The Martyred Bishop

One of the most fascinating and famous early Christian martyrs was the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius. When he died in a Roman arena in the year 107 CE, savaged by wild beasts, he was about 70 years old. Born just after Jesus’ crucifixion, Ignatius had served Christ all his life, and he went willingly to his death, seeing in it the culmination of all his service. As amazing as it seems to us today, Ignatius actually longed for his violent death. To him, it was a chance to be a sacrifice to God, and to truly earn the name, “Christian.” Who was this compelling figure, whose final goal was to get to God, no matter the cost?

Ignatius was a man known to us today as one of the “Apostolic Church Fathers”, a group that includes other first century Bishops like Clement and Polycarp. These men were appointed by the Apostles themselves, forming a succession of authority to continue to lead the church. The writings of these men tell us about the early churches in and Asia Minor, including the Church of Antioch in Syria, where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.Ignatius was the second Bishop of Antioch, chosen by the Apostle Peter. His job as a Bishop was to lead church prayers, celebrate the Eucharist, conduct baptisms, give spiritual counsel, preside over marriages, and preach sermons.He had the devoted help of the Deacons and Presbyters working under him.He was a learned, faithful, humble, and selfless man. So why did he have to die – who would want to kill a man like that?

The Emperor Trajan, that’s who. Ruling Rome from the year 98 to 117 CE, Trajan was paranoid about secret societies that might plot to take power away from him. In his fear, he banned all clubs and political associations.That included gatherings of Christians, who seemed suspicious because they met in their homes behind closed doors, claimed to worship a different “King”, were accused of eating “flesh and blood”, and were growing in number alarmingly fast. Trajan was the first Emperor to make capital punishment of Christians an official policy.We know about his policies from a pair of letters written between Trajan and Pliny, the governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. The two letters tell us a lot about what dangers Christians faced, and reveal why Bishop Ignatius had to die.

Pliny lived in an Empire where the citizens were required to worship the Roman Emperor and the Roman gods at the official temples, using the established religious rites. He was unsure of how to deal with the troublesome Christians in his region. Pliny saw the Christian “superstition” spreading rapidly and endangering Roman religion, culture, and society. How should Christians be investigated and punished? Under what circumstances should they be executed? What should he do if someone was anonymously accused of being a Christian? In trying to work out the details of the policy by himself, Pliny had tortured and executed a few Christians, but he was in doubt about the exact procedures to follow. So he wrote to Trajan for clarification.

Trajan wrote back, and told Pliny to follow a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell...but if they do tell, then kill them!’ policy. Officially, if a person was proven to be a Christian, then the punishment was death. But anonymous accusations were not to be allowed. Christians were not to be actively sought out. Furthermore, even if a person was accused of being a Christian, they had a chance to obtain pardon through repentance. Specifically, if the accused person publically worshipped and sacrificed to the Roman gods, then they could escape the death penalty. But some Christians were unable to deny Jesus in that way. Death was preferable. One such person who strongly preferred death was Bishop Ignatius.

We know the story of Ignatius from seven letters he wrote while on his way to die. We also have a document called “The Martyrdom of Ignatius” which was supposedly written by two people who accompanied him on his final journey and witnessed his execution. The “Martyrdom” tells how Ignatius had guided the church of Antioch through the earlier persecutions of the Emperor Domitian, and how he was glad the persecution had ceased. But part of Ignatius still wished he could become a martyr, because by dying that way, he would perfect his discipleship to Christ, and become as intimately close to the Lord as it was possible to be.When Trajan threatened Christians with death, as described above, Ignatius saw his chance to attain his goal.

It happened that Trajan was staying in Antioch while on a campaign against the Parthians. It is not clear from the source material whether Ignatius was accused and arrested or if he turned himself in. In any case, Ignatius came willingly before the Emperor, where he testified that he was a Christian who carried the spirit of Jesus within him. Under the law, Ignatius was a proven Christian, by his own admission. Trajan sentenced him to be bound and taken by soldiers to Rome, where he would be devoured by beasts for the gratification of the people. Ignatius actually cried out with joy, saying, I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron chains, like Thy Apostle Paul.

Next, Ignatius had to make the long journey to Rome, escorted over land and sea by ten soldiers. On the way, he met with many fellow Christians, who came to see him where he stopped.The Bishop gave out many words of encouragement and listened to the problems of the church representatives.Then, just as Paul once did, Ignatius wrote letters to those churches to guide them.We have seven letters from him in all, six to churches and one to the Bishop Polycarp.

To our modern way of thinking, it seems strange and a bit awe-inspiring that a person would actively seek martyrdom. What goes through the mind of a person like that? The letters of Ignatius give us an intimate understanding in his own words.He wrote about dying as “going through the pangs of being born.” He wrote, “Let me imitate the Passion of my God”, and “Let me be fodder for wild beasts – that is how I can get to God. I am God’s wheat and I am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts to make a pure loaf for Christ.” “Then I shall be a real disciple of Jesus Christ when the world sees my body no more. Pray Christ for me that by these means I may become God’s sacrifice.”

I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts in Rome, so that by doing this I can be a real Disciple.”

Ignatius’ one fear was that once he got to Rome, his friends would try to rescue him at the last moment. In a letter sent on ahead to Rome, he begged them not to interfere with his death. “The Prince of this world wants to kidnap me and pervert my Godly purpose. None of you then, who will be there, must abet him. Rather be on my side – that is, on God’s. Do not talk Jesus Christ and set your heart on the world. Harbor no envy. If, when I arrive, I make a different plea, pay no attention to me. Rather heed what I am now writing to you. For though alive, it is with a passion for death that I am writing to you. My desire has been crucified and there burns in me no passion for material things. There is living water in me, which speaks and says inside me, ‘Come to the Father’. I take no delight in corruptible food or the dainties of this life. What I want is God’s bread, which is the flesh of Christ, who came from David’s line; and for drink I want his blood: an immortal love feast indeed!”

As extreme as these words may sound, Ignatius was in fact living out the Christian idea of the imitation of Christ to its fullest. “Then he [Jesus] said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.>What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?” (Luke 9:23-25) And, Ignatius sounds a lot like Paul, who wrote: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:10-12) Ignatius’ thoughts are very much in keeping with the gospels and letters that he read and preached about to his church.

The “Martyrdom of Ignatius” document says that when Ignatius finally arrived in Rome, he and his guards were met by a crowd of Christians, who were joyful to meet the great Bishop but also afraid that he was being put to death. Ignatius silenced their protests, and prayed for continued love between the brethren and an end to persecutions. Then he was taken quickly into the amphitheater and thrown to the beasts. The writers, his companions, gathered his bones afterwards and brought them back to Antioch. In a dream, the companions saw a vision of Ignatius standing by the Lord. This told them that the martyred Bishop had finally completed his course and reached his goal.