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| Chapter I.—Desire of Ignatius for martyrdom.
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Chapter I.—Desire of Ignatius for
martyrdom.
When Trajan, not long since,1399
| 1399 The data of Trajan’s
accession was a.d. 98.
| succeeded to the empire of the Romans, Ignatius, the disciple of
John the apostle, a man in all respects of an apostolic character,
governed the Church of the Antiochians with great care, having with
difficulty escaped the former storms of the many persecutions under
Domitian, inasmuch as, like a good pilot, by the helm of prayer and
fasting, by the earnestness of his teaching, and by his [constant1400
| 1400 The text here is somewhat
doubtful. | ] spiritual labour, he resisted the flood that
rolled against him, fearing [only] lest he should lose any of those who
were deficient in courage, or apt to suffer from their simplicity.1401
| 1401 Literally, “any of the
faint-hearted and more guileless.” | Wherefore he
rejoiced over the tranquil state of the Church, when the persecution
ceased for a little time, but was grieved as to himself, that he had not
yet attained to a true love to Christ, nor reached the perfect rank of a
disciple. For he inwardly reflected, that the confession which is made by
martyrdom, would bring him into a yet more intimate relation to the Lord.
Wherefore, continuing a few years longer with the Church, and, like a
divine lamp, enlightening every one’s understanding by his
expositions of the [Holy1402
| 1402
This word is of doubtful authority. | ] Scriptures, he [at
length] attained the object of his desire.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
