In the Letter to the PhUadelphians, again, we find : ' Be careful therefore to observe one euchar- ist (for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup unto union in His blood . . . )' (iv.). The text of Smyrn. vi. 2-vii. 1 is less clear : the heretics 'abstain from eucharist (thanksgiving) and prayer, because they allow not that the eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ. . . . They therefore that gainsay the good gift of God [Supeq. Tov deov) perish by their questionings.' By Swpea TOV 6eov Ignatius means the Incarnation ; 'the "gift of God" is the redemption of man through the incarnation and death of Christ' (Lightfoot, ii. 307). To talk of the Eucharist being ' the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ' is a very direct expression of eucharistic realism, but it may have a secondary meaning and be used as a metaphor to designate the presence of Christ in the Church (C. Gore, The Body of Christ, London, 1901, p. 292 f.). The ministry of the deacons stands in close relation with the celebration of the Eucharist. They are ' deacons of the mysteries of Jesus Christ ' ; they are not ' deacons of meats and drinks but servants of the Church of God' {Trail, ii. 3). didKovoi M-varriplujv 'Irjaov XpiffTov might be taken to refer to the eucharistic liturgy, but this interpretation is extremely conjectural, and ' mystery ' probably means ' faith ' (cf. Bom. vii. 3, where the terms dpTos and ir6fia, adp^ and at/ia refer to Christ in heaven).
(2) The false teachers. — The unity in each church is contrasted with the divisions among heretics. Onesimus, bishop of Ephesus, praises his flock for their orderly conduct (iv deep evra^iav], for ' living according to truth,' and letting no heresy ' have a home among them ' (ovSe/iia a'ipidis KaroLKe2, Eph. vi. 2). Ignatius, too, congratulates the Ephesians on the fact that there has never been any dispute among them {(ii]defj.la ^pis), and that they have always 'lived after God' (viii. 1). But there are false teachers, men who bear the Christian name and yet act in a manner unworthy of God. These men are to be ' shunned as wild- beasts ; for they are mad dogs, biting by stealth ' (vii. 1). Ignatius praises the Ephesians for not allowing them to sow bad seed among them and for stopping their ears so as not to hear them (ix. 1). Woe to him who 'through evil doctrine corrupts the faith of God,' for he 'shall go into unquenchable fire ; and in like manner also shall he that hearkeneth unto him ' (xvi. 2).
In his Letter to the Magnesians Ignatius gives some more dehnite characteristics of these false teachers. He seems to make a distinction between (1) €Tepo5o^iai and (2) /jivdeiJuaTa iraXaia dvoxpeXrj (Magn. viii. 1). But this antithesis is probably purely verbal, fivdeij/xara being the equivalent of irepodo^iai, and both terms recalling 1 Ti 1* 4^, Tit 1'^ So dvw<p€\r)s is probably an echo of Tit 3" and iraXaid possibly of 1 Co 5', Ignatius thus mak- ing use of St. Paul's language to designate the errors of his time. In the same Epistle Ignatius adds : ' For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace' — an expression which might be
taken as meaning that the /j-vdevfiara are Judaistic errors, but this would be an abuse of the term iov5al'(T/j.6s, which is also taken from St. Paul (Gal 1'^), and is diverted from its proper sense to signify here life without the grace of redemption. The Magnesians are to live ' after Christ ' and not ap- ])eal to the 'prophets' as an excuse for living otherwise, for even the holy prophets lived ' after Christ' (viii. 2). They must no longer craPliaTi^eip (i.e. live as a Jew — without grace, ix. 1), but learn to live ' as beseemeth Christianity' (/card xP'O'^ai'- ia-fJL6i> ; the first example of the use of xP'<''7''ai'- la/uids), knowing that ' whoso is called by another name besides this, is not of God ' (x. 1). They are to reject the old leaven (^vfx-qv ttjv iraKai.ujdeiaav), and betake themselves to the new, which is Jesus Christ (x. 2). It is absurd to pronounce the name of Christ and practise Judaism (iovdati'eiv), for ' Cliristianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity' (x. 3). Ignatius con- cludes his argument by saying : ' I would have you be on your guard betimes, that ye fall not into the snares of vain doctrine (K-evodo^ia) ; but be ye fully persuaded concerning the birth and the passion and the resurrection' (xi.). The homo- geneity of this exposition suggests that the false teaching Ignatius has in mind is Docetism, and that it is the Docetists that he accuses of ' juda- izing,' not that there was a party of Docetists on one side and a party of Judaizers on the other.
In his Epistle to the Trallians, Ignatius returns to the same subject : ' Take only Christian food {tV xP'O'T'tt*'^ '''po(pv)) a,nd abstain from strange herbage, which is heresy' (vi. 1). 'Not indeed that I have known of any such thing [as heresy] among you ' (viii. 1). Jesus Christ is a descendant of David and the son of Mary ; He was born, ate and drank, suflered, died on the Cross, and was truly (d\7]6u>s) raised from the dead (ix. 1-2). The heretics Ignatius has in view deny the reality of the humanity of Christ (Xiyovcnv t6 5oK€iy ireirovdivai avTSu, X.), and herein lies their error — Docetism. ' Shun ye therefore those vile ofishoots that gender a deadly fruit, whereof if a man taste, forthwith hedieth' (xi. 1).