This epistle is attested by the mention of it and the extracts from it made by Eusebius (HE III. xxxvi. 13-14), and better still by the descrip- tion given of it by Irenseus (Haer. iii. 3, 4), cited
by Eusebius (HE IV. xiv. 6): 'There is another letter of Polycarp to the Philippians, which is very important. Those who wish and who have any care for their salvation may learn from it the character of his faith antl his Ki^pi'y^.a rijs d\7i0^las.' Jerome mentions the Ki)istle to the Philii)pians and claims that ' usque liiidie in Asiiu conventu legitur' (dc Vir. 111. 17) — which means that at the end of tlie 4tli cent, the Epistle of Polycarp was read in the liturgical a.ssemlilies of the province of Asia; but the asserti<m remains unconhrmed, and everybody knows that Jerome often wrote very hurriedly. The written tradition of the Epistle of Polycarp is very deficient, for the Greek MSS of it which are extant all stop at ch. 9 ; chs. 10-14 (with the exception of 12, which is cited by Kusebius) have been preserved only in the old Latin version of the Epistle (Harnack, Uebeiiief- criing der altchr. Lift., pp. 69-72). The I.iatin text was edited for the lirst time in 1498 by Leffevre d'Etaples, the Greek text in l(i3.'! by Halloix. The critical editions are those of Zahn, Funk, and Lightfoot. These editors have re- translated into Greek the jiarts which existed only in Latin. The authenticity of the Epistle of Polycarp, formerly contested by the same authors who contested the Epistles of Ignatius, has now been tirmly established. The same may be said of the Epistles of Ignatius (Stiihlin, Christl. griech. Liu., p. 977).
Polycarp addressed this letter to the Philippians a short time after hearing of the reception which the Church of Philippi had given Ignatius and his companions in captivity : ' I rejoiced with you greatly in our Lord Jesus Christ, for that ye received the followers of the true Love and escorted them on their way, as belitted you — those men encircled in saintly bonds which are the diadems of them that be truly chosen of God and our Lord ' (i. 1). He exhorts the Philippians to show that enduring patience which they have seen ' in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus ' (ix. 1) — ap)iarently Ignatius' companions in captivity. The Philippians invited Polycarp to write to them (iii. 1); they wrote to him at the same time as Ignatius, and charged him with a letter to Antioch (xiii. 1). They asked him to send to them the letters that he had received from Ignatius : ' The letters of Ignatius which were sent to us by him, and others as many as we had by us, we send unto you, according as ye gave charge ; the which are subjoined to this letter ; from which j'e will be able to gain great advantage. F'or they com- prise faith and endurance and every kind of editica- tion, which pertaineth unto our Lord ' (xiii. 1-2). Polycarp adds : ' Concerning Ignatius himself and those that were with him, if ye have any sure tidings, certify us' (xiii. 2). 'riiese last words prove that Polycarp did not know the fate of Ignatius at the time when he wrote to the Philip- pians, and it has been concluded from this that Ignatius had quite recently left Philippi en route for Rome. The text (ix. 2) often alleged as a sign that Ignatius must have been already dead is not, in the present writer's opinion, convincing. Ignatius' journey from Antioch to Rome belongs to the last years of the reign of Trajan (a.d. 98- 117) ; the Epistle of Polycarp is contemporaneous witli this journey.
The historical interest of the Epistle of Polycarp is very great, inasmuch as it is a proof of the exist- ence of letters of Ign.-itius. The literary interest of the epistle is mediocre, especially if it is coni- jiared with the exiteptional value of the Ignatian epistles. The style of the bishop of Smyrna is without personal character. His epistle is in reality .something like a cento. For that very reason, however, it is a witness, since the majority
246
POLYCARP
POLYCARP
of the texts which it utilizes can be reco^'iuze.i— the three Synoptics, the Fourth Gospel, the Acts, the principal Pauline Epistles (Rom., 1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Eph', I'hil., Col., 2 Thess,, 1 and 2 lin..), the Epistle to James, 1 Peter, 1 .and 2 John. Worn the fact that Polycarp says (iii. 2) that the apostle Paul wrote letters to the Philippians {viu" (ypaftv iTi,TTo\d,), it would be unwise to conclude that Polviarp knew several letters of Paul to the Philippians. The OT, which Polycarp confesses he does not know well (xii. 1), is represented by only a few references (Is., Jer., Ps., Prov., Job, Tob.). Polycarp knew 1 Clem., and made numerous very evident borrowings from it( Ilarnack, Ueberhef- eriinq, p. 40 ; Funk, i. pp. xh-xliii).
Tlie address reads : ' Polycarp and the I>rest)yters
who are with him to the Church of God whid. is in Philippi.' The letter speaks (v. 3) of the sub- jection of the Philippians to their presbyters and their deacons, to whom they submit as to God and to Christ.' This is a very Ignatian thought, but Ignatius would have spoken of the bishop also while Polycarp does not once mention the word 'bishop' in his letter. It has been concluded from tliis that the Church of Philippi did not at that time have a bishop distinct irj>m the Tp^<r- S&rcao, (A. Michiels, L'Ongms de. Upisconat, louCain 1900, p. 367 f.). This is a possibility which cannot be altogether ignored. The non- mention of a bishop at Philippi, however surprising it may be after the Ignatian language, may be a si<Ti that in Thrace the distinction between the iwLiTKOWos and the Trpccr^uTtpoi in^KOTrovvris had not yet ended in the monarchical episcopate so clearly realized in Antioch, in Smyrna, m the churches made known to us in the Ignatian epistles (cf. P Batiffol, Etudes d'histoire et dc fMologie positive , 1st ser., Paris, 1907, pp. 258-266) C. Oore (fAe Ministry of the Christum Church; London, 1889, n 329) says : ' The hypothesis of a superior order in the Church, such as Clement's letter has been seen to imply, of which no representation was yet localized in the Church at Phdippi, seems to meet the conditions of the problem. . . . This would postulate a state of things at Philippi whch Ignatius could at once have recognized as agreeable to his standard of apostolic requirements. . . . What we would suggest is not exactly that Philippi was in the diocese of Thessalomca or of some other see, but that we have still to do with a state of things which is transitional. Harnack (Entstehung und Entwickelung der Kirchenver- fassung, Leipzig, 1910 p. 59 f.) also thinks that Philippi has a collegia! government, and that the bishop or bishops are included in the wpea^urepoi.