Connections
Writing a few years after the turn of the first century, a man known to us as Ignatius of Antioch, was arrested by the Romans and sent via overland route to Rome where he was eventually martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ. Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch – his predecessors were Simon Peter and Evodius – and it is believed that Ignatius was ordained by Peter and was also known to the Apostle John.
The journey from Antioch to Rome was long, and along the way, his Roman guards allowed Ignatius to write letters to friends living in various cities as well as one to a special friend named Polycarp who was Bishop of Smyrna, and seven of Ignatius’ letters including his letter to Polycarp have survived to this day. Polycarp himself would follow Ignatius in martyrdom many years later, and though the actual date of his death is disputed, it is interesting to note that the Roman historian, Eusebius, places it in the reign of Marcus Aurelius – ca. 166-167. According to an ancient eye-witness account of Polycarp’s death, he was bound and burned at the stake, but he was ultimately stabbed to death when the flames failed to touch him.
Polycarp’s disciple, Irenaeus of Lyons, mentioned his mentor frequently in his letters. Writing in the late second century in a letter to Florinus, Irenaeus describes his tutelage under Polycarp thus:
For, while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in Lower Asia with Polycarp, distinguishing thyself in the royal court, and endeavouring to gain his approbation. For I have a more vivid recollection of what occurred at that time than of recent events (inasmuch as the experiences of childhood, keeping pace with the growth of the soul, become incorporated with it); so that **I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse-his going out, too, and his coming in-his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord; and how he would call their words to remembrance. **Whatsoever things he had heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His teaching, Polycarp having thus received [information] from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life, would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures. These things, through, God’s mercy which was upon me, I then listened to attentively, and treasured them up not on paper, but in my heart; and I am continually, by God’s grace, revolving these things accurately in my mind.
