Other ancient texts · Early Christian writings
Ignatius to the Ephesians
This is a letter that Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, wrote to the church in Ephesus while Roman soldiers were taking him to Rome to be executed. People read it as one of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament. It shows what one church leader believed about Jesus' birth and death, about church unity under a bishop, and about the Lord's Supper within a lifetime of the apostles.
- about AD 110
- Greek
- Protestant Catholic Orthodox Ethiopian
Should it be in the Bible?
The case for
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It is one of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, written within living memory of the apostles.
The evidence
Polycarp of Smyrna, who knew Ignatius, says in his own Letter to the Philippians (ch. 13) that he was collecting Ignatius' letters and sending them on. Eusebius (Church History 3.36) lists the seven letters, including Ephesians, and dates Ignatius to Trajan's reign.
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Its teaching closely matches the New Testament, especially Paul and the stress on Jesus' real humanity.
The evidence
It quotes or echoes 1 Corinthians (Eph. 16.1; 18.1) and recalls Paul's ties with the Ephesian church (12.2). It insists that Jesus was truly born of Mary and truly suffered (7.2; 18.2), the same point made against false teachers in 1 John 4:2.
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The early church read it widely and treated it with great respect.
The evidence
In the 200s, Origen quotes Ephesians 19.1 by name in his Homilies on Luke (Homily 6). The letters were copied and translated into Latin, Syriac, Armenian and Coptic, and Ignatius was honored everywhere as a martyr.
The case against
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No church has ever counted it as scripture, and Ignatius himself does not claim the authority of an apostle.
The evidence
It is missing from the Muratorian fragment, Athanasius' list of 367, the councils of Hippo and Carthage, Trent, the Reformers' Bibles and the Ethiopian canon. In Eph. 3.1 Ignatius writes that he does not give orders "as if I were someone," and he describes himself as still a learner.
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The text has a tangled history, and a minority of scholars still question who wrote it and when.
The evidence
For centuries the letter mostly circulated in an expanded 'long' form from the 4th century, packaged with six forged letters. There is also a shortened Syriac version. Zahn and Lightfoot (1870s–80s) won broad acceptance for the seven-letter 'middle' form, but scholars such as Reinhard Hübner and Thomas Lechner have argued that it was written in the 160s–170s.
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On some points its teaching goes further than the New Testament does.
The evidence
It tells readers to "look upon the bishop as the Lord himself" (6.1) and assumes one bishop over the elders, while in the New Testament the words 'bishop' and 'elder' overlap (Titus 1:5–7; Acts 20:17, 28). It calls the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality" (20.2). Its account of a star outshining all the others at Jesus' coming (19.2) adds details not found in Matthew 2.
Both sides are written as strongly as the honest evidence allows, so you can decide for yourself. Researched by claude-opus-5-5.
When, where and by whom
Tradition, following Eusebius, says Ignatius wrote it at Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome under Emperor Trajan, around AD 107–110. Most scholars accept it as his and date it between about 105 and 135, but a minority argue for a date in the 140s or later, and a few argue that someone else wrote it in his name.
Jesus, the New Testament and this book
- Mentions Paul and his connection with Ephesus, saying the Ephesians are "fellow initiates with Paul" (12.2). This suggests the author knew a collection of Paul's letters. (strong link)
- "Where is the wise? Where is the debater?" (18.1) quotes 1 Corinthians 1:20, and the warning that the corrupt "will not inherit the kingdom of God" (16.1) follows 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. (strong link)
- "The tree is known by its fruit" (14.2) echoes Jesus' saying in Matthew 12:33 (compare Luke 6:44). (likely link)
- The star hymn (19.1–3) and the statement that Jesus was baptized to cleanse the water (18.2) draw on Matthew's story of the star (Matt. 2) and Jesus' baptism (Matt. 3:13–17). (likely link)
- Jesus as "from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit" (18.2) echoes Romans 1:3–4. "God opposes the proud" (5.3) matches Proverbs 3:34 as quoted in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5. (likely link)
- The Lord was anointed on the head so that he might breathe incorruption on the church (17.1). This recalls the anointing at Bethany in Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3. (possible link)
- Christ described as "one physician, both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man" (7.2). This shares the Gospel of John's idea of the Word becoming flesh (John 1:14). (possible link)
How it came down to us
The original Greek of the seven-letter 'middle' form survives mainly in one 11th-century manuscript in Florence (Codex Mediceo-Laurentianus 57.7). Its text was published by Isaac Voss in 1646, after James Ussher had recovered it from medieval Latin copies in 1644. Through the Middle Ages, Greek and Latin copyists mostly passed on the expanded 4th-century 'long' form. There are also early translations into Syriac (including an abridged version that William Cureton published in 1845 from Egyptian monastery manuscripts), Armenian, Coptic and Arabic.
- Greek text of Ignatius' letters (middle recension), Codex Mediceo-Laurentianus 57.7
- Long recension (Greek and Latin) and the short Syriac recension (Cureton, 1845)
- Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 13
- Eusebius, Church History 3.22 and 3.36
- Origen, Homilies on Luke 6
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.28.4 (on Ignatius' martyrdom)
- Canon lists: Muratorian fragment, Athanasius' Festal Letter 39 (367), councils of Hippo and Carthage, Council of Trent
- Modern editions and studies: J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers; Theodor Zahn; William Schoedel, Ignatius of Antioch (Hermeneia); Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers
- Minority dating and authenticity arguments: Reinhard Hübner, Thomas Lechner, Timothy Barnes