Letter to the Smyrnaeans

The Letter to the Smyrnaeans contains one of St. Ignatius of Antioch's clearest defenses of the real incarnation, suffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Against people who claimed that Christ's suffering was only apparent, Ignatius insists that the Lord was truly from David's line according to the flesh, truly born, truly crucified, and truly raised. This confession shapes the letter's teaching on Christian worship and community. Ignatius links denial of Christ's flesh to withdrawal from the Eucharist, while urging the Smyrnaeans to remain united with their bishop, presbytery, and deacons. The letter is therefore both christological and ecclesial: the reality of Christ's saving flesh is reflected in the concrete, sacramental life of the Church.

Ignatius writes from Troas after having spent time in Smyrna, where Bishop Polycarp and the Smyrnaean church had received him during his journey as a prisoner from Syria toward Rome. The letter responds to teaching that denied the reality of Christ's suffering and continued bodily existence after the resurrection. Ignatius also thanks the Smyrnaeans for receiving his companions Philo and Rheus Agathopous and for sending Burrhus with him. By this point he had heard that peace had returned to the Church in Antioch of Syria, and he asks the Smyrnaeans to send a representative with a letter so that they may share publicly in thanksgiving for that restoration.

Ignatius opens by praising the Smyrnaeans' firm faith and immediately confesses the real birth, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He rejects the view that Christ only seemed to suffer and cites the risen Lord's tangible flesh as part of his argument. He warns the church against teachers who deny this confession and notes that such people abstain from Eucharist and prayer because they do not confess the Eucharist as the flesh of Jesus Christ. Ignatius then urges unity with the bishop, presbytery, and deacons, thanks the community for its hospitality, reports peace in Antioch, asks that a representative be sent to Syria, and closes with personal greetings.