Considering Bishop Ignatius (c.115 AD) on Church Polity
This rethink will be expanded in the future.
This makes me think that many of the major lines of
deformation were well under way by the year 115 AD.
Here is a taste of what Bishop Ignatius wrote in his letters
around 115 AD with a focus on his innovations for church polity:
. . . joined together in a united
obedience and subject to the bishop and the presbytery… it is proper for you to
act together in harmony with the mind of the bishop. . . Let no one be misled
if anyone is not within the sanctuary, he lacks the bread of God. For if
the prayer of one or two has such power, how much more that of the bishop
together with the whole church! Therefore whoever does not meet with the
congregation thereby demonstrates his arrogance and has separated himself . . . be careful not to
oppose the bishop, in order that we may be obedient to God. Furthermore,
the more anyone observes that the bishop is silent; the more one should fear
him. For everyone whom the Master of the house sends to manage his own
house we must welcome as we would the one who sent him. It is obvious,
therefore, that we must regard the bishop as the Lord himself. . . your
bishop, but to give him all the respect due him . . . yield to him as one who
is wise in God; yet not really to him, but to the Father of Jesus Christ, the
Bishop of all. . .
It is right, therefore, that we not just be called
Christians, but that we actually be Christians, unlike
some who call a man bishop but do everything without regard for him. Such
men do not appear to me to act in good conscience, inasmuch as they do not validly meet
together in accordance with the commandment. . . Be eager to do
everything in godly harmony, the bishop presiding in the place of God and the
presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles. . . Let there be
nothing among you which is capable of dividing you, but be united with the
bishop and with those who lead. . . Therefore as the Lord did nothing without
the Father, either by himself or through the apostles, so you must not do anything without
the bishop and the presbyters. Do not attempt to convince yourselves that anything done
apart from the others is right, but, gathering together, let there be
one prayer, one petition, one mind, one hope. . . be subject to your bishop. .
. For when you are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, it is evident that
you are living not in accordance with human standards. . .
It is essential, therefore, that you continue our current
practice and do nothing
without the bishop, but be subject also to the presbytery as to the
apostles of Jesus Christ. . . similarly, let everyone
respect the deacons of Jesus Christ, just as they should respect the bishop,
who is a model of the Father, and the presbyters as God’s council and as a band
of the apostles. Without
these no group can be called a church. . . cling inseparably
to Jesus Christ and to the bishop and to the commandments of the apostles. . .
for it is right for each one of you, and especially the presbyters, to
encourage the bishop, to the honor of the Father and to the honor of Jesus
Christ and of the apostles. . . Be subject to the bishop as to the commandment,
and likewise to the presbytery. . . the blood of Jesus
Christ, which is eternal and lasting joy, especially if they are at one with
the bishop and the presbyters and deacons who are with him, who have been
appointed by the mind of Jesus Christ. . . . For all those who belong to God
and Jesus Christ are with the bishop, and all those who repent and enter into
the unity of the church will belong to God, that they may be living in
accordance with Jesus Christ. Do not be misled, my brothers: if
anyone follows a schismatic, he will not inherit the kingdom of God. If
anyone holds to alien views, he disassociates himself from the Passion.
Take care, therefore, to participate in one Eucharist (for there is one flesh
of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup which leads to unity through his blood;
there is one altar, just as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery
and the deacons. . .
. . . the Spirit is not deceived
because it is from God… and exposes the hidden things. I called out when
I was with you; I was speaking with a loud voice, God’s voice: “Pay
attention to the bishop and to the presbytery and deacons.”… I did not learn
this from any human being. No, the Spirit itself was preaching, saying
these words: “Do nothing without the bishop. Guard your bodies as
the temple of God. Love unity. Flee from divisions. Become
imitators of Jesus Christ, just as he is of his Father.” I was doing my
part, therefore, as a man set on unity. But God does not dwell where
there is division and anger. The Lord, however, forgives all who repent,
if in repenting they return to the unity of God and the council of the bishop.
. .
Flee from divisions, as the beginning of evils. You
must all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and follow the
presbytery as you would the apostles; respect the deacons as the commandment of
God. Let no one do anything that has to do with the church without the
bishop. Only that
Eucharist which is under the authority of the bishop (or whomever he himself
designates) is to be considered valid. Whenever the bishop
appears, there let the congregation be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there
is the catholic church. It is not permissible either to baptize or to hold
a love feast without the bishop. But whatever he approves is also
pleasing to God, in order that everything you do may be trustworthy and
valid. Finally, it is reasonable for us to come to our senses while
we still have time to repent and turn to God. It is good to acknowledge
God and the bishop. The one who honors the bishop has been honored by
God; the one who does anything without the bishop’s knowledge serves the
devil.
And it is proper for men and women who marry to be united
with the consent of the bishop that the marriage may be in accordance with the
Lord and not due to lustful passions. Let all things be done for the
honor of God. Pay attention to the bishop, in order that God may pay attention
to you.
These letters of Ignatius were found in the book The
Apostolic Fathers; Greek Texts and
English Translations of Their Writings; Second edition, by Lightfoot,
Harmer, and Holmes.
Michael W. Holmes introduces the book saying:
“Toward the end of the first century, A.D., the Christian
movement was cut off from its Jewish roots. Its counselors, the apostles,
were dying. The second generation was neither as discerning as the
apostles nor as theologically refined as later theologians. As a consequence,
their literature mirrors both courage and rough-and-tumble leadership. .
. . The fathers innovated organization and confronted
controversy. The Apostolic Fathers is their legacy.”
My wording would be less diplomatic and congenial than
Holmes’ words were. But along the same lines. I’d like to rephrase it something like this:
In the second century the leaders of the Greco-Roman churches
had lost and/or rejected Jewish Christian insights, roots, and
leadership. The Apostles were long gone but not totally forgotten.
Ignatius, the father of the second-century Greco-Roman Church, took the New
Testament offices/roles of episcopos, presbuteros, and diakanos to extremes of
authority that the Apostles didn’t dare to give. They did this in an attempt to protect the
apostolic faith from heretics and schism/disunity. There was a felt need to control the
uncontrollable? This is why I call
these guys—men like Ignatius--the Early Church Children rather than the Early
Church Fathers. For while they may have been fathers of
the Greco-Roman Church, they were not the fathers of the original
Jewish-and-Gentile church. They were fathers of a new generation
and of the Greco-Roman Church--a church that had great inheritance from the Apostolic tradition but also one which minimized or even
lost some parts and exaggerated others.
Also when this gets expanded I need to add the criticisms of Ignatius found in Oskar Skarsaune’s In the Shadow of the Temple.