The claim he makes for the threefold ministry.

imaginative idealism, the solvent forces of which they were just beginning to feel. Under these circumstances he applies himself to strengthening two great fortresses of the Church's life. The first is the Incarnation as a fact in history, as a thing sacramentally perpetuated, as a principle to be meditated upon, formulated, and fought for. The second is the Ministry-the visible organization of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, by which the Church, the home of God's redemption, is to be known, and by which it is made plain that the Christian religion is not a dream or a speculation but a manifested life, social, organized, and disciplined, under the authority of a divinely-given rule.

In his assertion of the prerogative of the threefold ministry Ignatius is almost violently emphatic, as may be seen from the following passages from his letters: 2

...

It is therefore meet . . . that being perfectly joined together in one submission, submitting yourselves to your bishop and presbytery, ye may be sanctified in all things.'

'I was forward to exhort you, that ye run in harmony with the mind of God for Jesus Christ also, our inseparable life, is the mind of the Father, even as the bishops that are settled in the farthest parts of the earth are in the mind of Jesus Christ. So then it becometh you to run in harmony with the mind of the bishop; which thing also ye do. For your honourable presbytery, which is worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, even as its strings to a lyre.'

'Let no man be deceived. If any one be not within the precinct of the altar, he lacketh the bread [of God]. For, if the prayer of one and another hath so great force, how much more that of the bishop and of the whole Church. . . . Let us therefore be careful not to resist the bishop, that by our submission we may give ourselves to God. And in proportion as a man seeth that his bishop is silent, let him fear him the more. For every one whom the Master of the household sendeth

1 The emphasis upon the physical fact of Christ's incarnation, birth, death, resurrection, as against Docetism, is of course constant (ad Magn. 11, ad Trall. 9, ad Smyrn. 1); see Lightfoot i. pp. 359, 360. For the close connexion of the Incarnation with the Eucharist, see ad Smyrn. 6. For Ignatius' tendency to formulate as a doctrine the antithesis involved in the Incarnation, see ad Eph. 7, ad Polyc. 3, cf. ad Eph. 20.

From Dr. Lightfoot's translation.

to be steward over His own house, we ought so to receive as Him that sent him. Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself.'

'Assemble yourselves together in common, every one of you severally, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David's race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that ye may obey the bishop and the presbytery without distraction of mind; breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die.'1

'Forasmuch then as I was permitted to see you in the person of Damas your godly bishop, and your worthy presbyters Bassus and Apollonius and my fellow-servant the deacon Zotion, of whom I would fain have joy, for that he is subject to the bishop as unto the grace of God and to the presbytery as unto the law of Jesus Christ :-Yea, and it becometh you also not to presume upon the youth of your bishop, but according to the power of God the Father to render unto him all reverence, ... yet not to him, but to the Father of Jesus Christ, even to the Bishop of all. . . . For a man does not so much deceive this bishop who is seen, as cheat that other who is invisible.'

'It is therefore meet that we not only be called Christians, but also be such; even as some persons have the bishop's name on their lips, but in everything act apart from him. Such men appear to me not to keep a good conscience, forasmuch as they do not assemble themselves together lawfully according to commandment.'

'Be ye zealous to do all things in godly concord, the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the diaconate of Jesus Christ.'

'As the Lord did nothing without the Father, [being united with Him], either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. And attempt not to think

1 ad Eph. 2 : πρέπον οὖν ἐστὶν κατὰ πάντα τρόπον δοξάζειν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν δοξάσαντα ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἐν μιᾷ ὑποταγῇ κατηρτισμένοι, ὑποτασσόμενοι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ, κατὰ πάντα ἦτε ἡγιασμένοι.

3,4 : προέλαβον παρακαλεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὅπως συντρέχητε τῇ γνώμῃ τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ γὰρ Ι. Χ., τὸ ἀδιάκριτον ἡμῶν ζῆν, τοῦ πατρὸς ἡ γνώμη, ὡς καὶ οἱ ἐπίσκοποι οἱ κατὰ τὰ πέρατα ὁρισθέντες ἐν Ι. Χ γνώμῃ εἰσίν. Οθεν πρέπει ὑμῖν συντρέχειν τῇ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου γνώμῃ, ὅπερ καὶ ποιεῖτε. τὸ γὰρ ἀξιονόμαστον ὑμῶν πρεσβυτέριον, τοῦ θεοῦ ἄξιον, οὕτως συνήρμοσται τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὡς χορδαὶ κιθάρα.

5, 6: μηδεὶς πλανάσθω· ἐὰν μή τις ᾗ ἐντὸς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, ὑστερεῖται τοῦ ἄρτου [τοῦ θεοῦ]· εἰ γὰρ ἑνὸς καὶ δευτέρου προσευχὴ τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν ἔχει, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἥ τε τοῦ ἐπισκόπου καὶ πάσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας . . σπουδάσωμεν οὖν μὴ

ἀντιτάσσεσθαι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, ἵνα ὦμεν θεοῦ ὑποτασσόμενοι. Καὶ ὅσον βλέπει τις σιγῶντα ἐπίσκοπον, πλειόνως αὐτὸν φοβείσθω· πάντα γὰρ ἂν πέμπει ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης εἰς ἰδίαν οἰκονομίαν, οὕτως δεῖ ἡμᾶς αὐτὸν δέχεσθαι ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν πέμψαντα τὸν οὖν ἐπίσκοπον δηλονότι ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον δεῖ προσβλέπειν.

20: οἱ κατ ̓ ἄνδρα κοινῇ πάντες ἐν χάριτι ἐξ ὀνόματος συνέρχεσθε ἐν μιᾷ πίστει καὶ ἑνὶ Ι. Χ. τῷ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ γένους Δαυείδ, τῷ υἱῷ ἀνθρώπου καὶ υἱῷ θεοῦ, εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ὑμᾶς τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ ἀπερισπάστῳ διανοίᾳ ἕνα ἄρτον κλῶντες, ὅ ἐστιν φάρμακον ἀθανασίας, ἀντίδοτος τοῦ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν.

anything right for yourselves apart from others; but let there be one prayer in common, etc.'

'Do your diligence therefore that ye be confirmed in the ordinances of the Lord and of the Apostles, that ye may prosper in all things whatsoever ye do in flesh and spirit . . . in the Son and Father and in the Spirit, . . . with your revered bishop, and with the fitly wreathed spiritual circlet of your presbytery, and with the deacons who walk after God. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father [according to the flesh], and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of flesh and of spirit. 1

'When ye are obedient to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, it is evident to me that ye are living not after men but after Jesus Christ. . . . It is therefore necessary, even as your wont is, that ye should do nothing without the bishop; but be ye obedient also to the presbytery, as to the Apostles. . . . And those likewise who are deacons of the mysteries of Jesus Christ must please all men in all ways. For they are not deacons of meats and drinks but servants of the Church of God. It is right therefore that they should beware of blame as of fire. In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a Church.'

'This will surely be, if ye be not puffed up and if ye be inseparable from [God] Jesus Christ and from the bishop and from the ordinances of the Apostles. He that is within the sanctuary is clean; but he that

1 ad Magn. 2, 3: Επεὶ οὖν ἠξιώθην ἰδεῖν ὑμᾶς διὰ Δαμᾶ τοῦ ἀξιοθέου ὑμῶν ἐπισκόπου καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἀξίων Βάσσου καὶ ̓Απολλωνίου καὶ τοῦ συνδούλου μου διακόνου Ζωτίωνος, οὗ ἐγὼ ἐναίμην, ὅτι ὑποτάσσεται τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὡς χάριτι θεοῦ καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ ὡς νόμῳ Ι. Χ. Καὶ ὑμῖν δὲ πρέπει μὴ συγχρᾶσθαι τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, ἀλλὰ κατὰ δύναμιν θεοῦ πατρὸς πᾶσαν ἐντροπὴν αὐτῷ ἀπονέμειν, οὐκ αὐτῷ δέ, ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρὶ Ι. Χ. τῷ πάντων ἐπισκόπῳ ἐπεὶ οὐχ ὅτι τὸν ἐπίσκοπον τοῦτον τὸν βλεπόμενον πλανᾷ τις, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀόρατον παραλογίζεται.

4: Πρέπον οὖν ἐστὶν μὴ μόνον καλεῖσθαι Χριστιανοὺς ἀλλὰ καὶ εἶναι· ὥσπερ καί τινες ἐπίσκοπον μὲν καλοῦσιν, χωρὶς δὲ αὐτοῦ πάντα πράσσουσιν· οἱ τοιοῦτοι δὲ οὐκ εὐσυνείδητοί μοι εἶναι φαίνονται διὰ τὸ μὴ βεβαίως κατ' ἐντολὴν συναθροίζεσθαι.

6: ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ θεοῦ σπουδάζετε πάντα πράσσειν, προκαθημένου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου εἰς τύπον θεοῦ καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων εἰς τύπον συνεδρίου τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τῶν διακόνων τῶν ἐμοὶ γλυκυτάτων, πεπιστευμένων διακονίαν 'Ι. Χ.

7: Ωσπερ οὖν ὁ Κύριος ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς οὐδὲν ἐποίησεν [ηνωμένος ὤν], οὔτε δι' ἑαυτοῦ οὔτε διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων· οὕτως μηδὲ ὑμεῖς ἄνευ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων μηδὲν πράσσετε, μηδὲ πειράσητε εὐλογόν τι φαίνεσθαι ἰδίᾳ ὑμῖν· ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ μία προσευχὴ κ.τ.λ.

13 : Σπουδάζετε οὖν βεβαιωθῆναι ἐν τοῖς δόγμασιν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων, ἵνα πάντα ὅσα ποιεῖτε κατευοδωθῆτε σαρκὶ καὶ πνεύματι, πίστει καὶ ἀγάπῃ, ἐν υἱῷ καὶ πατρὶ καὶ ἐν πνεύματι, ἐν ἀρχῇ καὶ ἐν τέλει, μετὰ τοῦ ἀξιοπρεπεστάτου ἐπισκόπου ὑμῶν καὶ ἀξιοπλόκου πνευματικοῦ στεφάνου τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν κατὰ θεὸν διακόνων. ὑποτάγητε τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ ἀλλήλοις, ὡς Ι. Χ. τῷ πατρὶ [κατὰ σάρκα) καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τῷ Χ. καὶ τῷ πατρί, ἵνα ἔνωσις ᾖ σαρκική τε καὶ πνευματική

is without the sanctuary is not clean, that is, he that doeth aught without the bishop and presbytery and deacons, this man is not clean in his conscience.'

'Fare ye well in Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves to the bishop as to the commandment, and likewise also to the presbytery.'

'For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ, they are with the bishop; and as many as shall repent and enter into the unity of the Church, these also shall be of God. . . . Be not deceived, my brethren if any man followeth one that maketh a schism, he doth not inherit the kingdom of God. If any man walketh in strange doctrine, he hath no fellowship with the passion. Be ye careful therefore to observe one eucharist: for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup unto union in His blood; there is one altar, as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and the deacons my fellow-servants.'2

'Shun divisions, as the beginning of evils. Do ye all follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles ; and to the deacons pay respect, as to God's commandment. Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop. Let that be held a valid eucharist which is under the bishop or one to whom he shall have committed it. Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be; even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal Church. It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve, this is well-pleasing also to God; that everything which ye do may be sure and valid.'

'It is good to recognise God and the bishop. He that honoureth

1 ad Trail. 2, 3 : "Οταν γὰρ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὑποτάσσησθε ὡς Ι. Χ., φαίνεσθέ μοι οὐ κατὰ ἀνθρώπους ζῶντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ Ἰ. Χ. . . . ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἐστίν, ὥσπερ ποιεῖτε, ἄνευ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου μηδὲν πράσσειν ὑμᾶς· ἀλλ ̓ ὑποτάσσεσθε καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ, ὡς [τοῖς] ἀποστόλοις 'Ι. Χ. . . . δεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς διακόνους ὄντας μυστηρίων Ι. Χ. κατὰ πάντα τρόπον πᾶσιν ἀρέσκειν· οὐ γὰρ βρωμάτων καὶ ποτῶν εἰσιν διάκονοι, ἀλλ ̓ ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ ὑπηρέται· δέον οὖν αὐτοὺς φυλάσσεσθαι τὰ ἐγκλήματα ὡς πῦρ. Ομοίως πάντες ἐντρεπέσθωσαν τοὺς διακόνους ὡς Ι. Χ., ὡς καὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ὄντα τύπον τοῦ πατρός, τοὺς δὲ πρεσβυτέρους ὡς συνέδριον θεοῦ καὶ ὡς σύνδεσμον ἀποστόλων· χωρὶς τούτων ἐκκλησία οὐ καλεῖται.

7: τοῦτο δὲ ἔσται ὑμῖν μὴ φυσιουμένοις καὶ οὖσιν ἀχωρίστοις [θεοῦ] Ι. Χ. καὶ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου καὶ τῶν διαταγμάτων τῶν ἀποστόλων. ὁ ἐντὸς θυσιαστηρίου ὢν καθαρός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ ἐκτὸς τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ὢν οὐ καθαρός ἐστιν· τουτέστιν, ὁ χωρὶς ἐπισκόπου καὶ πρεσβυτερίου καὶ διακόνου πράσσων τι, οὗτος οὐ καθαρός ἐστιν τῇ συνειδήσει.

13: έρρωσθε ἐν Ι. Χ., ὑποτασσόμενοι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ὡς τῇ ἐντολῇ, ὁμοίως καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ.

1 ad Philad. 3, 4 : ὅσοι γὰρ θεοῦ εἰσιν καὶ Ι. Χ., οὗτοι μετὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου εἰσίν· καὶ ὅσοι ἂν μετανοήσαντες ἔλθωσιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ οὗτοι θεοῦ ἔσονται . . . μὴ πλανᾶσθε, ἀδελφοί μου· εἴ τις σχίζοντι ἀκολουθεῖ, βασιλείαν θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομεῖ· εἴ τις ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ γνώμῃ περιπατεῖ, οὗτος τῷ πάθει οὐ συγκατατίθεται. Σπουδάσατε οὖν μιᾷ εὐχαριστία χρῆσθαι· μία γὰρ σὰρξ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν 'Ι. Χ., καὶ ἓν ποτήριον εἰς ἕνωσιν τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ· ἓν θυσιαστήριον, ὡς εἰς ἐπίσκοπος, ἅμα τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ καὶ διακόνοις, τοῖς συνδούλοις μου.

The ministry is

(1) of divine

the bishop is honoured of God; he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil.'1

The following points in Ignatius' teaching about the ministry require to be emphasized :

(1) He has an intensely clear perception that the authority; mind of God' for man's salvation has expressed itself not in any mere doctrine but in a divinely instituted society with a divinely authorized hierarchy. This is the mind of God,' this is 'the commandment,' so clearly that he who would obey the commandment and run in harmony with the divine purpose must perforce have merged his individuality in the fellowship of the Church and submitted his wilfulness to her government.

(2) essentially threefold;

(2) He regards the authoritative hierarchy of the Church as essentially threefold — a ministry of bishops, presbyters, and deacons. It is not merely, as has been suggested, that he exhorts men to be, or to be more decidedly, members of the church organization which happens to have a ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons. He insists polemically that this particular form of ministry is essential to the existence of a church: without these three orders' (so Dr. Lightfoot renders his words) 'no church has a title to the name.' 2

1 ad Smyrn. 8 : Τοὺς δὲ μερισμοὺς φεύγετε, ὡς ἀρχὴν κακῶν. πάντες τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ἀκολουθεῖτε, ὡς Ι. Χ. τῷ πατρί, καὶ τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ ὡς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις· τοὺς δὲ διακόνους ἐντρέπεσθε ὡς θεοῦ ἐντολήν. μηδεὶς χωρὶς ἐπισκόπου τι πρασσέτω τῶν ἀνηκόντων εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν· ἐκείνη βεβαία εὐχαριστία ἡγείσθω ἡ ὑπὸ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον οὖσα, ἢ ᾧ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐπιτρέψῃ· ὅπου ἂν φανῇ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, ἐκεῖ τὸ πλῆθος ἔστω· ὥσπερ ὅπου ἂν ᾖ Ι. Χ., ἐκεῖ ἡ καθολικὴ ἐκκλησία. οὐκ ἐξόν ἐστιν χωρὶς τοῦ ἐπισκόπου οὔτε βαπτίζειν οὔτε ἀγάπην ποιεῖν· ἀλλ ̓ ὃ ἂν ἐκεῖνος δοκιμάσῃ, τοῦτο καὶ τῷ θεῷ εὐάρεστον, ἵνα ἀσφαλὲς ἢ καὶ βέβαιον πᾶν ὃ πράσσετε.

9: καλῶς ἔχει θεὸν καὶ ἐπίσκοπον εἰδέναι· ὁ τιμῶν ἐπίσκοπον ὑπὸ θεοῦ τετίμηται· ὁ λάθρα ἐπισκόπου τι πράσσων τῷ διαβόλῳ λατρεύει.

ad Trall. 3 xwpis ToÚTwv ¿Kкdŋoía ov kaλeira. and see Lightfoot in loc. Cf. also Zahn Ignat. von Antioch. p. 300; was ohne die Träger des dreifachen Kirchenamtes ist, heisst nicht Kirche.' He, however, goes on: aber den Gegensatz bildet nicht eine Gemeinde, welche dieser Institute oder eines derselben entbehrt, sondern ein kirchliches Handeln, wie Abendmahlsfeier oder sonstige gottesdienstliche Versammlungen, welches ohne Wissen und Willen, ohne directe oder indirecte Leitung des an der Spitze stehenden Bischofs und der ihm untergeordneten Presbyter und Diakonen vor sich geht.' Cf. Lightfoot i. p. 382. It is quite true that Ignatius has