Ignatius of Antioch
2nd century · AD 108 · Early Fathers (before Nicaea) · 247 passages
Bishop of Antioch who wrote seven letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome, insisting on the reality of Christ's incarnation and the unity of the church.
Background on Ignatius of Antioch
In his own words on 2 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10
The prophets were His servants, and foresaw Him by the Spirit, and waited for Him as their Teacher, and expected Him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He will come and save us." Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat." For say the [holy] oracles, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, "To the end, for the eighth day," on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, "whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things," who are "lovers of pleasure, and not lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10
Let no one addicted to idleness eat, lest he become a wanderer about, and a whoremonger.
Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Antiochians
Quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations of the fathers — Aquinas's Catena Aurea, the Ante-Nicene and Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, and related editions. Each quotation links to its source.