of the Council of the Apostles and the Deacons most pleasant to me having the Diaconie of Jesus Christ committed to them who was with the Father before ages and in the end appeared Having therefore all received manners like unto God reverence one another and let no man defraud his neighbour according to the flesh but love one another always in Jesus Christ Let nothing be amongst you which may possibly divide you but be united to the Bishop and to those who are Presidents over you according to the Type and Doctrine of incorruption Therefore as the Lord being united to him did nothing without the Father neither by himself nor by the Apostles so neither do ye act any thing without thâ— Bishop and the Presbyters Neither attemp any thing upon your own account however reasonable it may appear unto you When ye come together into one place let there be One Prayer One Supplication one mind one hope in Love and in immaculate joy There is one Jesus Christ thaâ— whom nothing is better Therefore all concur together as into the Temple of God aâ— to one Altar to one Jesus Christ who came from one Father and being 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 plâ—tted 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 thâ— Church of God the Father and the Lorâ— Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia which hath obtained mercy is settleâ— in â—he 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 Presbytors 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
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 but to please God as ye do please him I shall never have such an opportunity to enjoy God neither shall ye be intituled to a better work if ye can but be silent For if ye be silent and let me alone I shall be of God but if ye love my flesh I shall be but a voice and to run again Ye cannot do better than to let me be sacrificed unto God in regard the Altar is already prepared That ye being made up a chorus in love may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ because God hath accounted the Bishop of Syria worthy to be found and to be sent from the East unto the West to set and go down gloriously from the world unto God that I may rise again in him Ye have never bewitched me in any thing ye have instructed others and I would that those things may be firm which ye as teachers have commanded Onely pray for me to be inabled inwardly and outwardly that I may not onely say it but will it and not only be called a Christian but be found so For if I shall be found so I may also be so called and then be a Believer when I appear not to the world Nothing is good which is onely in appearance For our God Jesus Christ being in the Father appeareth the more A Christian is not a work of persuasion but of greatness especially when he shall be hated of the world I write to all the Churches and lay my commands upon them all that I may willingly die for God if ye shall not hinder me I intreat you that ye would not be unseasonably kind unto me Suffer me to be the meat of beasts that by them I may enjoy God I am the wheat of God and shall be ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found the pure bread of God Allure those beasts the rather to become my sepulchre and to leave no reliques of my body that when I am fallen asleep I may not be burdensom to any Then shall I be the true Disciple of Jesus Christ when the world shall not see my body Pray to the Lord for me that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God I do not give you commands as Peter and Paul they were Apostles but I am a condemned person they were free but I am a servant even until now yet if I suffer I shall be made the Freeman of Jesus Christ and shall rise again free and being now a Prisoner I learn to desire nothing From Syria even to Rome do I fight with beasts both by Land and by Sea by night and by day being bound to ten Leopards which are my military guard which are the worse for being kindly treated But by their injurious dealings I am the more made a Disciple yet am I not therefore justified I would enjoy the beasts which are prepared for me and I pray that they may be found sharply set nay I would entise them greedily to devour me and not fearfully to decline the touching of me as they have avoided some But if they shun me and will not I shall provoke them Pardon me I know what is convenient for me Now I begin to be a Disciple in that I have a zeal to nothing visible or invisible but that I may gain Jesus Christ Let the fire the cross the violence of beasts scattering of bones concision or chewing of members grinding of the whole body buffetings of the devil come upon me so that I may but enjoy Jesus Christ The ends of the world will profit me nothing nor the kingdoms of this age It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather then to rule over the ends of the earth I seek him who died for us I will him who rose again for us He is the Gain set before me Pardon me brethren do not hinder me to live do not separate me by the world who am willing to be of God nor seduce me by that which is material Suffer me to receive the pure light when I approach to that I shall be a man of God Suffer me to imitate the Passion of my God If any man hath him within him he may understand what I will and sympathize with me knowing what things have taken possesion of me The prince of this world would spoil me and corrupt my judgement which is according to God Therefore let none of you being present contribute any assistance to him but rather be for me that is for God Do not speak Jesus Christ and covet the world Let no fascination be amongst you Neither do I exhort you being present to believe me rather believe the things which I write unto you for I write unto you being alive yet withal willing to die My Love is crucified and the fire which is in me desires no water But there is one living and speaking in me who saith to me inwardly Come to the Father I take no pleasure in the meat of corruption nor in the pleasures of this life I will the bread of God which is the flesh of Jesus Christ of the seed of David and the drink which I will is his bloud which is incorruptible love I would live no longer according to men and this shall be if ye will Will it therefore that ye also may be accepted I intreat you by a few writings believe me but Jesus Christ shall manifest these things to you that I speak truth That is no lying mouth by which the Father hath truly spoken Pray for me that I may obtain For I have not written unto you according to the flesh but according to the mind of God If I suffer ye have loved me but if I prove Reprobate ye have hated me Remember in your Prayers the Church in Syria which in my stead hath God
him in the sepulchre For when Israel fell he made every serpent to bite them and they died because the transgression in Eve was by the serpent that he might reprove them and convince them that for their transgression they were delivered up to the anguish of death In the end though Moses had commanded that there should be no molten nor graven image amongst them for a God he made one to shew the type of Jesus For Moses made a serpent of brass and placed it gloriously and by Proclamation called the people They coming together intreated Moses that he would pray and make an offering for them that they might be healed Then Moses said unto them When any of you shall be bitten let him come to this serpent set upon a pole and let him hope believing that though it is dead it is able to give life and he shall be immediately healed and they did so In this thou hast the glorie of Jesus â—or all things are in him and to him What saith Moses again to Jesus the Son of Naue giving him being a Prophet this Name That all the people should hear him only because the Father would reveal all things touching his Son Jesus to the Son of Naue And when he gave him this Name and sent him to search the Land He said Take a little 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 uncircumcision 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
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 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
is Vnitie ye shall with one voyce glorifie the Father by Jesus Christ that he may also hear you and acknowledge you by what you do to be the members of his Son So that it is profitable for you to continue in immaculate Unitie that ye may always be partakers of God If I in so short a time have gained so great a conformableness in manners with your Bishop which is spiritual and not after the manner of men how can I estimate of your happiness who are continually united to him as the Church to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to the Father that all things may be consonant in unity Let no man be deceived If any man is not within the Altar he is deprived of the bread of God For if the Prayer of one or two is so effectual how much more effectual is the Prayer of the Bishop and all the Church He therefore that will not come into one place or joyn with the Congregation is a proud man and hath separated himself and it is written That God resisteth the proud Therefore let us endeavour to be in subjection to the Bishop that so we may be God's Subjects And 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
Christ doth not cultivate for they are not the Plantation of the Father Not that I have found any Division amongst you but a Refining 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 oâ— our Lord Jesus Christ and one Cup for thâ— Unitie of his bloud One Altar as One Bishoâ— with the Presbyterie and Deacons my felloâ— servants that whatever ye do ye may do according to God My brethren I am verâ— much poured out in Love towards you anâ— exceedingly rejoycing strengthen you yeâ— not I but Jesus Christ for whom I am iâ— bonds and therefore am the more affraid because I am not yet taken out of the world But your Prayer to God will perfect me that I may obtain that Lot to which I waâ— chosen flying to the Gospel as to the flesh oâ— Jesus and to the Apostles as to the Presbyteriâ— of the Church We love also the Prophets because they preached the Gospel and diâ— hope in him and expect him in whom also believing they were saved in the Unitie of Jesus Christ being holy men worthy to be beloved and most worthy of admiration born witness of by Jesus Christ being his Martyrs and numbred up together in the Gospel of the common hope But if any man preach Judaism to you hear him not For it is better to hear Christianism from one circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised But if both of them speak not of Jesus Christ they are to me as Pillars and Monuments of dead men whereon the names of men onely are written Flie therefore evil arts and the frauds of the prince of this world lest being troubled with his opinion ye be weakned in charitie Be all of you made up into one with an undivided heart I thank my God that I have a good Conscience as concerning you and that no man hath wherof to glory either privately or publikely that I have been burdensom to any either in little or much And I beseech all to whom I have spoken that they possess not this as a Testimonie And although some would seduce me according to the flesh yet my spirit â—hich is from God is not seduced He knows â—hence it comes and whither it goes and is a reproover of secrets I have cried in the midst of you I have spoken it with a loftie voice Attend unto the Bishop and the Presbyterie and the Deacons And though some have suspected me to have spoken these things as foreknowing the Division of some yet he is my witness for whom I am a Prisoner that I have not been taught it by man but the Spirit preached it saying these things Do nothing without the Bishop Keep your flesh as the Temple of God Love Vnitie Flie divisions Be ye followers of Jesus Christ as he himself is of the Father Therefore I did what was proper for me as a man perfected unto Unitie But where there is division and wrath God dwelleth not Therefore the Lord pardons all Penitents if they shall return by Repentance to the Vnitie of God and the Council of the Bishop I believe the Grace of Jesus Christ who will loose every bond from you And I exhort you to do nothing with contention but according to the Discipline of Christ For I have heard some speaking in this wise That if I find it not amongst the Antients I do not believe the Gospel And when I replied to them That it is written They answered me It lies before us But Jesus Christ is to me Antiquitie and the Records not to be touched are his Cross and his Death and his Resurrection and the Faith which is by him in which things I would be justified through your Prayers Honourable are the Priests but more honourable the High-priest to whom are committed the Holies of Holies and with whom alone are deposited the hâ—dden things of God He is the Door of the Father by whom Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the Prophets and Apostles and Church of God have entered All these things are for the Unitie of God But the Gospel hath something in it chiefly valueable and that is The Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ his Passion and Resurrection For the beloved Prophets preached of him but the Gospel is the Perfection of incorruption All things together are excellent if ye believe in Love But seeing that through your Prayers according to the bowels which ye have in Christ Jesus the Church which is at Antioch of Syria as is told to me is at peace it becomes you as the Church of God to ordain a Minister to go thither as an Embassadour upon the Embasie of God to joy together with them that they are made one and to glorifie his Name Blessed in Jesus Christ shall that man be who shall be accounted worthy of such a Ministery and ye your selves shall be glorified This is not impossible for the Name of God if ye have but a will to it as some neighbour Churches also have sent Bishops others Presbyters and Deacons As for Philo the Deacon of Cilicia he is a man that hath given a good Testimonie and now ministers to me in the Word of God together with Rheus Agathopus a choyce man who accompanies me from Syria having renounced this life these also bear testimonie to you and I give thanks to God for you because ye have received them as the Lord you But they who have dishonoured them may obtain Redemption by the Grace of Jesus Christ The Love of the Brethren who are at Troas saluteth you whence also I write unto you by Burrus who was sent along with me from the Ephesians and the Smyrneans for the Word of honour The Lord Jesus Christ will honour them in whom they hope in flesh soul faith love and unanimitie Farewel in Christ Jesus our common Hope Ignatius to the Philadelphians To the Trallians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the holy Church beloved of God the Father of Jesus Christ which is in Trallis of Asia elect and divine having obtained peace in the flesh and bloud by the Passion of Jesus Christ our hope and the Resurrection grounded upon him which I salute in fulness in an Apostolical Style wishing much joy I Have known you to have a blameless understanding not to be severed in Patience and that not by use but by nature as Polybius your Bishop hath manifested to me who by the will of God and of Jesus Christ was at Smyrna and did so congratulate me a Prisoner for Jesus Christ that I