild disposition build up your selves anew in the faith which is the flesh of the Lord in love which is the bloud of Jesus Christ Let none among you have any quarrel against his Neighbour Give no offences to the Gentiles that the Multitude which is in God be not blasphemed by a few foolish men For Wo to him through whose foolishness my Name is blasphemed amongst some Therefore be deaf to him who speaks to you without Jesus Christ who was of the stock of David and of Mary who was truly born eat and drank was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate was truly crucified dead things in heaven on earth and under the earth beholding him And was truly raised again from the dead his Father raising him up according to his likeness as his Father will raise up us also if we believe in him through Jesus Christ without whom we have no true life But if as some Atheists that is Infidels sâ—y He suffered only in appearance as they themselves are only in appearance why am I in bonds and why do I pray that I may fight with beasts therefore do I not die without reward and am I not a lyar against the Lord Fly therefore evil plants which bring forth deadly fruit which if a man taste of he dies presently For these are not the Plantation of the Father if they were they would appear branches of the Cross and their fruit would be incorruptible Through which Cross by his Passion he Advocates for you being his Members The Head therefore cannot be born without the Members God having promised the Vnion of them who is himself I salute you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God which are present with me who have every way refreshed me both in flesh and spirit My bonds which I carry about for Jesus Christ do admonish you that I desire to enjoy God Continue in your Vnanimitie and in Prayer one for another For it becomes you all one by one exceedingly and the Presbyters to comfort up the Bishop for the honour of the Father of Jesus Christ and of the Apostles I beseech you in love to hear me that writing unto you I may not be a witness within you Pray also for me out of that Charitie which is in you for I need the mercy of God that I may be accounted worthy of the Lot which I labour to enjoy and may not be found Reprobate The love of the Smyrneans and Ephesians saluteth you Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria whence I am not worthy to be called being the last of them Farewel in Jesus Christ being subject to the Bishop as to the Commandement and likewise to the Presbyterie And love one another man by man with an undivided heart My Spirit shall be an expiation for you not onely now but when I shall enjoy God For as yet I am in danger but the Father who is faithful will fulfil my Petition and yours in Jesus Christ in whom may ye be found unblameable To the Trallians To the Romans Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church which hath obtained Mercy through the Magnificence of the most high Father and Jesus Christ his onely begotten Son sanctified and enlightned by him who willeth all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ our God which is President over the Churches about in the Region of the Romans as over a Quire being divine comely most blessed worthy of praise in a becoming order eminently chaste and set up for a President of Charitie having the Law of Christ and bearing the Name of the Father which I also salute in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father according to the flesh and spirit united in every command of his filled with all the Grace of God without any difference and purged from every strange tincture wishing very much joy in our Lord Jesus Christ our God immaculately HAving beseeched God I happened to see your divine faces as I much desired to receive you And being in bonds for Jesus Christ I hope to salute you if it be his will that I may be accounted worthy to continue to the end For the beginning is well ordered if thereby I may obtain Grace so as to obtain my Lot unto the end without impediment For I fear your charitie lest it prove injurious to me For to you it is easie to do what ye will but to me it is a difficult thing to enjoy God unless ye are the more sparing to me I would not have you to please men
one is returned to him Be not deceived by strange opinions nor old fables which are unprofitable For if we still live according to the Law and Judaism we confess that Grace is not received For the most divine Prophets lived according to Jesus Christ and therefore they were persecuted being inspired by his Grace that they might work a perswasion in those who were not perswaded that there is one God who manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son who is his eternal Word not coming forth from Silence who in all things pleased him that sent him Therefore if they who were conversant in the works of old time came to the Newness of Hope not Sabbatizing any longer but living according to the Dominical life of that day whereon our life did rise again through him and through his death whom some deny through which mysterie we have received both to Believe and also to endure with Patience that we may be found the Disciples of Jesus Christ our onely Master how shall we be able to live without him whom the Prophets being his Disciples looked for in Spirit as their Master and because they justly expected him he when he was come raised them from the dead Therefore let not us be insensible of his Goodness for if he should retribute to us according to what we do we should cease to be Therefore being made his Disciples let us learn to live like Christians For he who is called by any other name than this is not of God Therefore put away from you the evil leaven which is old and corrupt and be ye changed into the New Leaven which is Jesus Christ Be ye seasoned in him that none of you be corrupted for ye shall be disproved by your savour It is an absurd thing to profess Jesus Christ and yet to Judaize for Christianism hath not believed into Judaism but Judaism into Christianism that every tongue believing might be gathered unto God But these things my Beloved not because I have known any of you to be such but because though I am lesser then you I would have you to be preserved that ye may not fall into the snares of a vain opinion but may have a full assurance in the Nativity Passion and Resurrection effected in that season when Pontius Pilate was governour all truly and firmly accomplished by Jesus Christ our hope from which hope may none of you be perverted I would every way enjoy you if I may be worthy for though I am in bonds yet am I not to be compared to one of you who are at libertie I know ye are not puffed up for ye have Jesus Christ among you And I know the more I praise you it doth but shame you so much the more as it is written The just man is an accuser of himself Make it your endeavour to be confirmed in the determinations of the Lord and the Apostles that whatever ye do may be prosperous both in flesh and spirit Faith and Love in the Son and in the Father and in the Spirit in the beginning and the end together with your most venerable Bishop and your Presbyterie which is as a spiritual Crown decently platted and the Deacons who are according to God Be subject to the Bishop and one to another as Jesus Christ to the Father according to the flesh and the Apostles to Christ and to the Father and the Spirit that there may be unitie both carnal and spiritual Knowing that ye are full of God I have exhorted you but in few words Remember me in your Prayers that I may obtain God and that Church which is in Syria from whence I am not worthy to be called For I very much want your Prayer united in God and your Love that the Church which is in Syria may be accounted worthy to be watered by your Church The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you whence also I write unto you being present to the glorie of God as also ye are who have refreshed me in all things together with Polycarp the Bishop of the Smyrneans The other Churches also salute you in the honour of Jesus Christ Be strong in the concord of God being possessed with a discerning Spirit which is Jesus Christ To the Magnesians To the Philadelphians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia which hath obtained mercy is settled in the concord of God rejoycing in the Passion of our Lord indiscernably and fully assured of his Resurrection in all mercy which I salute in the bloud of Jesus Christ for she is my eternal and permanent joy chiefly if they continue united with the Bishop and the Presbyters with him and the Deacons manifested to be according to the Sentence of Jesus Christ whom he hath firmly established according to his own will by his holy Spirit WHich Bishop I have known to have obtained the Ministerie for the common good not by himself nor by men nor out of vain-glorie but by the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ whose mild temper I have been amazed at for by his silence he can do more than they who speak vain things For ye are as harmoniously agreeing in commands as the harp and the strings Therefore my Soul blesseth that sentence of his which is according to God knowing that it is vertuous and perfect and that he cannot be moved nor provoked to anger being in all the meekness of the Living God Being therefore the children of light and truth flie division evil doctrines Where the Pastour is do ye as sheep follow him for many wolves who seem worthy of credit do by an evil delectation lead captive persons running to God but through your unitie they shall have no place Depart from evil herbs which Jesus Christ doth not cultivate for they are not the Plantation of the Father Not that I have found any Division amongst you but a Resining us from the Dreggs So many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are with the Bishop and so many Penitents as come over into the Unitie of the Church shall be of God that they may live according to Jesus Christ My brethren be not deceived If any man follows him who is the maker of Schism he is no inheritour of the Kingdom of God If any man walks about in a strange opinion he is not conformable to the Passion Let it be your endeavour therefore to use one Eucharist for there is One flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one Cup for the Unitie of his bloud One Altar as One Bishop with the Presbyterie and Deacons my fellow servants that whatever ye do ye may do according to God My brethren I am very much poured out in Love towards you and exceedingly rejoycing strengthen you yet not I but Jesus Christ for whom I am in bonds and therefore am the more affraid because I am not yet taken out of the world But your Prayer
Love failing in no good gift most becoming God and fruitful in holiness which is at Smyrna in Asia be very much joy in the immaculate Spirit by the Word of God I Glorifie the God Jesus Christ who hath filled you with Wisdom For I understand that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith and are as persons fastened with nails to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ both in flesh and in spirit and well-grounded in love by the bloud of Christ having a full assurance in our Lord who was truly of the stock of David according to the flesh the Son of God according to the will and power of God truly born of a Virgin baptized by John that he might fulfil all righteousness and who truly suffered for us in the flesh under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch From the fruit of whom we are even from his divinely blessed Passion that he might by his Resurrection lift up an ensign to all ages to the Saints and to all who do believe in him whether they be Jews or Gentiles in one body of his Church For he suffered all these things for us that we might be saved And he truly suffered as also he truly raised up himself neither did he suffer onely in appearance as some infidels affirm who themselves are onely in appearance and according to their wisdom shall it happen unto them being incorporeal and daemoniacks For I my self saw him in the flesh after his Resurrection and do believe that he is risen And when he came to those who were with Peter he said unto them Take hold of me handle me and see me for I am not an incorporeal spirit And straightway they touched him and believed in him being convinced by his flesh and by his spirit And hereupon they contemned death for they found themselves to be above it And after his Resurrection he eat and drank with them as one in the flesh though he was in spirit united to the Father Touching these things Beloved I admonish you however I know ye are already of this perswasion I do it to preserve you from beasts in the shape of men whom it is necessarie for you not to entertain but to avoid as much as possible Onely pray for them if happily they may repent which is a thing very difficult But Jesus Christ who is our true life hath the power of this But if these things were done by our Lord onely seemingly then am I also seemingly in bonds And why have I yielded up my self to be put to death why to the fire to the sword to the beasts but because to be nigh to the sword is to be nigh to God and to be inclosed with beasts is to be compassed about with God Only in the Name of Jesus Christ do I endure all things that I may suffer with him who is himself made a perfect man and now strengtheneth me Whom some ignorant men denie but they are rather denied by him being more the Preachers of death than of truth whom neither the Prophets have perswaded nor the Law of Moses nor yet the Gospel hitherto nor those suffrings of ours which are according to man For they are of the same mind concerning us But what would it advantage me should any man speak in my praise and yet blaspheme my Lord denying him to have taken flesh upon him For he who confesseth not this hath perfectly denied him and puts him to death But I am unwilling to write down their infidel names neither may I make any particular remembrance of them until they shall happily repent into a belief of the Passion which is our Resurrection Let no man be deceived For if things in heaven and the glory of Angels and Rulers visible and invisible believe not in the bloud of Christ it will be even unto them condemnation He who receiveth it may receive it Let place puff up no man for Faith and Charity is All and nothing is to be preferred before them But observe those who are otherwise opinioned of the grace of Jesus Christ which came unto us how contrary they are to the judgement of God They have no regard at all of Charity they neither care for the Widow nor Orphan nor any afflicted person be he bond or free hungry or thirstie They absent themselves from the Eucharist and Prayer because they will not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins and which the Father by his goodness raised from death to life Therefore contradicting this gift of God and disputing about it they die but it would be better for them to Love it that they may rise again It is very convenient that ye abstain from such persons and that ye have no converse with them neither privately nor publikely But that ye give heed unto the Prophets and chiefly to the Gospel wherein the Passion is made manifest unto us and the Resurrection is completed But avoid Divisions as the beginning of evils And be all of you observant of the Bishop as Jesus Christ was observant of the Father and observe the Presbyterie as the Apostles and Reverence the Deacons as the command of God Let no man presume to do any thing belonging to the Church without the Bishop And let that Eucharist onely be accounted firm which is either performed by the Bishop himself or by his Licence Where the Bishop shall appear there let the multitude be for where Jesus Christ is there is the Catholique Church It is neither lawful to baptize nor to keep the Love-feast without the Bishop but whatever he shall approve of that is well-pleasing to God that so every thing which is done may be firm and established Furthermore it is a blessed thing to grow sober and whilst we have opportunity to return to God by repentance It is a becoming thing to know God and the Bishop He who honoureth the Bishop is honoured of God but he who doth any thing without the Bishops approbation performs a service to the Devil Therefore let all things abound among you in grace for ye are worthy Ye have every way refreshed me and Jesus Christ will refresh you Ye have loved me both when I was absent and present God will requite you and if ye patiently endure all things for his sake ye shall enjoy him Ye did well in that ye gave an honourable reception to Philon Rheus and Agathopus as the Ministers of God-Christ who have accompanied me for the Word of God They also give thanks unto the Lord for you because ye have every way refreshed them Nothing which ye have done to them shall be lost as to you I could offer up this my spirit upon the service of your Souls and upon the same account carry about these my bonds which ye have neither despised nor been ashamed of neither will Jesus Christ the perfect faith be ashamed of you Your Prayer reached as far as to the Church which is in Antioch
if any man take notice that the Bishop holds his peace let him fear and reverence him so much the more for we ought to receive him whom the Master of the Family hath sent to govern his House as we should receive the Master himself who sent him Therefore it is evident that we ought to respect the Bishop as the Lord himself But Onesimus doth himself very much commend your good Order which is according to God for ye all live according to truth and there is no heresie amongst you neither do ye hear any but Jesus Christ speaking according to truth Some indeed by an evil deceit have accustomed themselves to carry about his Name but they do things unworthy of God and these ye ought to shun as beasts For they are like mad dogs biting unawares whom ye ought to avoid and have a special eye upon being persons very hard to be cured There is one Physitian fleshly and spiritual begotten and unbegotten God made in the flesh and the true life in death both of Mary and of God first passible and then impassible Let no man seduce you as ye are not yet seduced being wholly of God For so long as there is no contention amongst you which may be hurtful to you ye live according to God I am made as an Off-scouring for you and as a Purgatorie expiation for you Ephesians famous to ages Carnal men cannot do spiritual things nor spiritual men do the things which are carnal neither can Faith do the things of Infidelitie nor Infidelitie the things of Faith But those very things which ye do as carnal men are spiritual so long as ye do all things according to Jesus Christ I have known some passing from those parts who held an evil doctrine but ye would not suffer them to sow their seeds amongst you but stopped your ears against them that ye might receive none of the doctrine sowed by them For ye are Stones of the Father's Temple prepared for the building of God the Father carried up on high by the Engine of Jesus Christ which is his Cross by the Cord of the holy Spirit But Faith is your Guide and Charity your Way which leads unto God Ye are all therefore Fellow-travellers carrying about with you God and the Temple Christ and Sanctitie being in all things beautified according to the commands of Jesus Christ in whom I am exceedingly rejoyced being vouchsafed so great a dignitie as to converse with you in writing and to joy together with you who live according to the other life and love nothing but onely God Pray also without ceasing for other men for there is hope of their repentance that they also may attain God Admonish them and let them be wrought upon by your works to become your Disciples Oppose your meekness to their anger and whilst they boast of great things do ye mind the things of humility Pray for them who speak evil of you keeping your selves firm in the faith against their errour Be mild how morose soever they are neither be hasty to requite them according to their own examples Let us be found their Brethren by our mild carriage towards them and endeavour to be the followers of the Lord. Though some among you may be injured defrauded despised yet let no one amongst you be found an Herb of the devil Keep your selves in all Puritie and Temperance both in flesh and spirit through Jesus Christ The last times are come Therefore let us reverence and fear the long-sufferance of God that it be not our condemnation For either let us fear the wrath to come or love the present grace One of the two is onely to be found in Jesus Christ that we may live indeed Nothing can become us without this for this I bear about my bonds which are as spiritual Pearls through which by your Prayers I may rise again And let me always be partaker of your Prayers that I may be found in the lot of those Ephesian Christians who were ever of the same mind with the Apostles through the power of Jesus Christ I know who I am and to whom I write I am a condemned person but ye have obtained mercy I am under danger but ye are established Ye are the Passover of those who are killed for God being the Fellow-ministers of sanctified Paul who was martyred worthily blessed under whose feet I would be found that I may enjoy God who in a whole Epistle makes mention of you in Jesus Christ. Make hast therefore to meet together more frequently to the Eucharist of God and to glorie For when ye often come together into one place the powers of Satan are rendred frustrate and his enmitie is destroyed through your Unity of Faith Nothing is better than peace by which all hostilitie of heavenly and earthly powers is made void None of these things are conceal'd from you if ye hold perfectly that Faith and Love in Jesus Christ which are the beginning and end of life For Faith is the beginning Love is the end these two united are of God and all other things tending to Honestie do wait upon these No man who hath covenanted into the faith committeth sin nor doth he hate another who is possess'd of Charitie The tree is known by its fruit and they who have solemnly engaged to be Christians shall be seen by the works they do For it is not now the work of an Engagement but it is through the power of Faith if a man be found to the end It is better to be silent and to be than to speak and not to be It is a good thing to teach if a man do as well as teach There is therefore one teacher who spake and it was done and the things also which he did in silence are worthy of the Father He who is truly possess'd of the word of Jesus can hear also his silence that he may be perfect that he may do according to what he speaks and be known according to those things wherein he is silent Nothing is hid from the Lord but our very secrets are nigh unto him Therefore let us do all things as having him dwelling in us that we may be his Temples and he may be our God in us for whatever is shall be made manifest to us and therefore do we justly love him Erre not my brethren They who are destroyers of houses shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Therefore if they are dead who act such things according to the flesh how much more is it death for any man by an evil doctrine to corrupt the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified Such a one being defiled shall go into the unquenchable fire and so shall he who hears him For this cause the Lord received the unction upon his head that he might breathe into his Church incorruption Be not annoynted with the doctrine of the prince of this world which hath an ill odour neither let him lead you captive from the
an Heifer and killing it should burn it and then servants should take up the ashes and put them into earthen vessels and then the servants should take scarlet wooll and hyssop and so sprinkle the people one by one that they might be purged from their sins Understand in what simplicity it speaks unto us This Heifer is Jesus Christ the men offering it are those sinners who brought him to the slaughter for they seemed partly men and partly sinners But the servants sprinkling were they who preached unto us remission of sins and puritie of heart To whom he gave the power of the Gospel they were Twelve in testimonie of the Tribes for they were the Twelve Tribes of Israel which they were to preach it to But why were there three servants sprinkling These were in testimonie of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who were honourable with God But why was the wooll put upon wood Because the kingdom of Jesus was from the wood and they therefore who hope in him shall live for ever But why was there wooll and hyssop together Because in his kingdom shall be evil and gloomie days wherein we shall be saved For he who is wounded in the flesh is healed by hyssop cleansing away the filth And for this cause are these things which are made thus manifest to us obscure to them because they hearkned not unto the voyce of the Lord. Again the Lord saith by the Prophet something of the ears teaching us thereby how we should circumcise our heart saying By the hearing of the ear hath he heard me And again he saith They who are afar off shall hear with the hearing what I have done and shall know me And ye shall circumcise your hearts saith the Lord. And again he saith Hear O Israel for the Lord thy God speaketh these things unto thee And again the Spirit of the Lord prophesieth Who is he that would live for ever let him hear with the ear the voice of my servant And again he saith Hear O heaven and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken these things for a Testimony And again he saith Hear the word of the Lord ye rulers of this people And again he saith Hear O children the voice of one crying in the wilderness Therefore he circumcised our ears that hearing we may believe the word For the Circumcision of which they were perswaded is abolished For he said There should be a circumcision not made upon the flesh But they have transgressed because a wicked Angel hath taught them He saith again unto them These things saith the Lord your God Here I find a commandment Sow not among thorns but be circumcised to your Lord. And what saith he further And circumcise your hard heart and do not harden your neck And again Behold the Lord saith All nations are uncircumcised having on the foreskin but this people is uncircumcised in heart But thou wilt say The people hath received circumcision as a seal But so every Syrian and Arabs and all the idolatrous priests and the Egyptians have received circumcision therefore are they also within the Covenants Learn therefore Children abundantly concerning all nations That Abraham who first gave circumcision in the spirit did see so far as to the Son for receiving the definitions of three letters he gave circumcision For he saith That Abraham circumcised the males of his house which were ten and eight and three hundred Therefore what knowledge was given to him Learn there were first ten and eight then three hundred the Ten note 1. the Eight note n there ye have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Cross which should have the grace was noted in the three hundred for the numeral of that is T. Therefore it is manifest that Jesus was figured in two letters and the Cross in one Abraham knew the implanted gift of his doctrine and gave it for a sign to us No one hath learned a more genuine word from me onely I know that ye are worthy But whereâ—s Moses hath said Ye shall not eat swines flesh nor the eagle nor the hawk nor the crow nor any fish which hath not scales upon it undoubtedly he received in his understanding three Constitutions Afterwards he saith to them in Deuteronomie I will give to this people my judgements Undoubtedly therefore the command of God was not that they should not eat but Moses spake in the spirit When he spake of not eating swines flesh he spake it to this effect Thou shalt not saith he be joyned to such men who are like unto swine who when they are fed and wanton forget their Lord but when they are in wants acknowledge him For the swine when he hath eaten knows not his Lord but when he is hungry he cryes when he is filled again is still and holds his peace Neither shalt thou eat saith he the eagle nor the hawk nor the kite nor the crow In this he saith Thou shalt not associate thy self with such men who do not make provisions for themselves by labour and sweat but live by rapine and injurious taking from others and however they appear to walk in simplicity yet they observe what things may be offered to them without any labour these they diligently prie out and being idle themselves and very pernicious creatures by reason of their wickedness they devour and feed upon the flesh of others He saith Thou shalt not eat the Lampry nor the Polypus nor the Cuttle-fish That is he saith Thou shalt not be joyned to nor like unto those men who are ungodly to the end and condemned to death for these fishes alone being accursed swim onely in the deep not diving as other fishes but inhabiting in the mud of the deep He hath said again Thou shalt not eat the Conie Why said he it only to shew that thou shouldest not be alascivious lecherous person nor like unto such for the Hare or Conie doth every year breed abundantly and as many years as she liveth maketh her so many burrows Neither shalt thou eat the Hyaena This he saith Thou shalt not be an adulterer nor defiler of men or women nor like unto such Why so for this kind of animal every year changeth its nature and is one while a male and another while a female Again he well said Thou shalt hate the weasil this he saith Thou shalt not be like unto those of whom we hear by reason of their impurity that they do unlawful things at the mouth neither shalt thou associate thy self with impure persons who commit iniquitie with the mouth for this animal conceiveth at the mouth Therefore Moses by the spirit delivered three constitutions touching meats but they understood them to be meant of meats in a fleshly sense But David took the true knowledge of these three Constitutions and spake in this wise Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the Council of the ungodly as those fishes which walk in the dark down into the deep And
book in thine hands and write what the Lord saith Because the Son of God in the last days will cut up all the house of Amalek by the roots Behold again Jesus not the son of man but the Son of God but manifested by a type in the flesh And because they would say that Christ is the son of David he fearing and understanding the errour of sinners saith The Lord said to my Lord Sit on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool And again Esaias saith in this manner The Lord said to Christ my Lord I have holden his right hand that the nations may hear him and I will break in pieces the power of kings See how David calls him Lord and the Son of God But let us see whether this people be the heir or first people and whether the Testament be ours or theirs Hear now what the Scripture saith concerning this people Isaac prayed for Rebekah his wife because she was barren and she conceived afterwards Rebekah came to enquire of the Lord and the Lord said unto her Two nations are in thy womb and two people in thy bowels and one people shall prevail over the other people and the Elder shall serve the Younger Ye ought to be sensible who is Isaac and who is Rebekah and which of the two he hath demonstrated to be the Elder people this people or that And in another Prophesy he saith Jacob spake more plainly to Joseph his son saying Behold the Lord hath not deprived me of thy presence bring thy sons unto me that I may bless them And he brought forth Ephraim and Manasses desiring that the blessing might be given to Manasses because he was the elder and he set him on the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in the spirit a type of that people which should be And what follows And Jacob changed his hands and put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim the second and the younger and blessed him And Joseph said to Jacob Put thy right hand upon the head of Manasses because he is my first-born son And Jacob said to Joseph I know it my son I know it but the Elder shall serve the younger yet he also shall be blessed See which of these he hath appointed to be this first people and heir of the Covenant Yet further let it be remembred that through Abraham we have a greater perfection of our knowledge Therefore what saith he to Abraham That because he believed it was counted to him for righteousness Behold I have made thee a father of nations which should believe in the Lord through uncircumcisions But let us now enquire whether he hath performed the Covenant which he sware to the fathers to this people He gave it but they were not worthy to receive it by reason of their sins For the Prophet saith And Moses was fasting in the mount Sinai fourty days and fourty nights that he might receive the Covenant from the Lord for the people and he received of the Lord the two tables written with the finger of the Lord's hand through the spirit and when Moses had received them he brought them down to deliver them to the people And the Lord said to Moses Moses Moses go down quickly for thy people have transgressed which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt And Moses understood that they had made them molten idols and he cast the tables out of his hands and the tables of the Covenant of the Lord were broken Moses indeed received them but they were not worthy Learn now how we received them Moses received them as a servant but the Lord himself gave them to us who suffering patiently for us was made manifest that they might be consummate in their sins and we might be the people of the inheritance and receive the Covenant by the heir Jesus Christ The Prophet saith again Behold I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles that thou maist be for salvation to the ends of the earth saith the Lord God who redeemed thee who was prepared for this very thing that he making discoverie of our evils destructive to death and how wholly we were given up to the transgression of errour might deliver us from darkness and put his Covenant in us by the Word For it is written how that the Father commanded him to redeem us from darkness and to prepare for himself an holy people Therefore the Prophet saith I the Lord thy God have called thee in righteousness and I will hold thy hand and will strengthen thee and I have given thee for a Covenant to the nations and for a light to the Gentiles to open the eyes of the blind and to deliver those that are in bonds those that sit in darkness from the prison-house Know therefore how we were delivered and redeemed Again the Prophet saith The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me and sent me to preach the glad tidings of grace to the humble to heal the broken-hearted to preach liberty to the captives to open the eyes of the blind and to call an acceptable year of the Lord and a day of retribution and to comfort all that mourn It is also written concerning the Sabbath in the Ten words wherein he spake in the Mount Sinai face to face to Moses And ye shall sanctifie the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart And in another place he saith If their sons shall keep my Sabbaths then will I put my mercy upon them He calleth it a Sabbath in the beginning of the Creation And God made in six days the works of his hands and finished upon the seventh day and rested on it and sanctified it Sons observe what he saith when he saith He finished in six days This he saith That God the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years for a day with him is a thousand years He himself witnesseth it saying Behold this day A day shall be as a thousand years Therefore Children in six days in six thousand years all things shall be finished And he rested on the seventh day This he saith When his Son coming shall finish the works of his time and shall judge the ungodly and shall change the Sun and the Moon and the Stars then he shall rest honourably upon the seventh day In fine this he saith Thou shalt sanctifie it with pure hands and a pure heart Therefore how can any one now sanctifie the day which God hath sanctified unless he be of a pure heart in all things Let us not be deceived For if he resting gloriously doth sanctifie it we being just and doing just things shall be able to sanctifie it when we have received the Promise of iniquitie ceasing all things being made new by the Lord. Then we shall be able to sanctifie it when we our selves are first sanctified Afterwards he saith to them Your new Moons and your Sabbaths I cannot away
this Copy confessed Se gratulatum seculo nostro quod illud ipsum exemplar quo ante 1300 annos usus erat Eusebius novam ipsi propediem affulsuram lucem sponderet That he congratulated our age because that very Copy which Eusebius used 1300 years ago did promise now to bestow new light upon the present age This is the Copy which I have attempted the Translation of out of the Original Greek into our Vulgar English and that for the use and benefit of the Vulgar and common people that they may be able to discern the true state of the Christian Church its Regimen Doctrine and Discipline in those very times which were I am sure neerest to the times of the Apostles for Ignatius lived with and was Disciple to one of them But before I set down my Translation I shall give you the account of Master Isaac Vossius himself touching the Edition by him published and according to which I have made my Translation as it here follows translated out of Latine so exactly as I could Most courteous Reader SO it happens as thou and I may have very often observed that all things which are either formed by nature or framed by art are of such a condition that the most perfect in their kind do still appear the more beautiful and artificial as men imploy their study and indeavours in the contemplation of them Some such thing hath happened to me touching Ignatius in whose Epistles when ever I gave them a second reading I still observed something not observed before from which they challenged my further approbation So often I say as I reassumed them into my hands so often did something appear in them by which I could make discovery of the genuine writer of them One while that elegant Simplicity which was most suitable to the age wherein he lived another while the verity and harmonie of words and things so every way corresponding besides this the zeal and fervencie of the Martyr which as in other of his Epistles so in that to the Romans is most conspicuous All these are a sufficient evidence unto me for the owning and finding out of the true Author Which raiseth the greater admiration in me that there should be any persons who do not onely deny these to be the very Epistles of Ignatius but also doubt not to affirm that he wrote none at all Neither do they use any other argument to perswade us to think that Ignatius wrote no Epistles but onely this because say they no ancient Author before Eusebius makes mention of them For they confidently affirm that those sayings of Ignatius which are extant in Irenaeus and Origen were not taken from the Epistles of Ignatius but from his own mouth Certainly those very learned men took little notice of that place in Origen which is to be seen in his sixth Homily upon Luke By chance saith he I found in an Epistle of a certain Martyr I mean Ignatius the second Bishop of Antioch after Peter who in his persecution fought with beasts at Rome it elegantly written thus That the Virginity of Mary was a secret kept from the Prince of this World But we shall now make our approach to more ancient times that so the Antiquity and Verity of this our Ignatius may be the more apparent and the errour of those men also be the more conspicuous who are otherwise perswaded of him The first therefore who made mention of these Epistles of Ignatius is Polycarp the Martyr in his Epistle to the Philippians whose words are these We have sent unto you those Epistles of Ignatius which he sent unto us and so many other Epistles of his as we had by us according to your desires which are all annexed to this Epistle out of which Epistles ye may reap very much benefit for they contain in them Faith and Patience and whatever is convenient to build us up in the Lord. Now it cannot be doubted by any man but that Polycarp had the Epistles of Ignatius to whom amongst his seven Ignatius did in particular entitle one which Polycarp himself gives testimony of when he saith Ye have written unto me and also Ignatius Now Polycarp was about 60 years survivor to Ignatius So that I propound this question What appearance of truth can there possibly be that so long as Polycarp was alive these true Epistles of Ignatius should be suppressed and others suborned in the place of them Did Polycarp destroy the first that there should be a necessity to devise others in their stead I think no man will render himself so ridiculous as to make an attempt to prove any such thing Now I proceed If Polycarp had these Epistles certainly Irenaeus his Scholar who cited them had the same and Origen received them from Irenaeus whose Citation out of them we mentioned a little before And I am of opinion that no man can imagine that the Epistles of Ignatius cited by Eusebius were any other Epistles then those which Origen made use of Athanasius Jerom Chrisostâ—m Theodoret Antiochus Damascen Photius and innumerable others who all of them made use of the testimony of Ignatius did follow that Copie which Eusebius had So that Ignatius was never accounted of by any as Apocryphal and yet all the Books of the New Testament had not the luck to escape so but some were questioned as to their Original and authority Seeing therefore we have such a continued succession of eminent men who have given their approbation touching these Epistles I do not see by what argument they can possibly defend their opinion who are otherwise perswaded of them It is confessed his Epistles have been corrupted and abused and been read over with their corruptions and interpolations to these present times yet there have not been wanting men of piercing judgements who have discovered truth to be in those very interpolate Epistles Andrew Rivet an eminent man makes this out sufficiently However I now publish those Epistles which are genuine and in all respects agreeing with the testimony of the Antients so that they who will deny these must deny also that this Martyr ever wrote any Epistles But let them enjoy their own opinion for my part I am assured that they will meet with very few of the same and none that can be of it with reason But Courteous Reader thou art indebted to the Medicaean Library that thou hast these writings of Ignatius pure and not counterfeit and thou art indebted to the most Serene Prince Ferdinand the second the great Duke of Etruria through whose incomparable Love to Learning and Study I gained an opportunity of having the use of that famous Librarie and so of finding out this incomparable treasure of Ignatius which we now exhibit and publish to the world The Epistles of Saint Ignatius To the Smyrneans Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church of God the Father and of the beloved Jesus Christ which hath obtained mercy in all Grace replete with Faith and