ST IGNATIUS to the Romans
(from: _Apostolic Fathers_,
Lightfoot & Harmer, 1891 translation)
CHAPTER 0
0:0 Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto
her that
hath found mercy in the
bountifulness of the Father
Most High and of Jesus Christ His only Son; to the
church that is beloved and
enlightened through the
will of Him who willed all things
that are, by faith
and love towards Jesus Christ our
God; even unto her
that hath the presidency in the
country of the region
of the Romans, being worthy of God,
worthy of honour,
worthy of felicitation, worthy of
praise, worthy of
success, worthy in purity, and
having the presidency
of love, walking in the law of
Christ and bearing the
Father's name; which church also I salute in the name
of Jesus Christ the Son of the
Father; unto them that
in flesh and spirit are united unto
His every
commandment, being filled with the
grace of God
without wavering, and filtered
clear from every
foreign stain; abundant greeting in
Jesus Christ our
God in blamelessness.
CHAPTER 1
1:1 Forasmuch as in answer to my prayer to
God it
hath been granted me to see your
godly countenances,
so that I have obtained even more
than I asked; for
wearing bonds in Christ Jesus I
hope to salute you, if
it be the Divine will that I should
be counted worthy
to reach unto the end;
1:2 for the beginning verily is well
ordered, if so
be I shall attain unto the goal,
that I may receive
mine inheritance without
hinderance. For I dread your
very love, lest it do me an injury;
for it is easy for
you to do what ye will, but for me
it is difficult to
attain unto God, unless ye shall
spare me.
CHAPTER 2
2:1 For I would not have you to be
men-pleasers but
to please God, as indeed ye do
please Him. For neither
shall I myself ever find an
opportunity such as this
to attain unto God, nor can ye, if
ye be silent, win
the credit of any nobler work. For,
if ye be silent
and leave me alone, I am a word of
God; but if ye
desire my flesh, then shall I be
again a mere cry.
2:2 [Nay] grant me nothing more than that
I be
poured out a libation to God, while
there is still an
altar ready; that forming
yourselves into a chorus in
love ye may sing to the Father in
Jesus Christ, for
that God hath vouchsafed that the
bishop from
should be found in the West, having
summoned him from
the East. It is good to set from
the world unto God,
that I may rise unto Him.
CHAPTER 3
3:1 Ye never grudged any one; ye were the
instructors of others. And my
desire is that those
lessons shall hold good which as
teachers ye enjoin.
3:2 Only pray that I may have power within
and
without, so that I may not only say
it but also desire
it; that I may not only be called a
Christian, but
also be found one. For if I shall
be found so, then
can I also be called one, and be
faithful then, when I
am no more visible to the world.
3:3 Nothing visible is good. For our God
Jesus
Christ, being in the Father, is the more plainly
visible. The Work is not of
persuasiveness, but
Christianity is a thing of might, whensoever it is
hated by the world.
CHAPTER 4
4:1 I write to all the churches, and I bid
all men
know, that of my own free will I
die for God, unless
ye should hinder me. I exhort you,
be ye not an
unseasonable kindness to me. Let me
be given to the
wild beasts, for through them I can
attain unto God. I
am God's wheat, and I am ground by
the teeth of wild
beasts that I may be found pure
bread [of Christ].
4:2 Rather entice the wild beasts, that
they may
become my sepulchre and may leave
no part of my body
behind, so that I may not, when I
am fallen asleep, be
burdensome to any one. Then shall I
be truly a
disciple of Jesus Christ, when the
world shall not so
much as see my body. Supplicate the
Lord for me, that
through these instruments I may be
found a sacrifice
to God.
4:3 I do not enjoin you, as Peter and Paul
did. They
were Apostles, I am a convict; they
were free, but I
am a slave to this very hour. Yet
if I shall suffer,
then am I a freed-man of Jesus
Christ, and I shall
rise free in Him. Now I am learning
in my bonds to put
away every desire.
CHAPTER 5
5:1 From
beasts, by land and sea, by night
and by day, being
bound amidst ten leopards, even a
company of soldiers,
who only wax worse when they are
kindly treated.
Howbeit through their wrong doings I become more
completely a disciple; _yet am I
not hereby
justified._
5:2 May I have joy of the beasts that have
been
prepared for me; and I pray that I
may find them
prompt; nay I will entice them that
they may devour me
promptly, not as they have done to
some, refusing to
touch them through fear. Yea though
of themselves they
should not be willing while I am
ready, I myself will
force them to it.
5:3 Bear with me. I know what is expedient
for me.
Now am I beginning to be a disciple.
May nought of
things visible and things invisible
envy me; that I
may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come
fire and cross and
grapplings with wild beasts, [cuttings
and manglings,]
wrenching of bones, of limbs, crushings of my
whole body, come cruel tortures of
the devil to assail
me. Only be it mine to attain unto
Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 6
6:1 The farthest bounds of the universe
shall profit
me nothing, neither the kingdoms of
this world. It is
good for me to die for Jesus Christ
rather than to
reign over the farthest bounds of
the earth. Him I
seek, who died on our behalf; Him I
desire, who rose
again [for our sake]. The pangs of
a new birth are
upon me.
6:2 Bear with me, brethren. Do not hinder
me from
living; do not desire my death.
Bestow not on the
world one who desireth to be God's,
neither allure him
with material things. Suffer me to
receive the pure
light. When I am come thither, then
shall I be a man.
6:3 Permit me to be an imitator of the
passion of my
God. If any man hath Him within
himself, let him
understand what I desire, and let
him have fellow-
feeling with me, for he knoweth the
things which
straiten me.
CHAPTER 7
7:1 The prince of this world would fain
tear me in
pieces and corrupt my mind to
Godward. Let not any of
you therefore who are near abet
him. Rather stand ye
on my side, that is on God's side.
Speak not of Jesus
Christ and withal desire the world.
7:2 Let not envy have a home in you. Even
though I
myself, when I am with you, should
beseech you, obey
me not; but rather give credence to
these things which
I write to you. [For] I write to you in the midst of
life, yet lusting after death. My
lust hath been
crucified, and there is no fire of
material longing in
me, but only water living +and
speaking+ in me, saying
within me, Come to the Father.
7:3 I have no delight in the food of
corruption or
in the delights of this life. I
desire the bread of
God, which is the flesh of Christ who was of the seed
of David; and for a draught I
desire His blood, which
is love incorruptible.
CHAPTER 8
8:1 I desire no longer to live after the
manner of
men; and this shall be, if ye
desire it. Desire ye,
that ye yourselves also may be
desired.
8:2 In a brief letter I beseech you;
believe me. And
Jesus Christ shall make manifest unto you these
things, that I speak the truth --
Jesus Christ, the
unerring mouth in whom the Father
hath spoken [truly].
8:3 Entreat ye for me, that I may attain
[through
the Holy Spirit]. I write not unto
you after the
flesh, but after the mind of God.
If I shall suffer,
it was your desire; if I shall be
rejected, it was
your hatred.
CHAPTER 9
9:1 Remember in your prayers the church which is in
Jesus Christ alone shall be its bishop -- He and your
love.
9:2 But for myself I am ashamed to be
called one of
them; for neither am I worthy,
being the very last of
them and an untimely birth: but I
have found mercy
that I should be some one, if so be
I shall attain
unto God.
9:3 My spirit saluteth you, and the love
of the
churches which received me in the
name of Jesus
Christ, not as a mere wayfarer: for even those
churches which did not lie on my
route after the flesh
went before me from city to city.
CHAPTER 10
10:1 Now I write these things to you from
the hand of the Ephesians who are
worthy of all
felicitation. And Crocus also, a
name very dear to me,
is with me, with many others
besides.
10:2 As touching those who went before me
from
to
received instructions; whom also
apprise that I am
near; for they all are worthy of
God and of you, and
it becometh you to refresh them in
all things.
10:3 These things I write to you on the 9th
before
the Kalends of September. Fare ye
well unto the end in
the patient waiting for Jesus Christ.
