The Seven Epistles of Saint Ignatius of Antioch
2nd c. · Letters · English translation, 2026
Source edition: Ἰγνατίου Ἀντιοχείας Ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Ἐφεσίους
Cover art: The Arch of Titus and the Coliseum, Rome — Thomas Hartley Cromek (British, 1809–1873) (Cleveland Museum of Art, Public domain (CC0))
Written from Smyrna around 107 AD while Ignatius of Antioch was being conducted under guard to his martyrdom in Rome, this compact letter addresses the church at Magnesia on the Maeander on three urgent matters: honour the bishop as representing God himself; abandon every trace of Jewish legal observance; and celebrate the Lord's Day — the day of Christ's resurrection — as the distinctive mark of Christian time. Together these arguments make the letter a formative early witness to Christian ecclesiology and the theology of worship.
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Contents
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Magnesians
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Philadelphians
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans
Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Polycarp
- Introduction
- Greeting
- 1. Letter Concerning the Mind in God and Pastoral Care
- 2. On Discernment and Watchfulness
- 2. Stand Firm, Like an Anvil Under the Hammer
- 4. On Widows and Slaves
- 5. On Chastity and Marriage According to the Lord
- 6. Submission to the Bishop and the Virtue of the Faithful
- 7. On Sending a Deacon to Syria
- 8. Letters to the Churches and Greetings