Food for the lions
by Mike Oettle
“IF Christianity
was made a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” is a familiar
slogan.
Practising the religion of Jesus Christ was the crime of which Ignatius was found guilty under the persecution of the emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus, who reigned AD 98-117) – and for that he was sent for, all the way from Antioch, in Syria, where he was bishop, to Rome, to be eaten by the lions.
The fact that he was bishop of Antioch is about all that’s known for certain about
Ignatius before he began his journey. It is believed that he was born and
raised in Syria, but even when he became bishop, or whether he had
predecessors, is not known.
Virtue’s Catholic Encyclopædia confidently states that Peter himself appointed Ignatius bishop, but other works of reference are more circumspect about accepting old traditions, and so also vaguer. A popular legend is that Ignatius was the child whom Jesus called to stand before the disciples and then said: “Unless you change and become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew [18:1-6] and Luke [18:15-17] both tell the story, but there is no evidence that seriously suggests that it was Ignatius.)
It was Ignatius’s journey to Rome that introduced him to history – that, and the seven letters he wrote while en route. Ignatius wrote of the squad of soldiers (“ten leopards”) that guarded him, whose “behaviour gets worse the better they are treated”. They stopped for a time at Smyrna (now Izmir, in Turkey), then a major Greek city in the west of Asia Minor, where Ignatius was met by Polycarp, then a young man, who was to be martyred in his old age after serving as bishop of his city for 70 years.
Here
Ignatius wrote the first four of his letters, to the churches at Ephesus,
Magnesia, Tralles and Rome. Before crossing to Europe he wrote three more at
Lystra, to the Christians of Philadelphia and Smyrna, and a farewell letter
of advice to Polycarp.
“These letters are of the greatest value and interest for the light they throw on Christian belief and practice less than a century after Christ’s ascension. Ignatius continually urges his readers to maintain unity amongst themselves, meeting together in the Eucharist under the presidency of their bishop. The best-known letter is the one sent in advance to the Roman Christians. In it he implores them not to try to get him reprieved. It reveals a patient, gentle man, so passionately devoted to Christ that he could not bear to miss the chance of dying a violent death for his sake: ‘Let me follow the example of the suffering of my God.’ ”[1]
Ignatius was so convinced of the presence of Christ within him that he referred to himself not only as a disciple but as theophoros (qeoforoV or “bearer of God”). His letters are of particular importance to the Roman Catholic Church because of his references to the church of Rome being founded by Peter and Paul and so worthy of special reverence.
Ignatius, who also called himself “the wheat of Christ”, died almost at once when he was thrown to the lions in the Colosseum.
His letters were soon translated into Latin and other languages, and one was quoted by the British chronicler Gildas (died 570).
Antioch has always kept his feast day on 17 October, and since 1969 Rome has, too. Formerly Rome observed his day on 17 December, the day of his death, while the Eastern Churches generally prefer 20 December.
The name Ignatius (Ignatios [IgnatioV], in Greek) is of Syrian origin; its meaning is unknown, but it is popular – especially in Russia and Spain – thanks to this one man’s martyrdom. It occurs in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish in a variety of forms. Some Russian examples are Ignatiy, Ignat, Ihnat, Hnat and Icnashka. In Spanish it occurs as Ignacio, Iñigo, Eneco and Nacho; in Provençal it is Jenico. As a result of a Provençal marriage, it made its way to England as Enico or Inigo. Its popularity was given a boost by the founder of the Jesuit order, Ignatius of Loyola (Iñigo Lopez de Recalde), and has spread further: in France it occurs as Ignace and in Germany as Ignaz. It also occurs in Afrikaans – Igna is sometimes encountered as a shortened form (for boys or girls), while all South African rugby fans know about Ignatius (Naas) Botha.
