Theological Term of the Week: Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch
“[T]he bishop of the church in Antioch at the beginning of the 2nd Century,” and an apostolic father. He died in 110 AD. 

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 59: 

Arrested for being a Christian, [Ignatius] was taken to Rome by a military escort, where the authorities executed him in about AD 110. As Ignatius journeyed to Rome, he wrote seven letters — to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Philadelphia and Smyrna (all in Asia Minor), and the church of Rome, and a personal letter to Polycarp, bishop of the church in Smyrna. In these letters Ignatius strongly urged the supreme importance of unity in the local church, arguing that this unity depended on having one bishop in charge of each congregation. Ignatius’s letters reveal a deep spiritual devotion to Christ and an enthusiastic longing to sacrifice his life for Christ’s sake.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Ignatius of Antioch?
2. Michael Haykin: ‘Come to the Father’: Ignatius of Antioch and His Calling to Be a Martyr 
3. EarlyChurch.org: Ignatius of Antioch
4. Chrisitan History: Ignatius of Antioch
5. 5 Minutes in Church History: Two Disciples of John: Ignatius
6. Christian History Institute: I am the wheat of God

Related terms:

• apostolic fathers
• Justin Martyr
• Clement of Rome
• Polycarp of Smyrna

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, Where'er Thy People Meet

Jesus, where’er thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy-seat;
Where’er they seek thee, thou art found,
And ev’ry place is hallowed ground.

For thou, within no walls confined,
Inhabitest the humble mind;
Such ever bring thee where they come,
And going, take thee to their home

Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few,
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving Name.

Here may we prove the pow’r of prayer
To strengthen faith and sweeten care,
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heav’n before our eyes.

Lord, we are few, but thou art near;
Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear;
O rend the heav’ns, come quickly down,
And make a thousand hearts thine own.

 —William Cowper

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• Be Thou My Vision at The Happy Wonderer 

Theological Term of the Week: Clement of Rome

Clement of Rome
“[A] presbyter (elder) or bishop of the church of Rome,”1 author of the Letter of Clement, and an apostolic father. He was active from 90-100 AD. 

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 58-59: 

He wrote the [Letter of Clement] to try to settle a dispute in the Corinthian church. In a conflict between the older and younger generations, the Corinthian Christians has dismissed all their presbyters and replaced them by new youthful leaders. Clement’s response was to emphasise the need for good order in the Church. He argued that God’s purpose of salvation revealed a sort of “chain of command”: God the Father sent the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ sent the apostles, the apostles appointed bishops (or presbyters) and deacons in the churches, and they in turn appoint their successors. A church must not disturb this chain of command by dismissing its officers without just cause, which did not exist in the case of the Corinthian presbyters. Clement therefore entreated the Corinthians to restore their deposed leaders back into office.

• From The First Epistle of Clement, chapter 32: 

WE ARE JUSTIFIED NOT BY OUR OWN WORKS, BUT BY FAITH

All [the Old Testament saints], therefore, were highly honoured, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they wrought, but through the operation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Clement of Rome?
2. Theopedia: Clement of Rome
3. EarlyChurch.org: Clement of Rome
4. Chrisitan Classics Ethereal Library: Philip Schaff’s Introductory Note to the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 
5. 5 Minutes in Church History: Clement

Related terms:

• apostolic fathers
• Justin Martyr

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.