[1] A curious etymological speculation connects the name with the
story of Esau's begging for Jacob's pottage, Gen. xxv. 30.
[2] The same word is used in the anonymous prophecy incorporated in
the book of Zachariah (xii. 5), and in one or two other places as
well, of _Hebrew_ leaders.
IDUN, or IDUNA, in Scandinavian mythology, the goddess of youth and
spring. She was daughter of the dwarf Svald and wife of Bragi. She was
keeper of the golden apples, the eating of which preserved to the gods
their eternal youth. Loki, the evil spirit, kidnapped her and the
apples, but was forced by the gods to restore her liberty. Idun
personifies the year between March and September, and her myth
represents the annual imprisonment of spring by winter.
IDYL, or IDYLL (Gr. [Greek: eidyllion], a descriptive piece, from
[Greek: eidos], a shape or style; Lat. _idyllium_), a short poem of a
pastoral or rural character, in which something of the element of
landscape is preserved or felt. The earliest commentators of antiquity
used the term to designate a great variety of brief and homely poems, in
which the description of natural objects was introduced, but the
pastoral idea came into existence in connexion with the Alexandrian
school, and particularly with Theocritus, Bion and Moschus, in the 3rd
century before Christ. It appears, however, that [Greek: eidyllion] was
not, even then, used consciously as the name of a form of verse, but as
a diminutive of [Greek: eidos], and merely signified "a little piece in
the style of" whatever adjective might follow. Thus the idyls of the
pastoral poets were [Greek: eidyllia aipolika], little pieces in the
goatherd style. We possess ten of the so-called "Idyls" of Theocritus,
and these are the type from which the popular idea of this kind of poem
is taken. But it is observable that there is nothing in the technical
character of these ten very diverse pieces which leads us to suppose
that the poet intended them to be regarded as typical. In fact, if he
had been asked whether a poem was or was not an idyl he would doubtless
have been unable to comprehend the question. As a matter of fact, the
first of his poems, the celebrated "Dirge for Daphnis," has become the
prototype, not of the modern idyl, but of the modern elegy, and the not
less famous "Festival of Adonis" is a realistic mime. It was the six
little epical romances, if they may be so called, which started the
conception of the idyl of Theocritus. It must be remembered, however,
that there is nothing in ancient literature which justifies the notion
of a form of verse recognized as an "idyl." In the 4th century after
Christ the word seems to have become accepted in Latin as covering short
descriptive poems of very diverse characters, for the early MSS. of
Ausonius contain a section of "Edyllia," which embraces some of the most
admirable of the miscellaneous pieces of that writer. But that Ausonius
himself called his poems "idyls" is highly doubtful. Indeed, it is not
certain that the heading is not a mistake for "Epyllia." The word was
revived at the Renaissance and applied rather vaguely to Latin and Greek
imitations of Theocritus and of Virgil. It was also applied to modern
poems of a romantic and pastoral character published by such writers as
Tasso in Italy, Montemayor in Portugal and Ronsard in French. In 1658
the English critic, Edward Phillips, defined an "idyl" as "a kind of
eclogue," but it was seldom used to describe a modern poem. Mme
Deshoulières published a series of seven _Idylles_ in 1675, and Boileau
makes a vague reference to the form. The sentimental German idyls of
Salomon Gessner (in prose, 1758) and Voss (in hexameters, 1800) were
modelled on Theocritus. Goethe's _Alexis und Dora_ is an idyl. It
appears that the very general use, or abuse, of the word in the second
half of the 19th century, both in English and French, arises from the
popularity of two works, curiously enough almost identical in date, by
two eminent and popular poets. The _Idylles héroïques_ (1858) of Victor
de Laprade and the _Idylls_ of the King (1859) of Tennyson enjoyed a
success in either country which led to a wide imitation of the title
among those who had, perhaps, a very inexact idea of its meaning. Among
modern Germans, Berthold Auerbach and Jeremias Gotthelf have been
prominent as the composers of sentimental idyls founded on anecdotes of
village-life. On the whole, it is impossible to admit that the idyl has
a place among definite literary forms. Its character is vague and has
often been purely sentimental, and our conception of it is further
obscured by the fact that though the noun carries no bucolic idea with
it in English, the adjective ("idyllic") has come to be synonymous with
pastoral and rustic. (E. G.)
IFFLAND, AUGUST WILHELM (1759-1814), German actor and dramatic author,
was born at Hanover on the 19th of April 1759. His father intended his
son to be a clergyman, but the boy preferred the stage, and at eighteen
ran away to Gotha in order to prepare himself for a theatrical career.
He was fortunate enough to receive instruction from Hans Ekhof, and made
such rapid progress that he was able in 1779 to accept an engagement at
the theatre in Mannheim, then rising into prominence. He soon stood high
in his profession, and extended his reputation by frequently playing in
other towns. In 1796 he settled in Berlin, where he became director of
the national theatre of Prussia; and in 1811 he was made general
director of all representations before royalty. Iffland produced the
classical works of Goethe and Schiller with conscientious care; but he
had little understanding for the drama of the romantic writers. The form
of play in which he was most at home, both as actor and playwright, was
the domestic drama, the sentimental play of everyday life. His works are
almost entirely destitute of imagination; but they display a thorough
mastery of the technical necessities of the stage, and a remarkable
power of devising effective situations. His best characters are simple
and natural, fond of domestic life, but too much given to the utterance
of sentimental commonplace. His best-known plays are _Die Jäger_,
_Dienstpflicht_, _Die Advokaten_, _Die Mündel_ and _Die Hagestolzen_.
Iffland was also a dramatic critic, and German actors place high value
on the reasonings and hints respecting their art in his _Almanach für
Theater und Theaterfreunde_. In 1798-1802 he issued his _Dramatischen
Werke_ in 16 volumes, to which he added an autobiography (_Meine
theatralische Laufbahn_). In 1807-1809 Iffland brought out two volumes
of _Neue dramatische Werke_. Selections from his writings were
afterwards published, one in 11 (Leipzig, 1827-1828), the other in 10
volumes (Leipzig, 1844, and again 1860). As an actor, he was conspicuous
for his brilliant portrayal of comedy parts. His fine gentlemen,
polished men of the world, and distinguished princes were models of
perfection, and showed none of the traces of elaborate study which were
noticed in his interpretation of tragedy. He especially excelled in
presenting those types of middle-class life which appear in his own
comedies. Iffland died at Berlin on the 22nd of September 1814. A bronze
portrait statue of him was erected in front of the Mannheim theatre in
1864.
See K. Duncker, _Iffland in seinen Schriften als Künstler, Lehrer, und
Direktor der Berliner Bühne_ (1859); W. Koffka, _Iffland und Dalberg_
(1865); and Lampe, _Studien über Iffland als Dramatiker_ (Celle,
1899). Iffland's interesting autobiography, _Meine theatralische
Laufbahn_, was republished by H. Holstein in 1885.
IGLAU (Czech _Jihlava_), a town of Austria, in Moravia, 56 m. N.W. of
Brünn by rail. Pop. (1900) 24,387, of whom 4200 are Czechs and the
remainder Germans. Iglau is situated on the Iglawa, close to the
Bohemian frontier, and is one of the oldest towns in Moravia, being the
centre of a German-speaking enclave. Among the principal buildings are
the churches of St Jakob, St Ignatius, St John and St Paul, the
town-hall, and the barracks formed from a monastery suppressed under the
emperor Joseph II. There is also a fine cemetery, containing some
remarkable monuments. It has the principal tobacco and cigar factory of
the state monopoly, which employs about 2500 hands, and has besides a
large and important textile and glass industry, corn and saw-mills,
pottery and brewing. Fairs are periodically held in the town; and the
trade in timber, cereals, and linen and woollen goods is generally
brisk.
Iglau is an old mining town where, according to legend, the silver mines
were worked so early as 799. King Ottakar I. (1198-1230) established
here a mining-office and a mint. At a very early date it enjoyed
exceptional privileges, which were confirmed by King Wenceslaus I. in
the year 1250. The town-hall contains a collection of municipal and
mining laws dating as far back as 1389. At Iglau, on the 5th of July
1436, the treaty was made with the Hussites, by which the emperor
Sigismund was acknowledged king of Bohemia. A granite column near the
town marks the spot where Ferdinand I., in 1527, swore fidelity to the
Bohemian states. During the Thirty Years' War Iglau was twice captured
by the Swedes. In 1742 it fell into the hands of the Prussians, and in
December 1805 the Bavarians under Wrede were defeated near the town.
IGLESIAS, a town and episcopal see of Sardinia in the province of
Cagliari, from which it is 34 m. W.N.W. by rail, 620 ft. above
sea-level. Pop. (1901) 10,436 (town), 20,874 (commune). It is finely
situated among the mountains in the S.W. portion of the island, and is
chiefly important as the centre of a mining district; it has a
government school for mining engineers. The minerals are conveyed by a
small railway via Monteponi (with its large lead and zinc mine) to
Portovesme (15 m. S.W. of Iglesias in the sheltered gulf of Carloforte),
near Portoscuso, where they are shipped. The total amount of the
minerals extracted in Sardinia in 1905 was 170,236 tons and their value
£765,054 (chiefly consisting of 99,749 tons of calamine zinc, 26,051 of
blende zinc, 24,798 tons of lead and 15,429 tons of lignite): the
greater part of them--118,009 tons--was exported from Portoscuso by sea
and most of the rest from Cagliari, the zinc going mainly to Antwerp,
and in a less proportion to Bordeaux and Dunkirk, while the lead is sent
to Pertusola near Spezia, to be smelted. At Portoscuso is also a tunny
fishery.
The cathedral of Iglesias, built by the Pisans, has a good façade
(restored); the interior is late Spanish Gothic. San Francesco is a fine
Gothic church with a gallery over the entrance, while Sta Chiara and the
church of the Capuchins (the former dating from 1285) show a transition
between Romanesque and Gothic. The battlemented town walls are well
preserved and picturesque; the castle, built in 1325, now contains a
glass factory. The church of Nostra Signora del Buon Cammino above the
town (1080 ft.) commands a fine view.
IGNATIEV, NICHOLAS PAVLOVICH, COUNT (1832-1908), Russian diplomatist,
was born at St Petersburg on the 29th of January 1832. His father,
Captain Paul Ignatiev, had been taken into favour by the tsar Nicholas
I., owing to his fidelity on the occasion of the military conspiracy in
1825; and the grand duke Alexander (afterwards tsar) stood sponsor at
the boy's baptism. At the age of seventeen he became an officer of the
Guards. His diplomatic career began at the congress of Paris, after the
Crimean War, where he took an active part as military attaché in the
negotiations regarding the rectification of the Russian frontier on the
Lower Danube. Two years later (1858) he was sent with a small escort on
a dangerous mission to Khiva and Bokhara. The khan of Khiva laid a plan
for detaining him as a hostage, but he eluded the danger and returned
safely, after concluding with the khan of Bokhara a treaty of
friendship. His next diplomatic exploit was in the Far East, as
plenipotentiary to the court of Peking. When the Chinese government was
terrified by the advance of the Anglo-French expedition of 1860 and the
burning of the Summer Palace, he worked on their fears so dexterously
that he obtained for Russia not only the left bank of the Amur, the
original object of the mission, but also a large extent of territory and
sea-coast south of that river. This success was supposed to prove his
capacity for dealing with Orientals, and paved his way to the post of
ambassador at Constantinople, which he occupied from 1864 till 1877.
Here his chief aim was to liberate from Turkish domination and bring
under the influence of Russia the Christian nationalities in general and
the Bulgarians in particular. His restless activity in this field,
mostly of a semi-official and secret character, culminated in the
Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, at the close of which he negotiated with
the Turkish plenipotentiaries the treaty of San Stefano. As the war
which he had done so much to bring about did not eventually secure for
Russia advantages commensurate with the sacrifices involved, he fell
into disfavour, and retired from active service. Shortly after the
accession of Alexander III. in 1881, he was appointed minister of the
interior on the understanding that he would carry out a nationalist,
reactionary policy, but his shifty ways and his administrative
incapacity so displeased his imperial master that he was dismissed in
the following year. After that time he exercised no important influence
in public affairs. He died on the 3rd of July 1908.
IGNATIUS ([Greek: Ignatios]), bishop of Antioch, one of the "Apostolic
Fathers." No one connected with the history of the early Christian
Church is more famous than Ignatius, and yet among the leading churchmen
of the time there is scarcely one about whose career we know so little.
Our only trustworthy information is derived from the letters which he
wrote to various churches on his last journey from Antioch to Rome, and
from the short epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians. The earlier
patristic writers seem to have known no more than we do. Irenaeus, for
instance, gives a quotation from his Epistle to the Romans and does not
appear to know (or if he knew he has forgotten) the name of the author,
since he describes him (_Adv. haer._ v. 28. 4) as "one of those
belonging to us" ([Greek: tis tôn hêmeterôn]). If Eusebius possessed any
knowledge about Ignatius apart from the letters he never reveals it. The
only shred of extra information which he gives us is the statement that
Ignatius "was the second successor of Peter in the bishopric of Antioch"
(_Eccles. hist._ iii. 36). Of course in later times a cloud of tradition
arose, but none of it bears the least evidence of trustworthiness. The
martyrologies, from which the account of his martyrdom that used to
appear in uncritical church histories is taken, are full of anachronisms
and impossibilities. There are two main types--the Roman and the
Syrian--out of which the others are compounded. They contradict each
other in many points and even their own statements in different places
are sometimes quite irreconcilable. Any truth that the narrative may
contain is hopelessly overlaid with fiction. We are therefore limited to
the Epistles for our information, and before we can use even these we
are confronted with a most complex critical problem, a problem which for
ages aroused the most bitter controversy, but which happily now, thanks
to the labours of Zahn, Lightfoot, Harnack and Funk, may be said to have
reached a satisfactory solution.
I. _The Problem of the Three Recensions._--The Ignatian problem arises
from the fact that we possess three different recensions of the
Epistles. (a) _The short recension_ (often called the Vossian) contains
the letters to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans,
Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans and to Polycarp. This recension was derived
in its Greek form from the famous Medicean MS. at Florence and first
published by Vossius in 1646 (see _Theol. Literaturzeitung_, 1906, 596
f., for an early papyrus fragment in the Berlin Museum, containing _Ad
Smyrn._ iii. fin. xii. init.). In the Medicean MS. the Epistle to the
Romans is missing, but a Greek version of this epistle was discovered by
Ruinart, embedded in a _martyrium_, in the National Library at Paris and
published in 1689. There are also (1) a Latin version made by Robert
Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, about 1250, and published by Ussher in
1644--two years before the Vossian edition appeared; (2) an Armenian
version which was derived from a Syriac not earlier than the 5th century
and published at Constantinople in 1783; (3) some fragments of a Syriac
version published in Cureton's edition of Ignatius; (4) fragments of a
Coptic version first published in Lightfoot's work (ii. 859-882). (b)
_The long recension_ contains the seven Epistles mentioned above in an
expanded form and several additional letters besides. The Greek form of
the recension, which has been preserved in ten MSS., has thirteen
letters, the additional ones being to the Tarsians, the Philippians, the
Antiochians, to Hero, to Mary of Cassobola and a letter of Mary to
Ignatius. The Latin form, of which there are thirteen extant MSS., omits
the letter of Mary of Cassobola, but adds to the list the Laus Heronis,
two Epistles to the apostle John, one to the Virgin Mary and one from
Mary to Ignatius. (c) _The Syriac or Curetonian recension_ contains only
three Epistles, viz. to Polycarp, to the Romans, and to the Ephesians,
and these when compared with the same letters in the short and long
recensions are found to be considerably abbreviated. The Syriac
recension was made by William Cureton in 1845 from three Syriac MSS.
which had recently been brought from the Nitrian desert and deposited
in the British Museum. One of these MSS. belongs to the 6th century, the
other two are later. Summed up in a word, therefore, the Ignatian
problem is this: which of these three recensions (if any) represents the
actual work of Ignatius?
II. _History of the Controversy._--The history of the controversy may be
divided into three periods: (a) up to the discovery of the short
recension in 1646; (b) between 1646 and the discovery of the Syriac
recension in 1845; (c) from 1845 to the present day. In the first stage
the controversy was theological rather than critical. The Reformation
raised the question as to the authority of the papacy and the hierarchy.
Roman Catholic scholars used the interpolated Ignatian Epistles very
freely in their defence and derived many of their arguments from them,
while Protestant scholars threw discredit on these Epistles. The
Magdeburg centuriators expressed the gravest doubts as to their
genuineness, and Calvin declared that "nothing was more foul than those
fairy tales (_naeniis_) published under the name of Ignatius!" It should
be stated, however, that one Roman Catholic scholar, Denys Petau
(Petavius), admitted that the letters were interpolated, while the
Protestant Vedelius acknowledged the seven letters mentioned by
Eusebius. In England the Ignatian Epistles took an important place in
the episcopalian controversy in the 17th century. Their genuineness was
defended by the leading Anglican writers, e.g. Whitgift, Hooker and
Andrewes, and vigorously challenged by Dissenters, e.g. the five
Presbyterian ministers who wrote under the name of Smectymnuus and John
Milton.[1] The second period is marked by the recognition of the
superiority of the Vossian recension. This was speedily demonstrated,
though some attempts were made, notably by Jean Morin or Morinus (about
1656), Whiston (in 1711) and Meier (in 1836), to resuscitate the long
recension. Many Protestants still maintained that the new recension,
like the old, was a forgery. The chief attack came from Jean Daillé, who
in his famous work (1666) drew up no fewer than sixty-six objections to
the genuineness of the Ignatian literature. He was answered by Pearson,
who in his _Vindiciae epistolarum S. Ignatii_ (1672) completely
vindicated the authenticity of the Vossian Epistles. No further attack
of any importance was made till the time of Baur, who like Daillé
rejected both recensions. In the third stage--inaugurated in 1845 by
Cureton's work--the controversy has ranged round the relative claims of
the Vossian and the Curetonian recensions. Scholars have been divided
into three camps, viz. (1) those who followed Cureton in maintaining
that the three Syriac Epistles alone were the genuine work of Ignatius.
Among them may be mentioned the names of Bunsen, A. Ritschl, R. A.
Lipsius, E. de Pressensé, H. Ewald, Milman, Bohringer. (2) Those who
accepted the genuineness of the Vossian recension and regarded the
Curetonian as an abbreviation of it, e.g. Petermann, Denzinger, Uhlhorn,
Merx, and in more recent times Th. Zahn, J. B. Lightfoot, Ad. Harnack
and F. X. Funk. (3) Those who denied the authenticity of both
recensions, e.g. Baur and Hilgenfeld and in recent times van Manen,[2]
Völter[3] and van Loon.[4] The result of more than half a century's
discussion has been to restore the Vossian recension to the premier
position.
III. _The Origin of the Long Recension._--The arguments against the
genuineness of the long recension are decisive. (1) It conflicts with
the statement of Eusebius. (2) The first trace of its use occurs in
Anastasius of Antioch (A.D. 598) and Stephen Gobarus (c. 575-600). (3)
The ecclesiastical system of the letters implies a date not earlier than
the 4th century. (4) The recension has been proved to be dependent on
the _Apostolical Constitutions_. (5) The doctrinal atmosphere implies
the existence of Arian and Apollinarian heresies. (6) The added passages
reveal a difference in style which stamps them at once as
interpolations. There are several different theories with regard to the
origin of the recension. Some, e.g. Leclerc, Newman and Zahn, think that
the writer was an Arian and that the additions were made in the interest
of Arianism. Funk, on the other hand, regards the writer as an
Apollinarian. Lightfoot opposes both views and suggests that it is
better "to conceive of him as writing with a conciliatory aim."
IV. _The Objections to the Curetonian Recension._--The objections to the
Syriac recension, though not so decisive, are strong enough to carry
conviction with them. (1) We have the express statement of Eusebius that
Ignatius wrote seven Epistles. (2) There are statements in Polycarp's
Epistle which cannot be explained from the three Syriac Epistles. (3)
The omitted portions are proved by Lightfoot after an elaborate analysis
to be written in the same style as the rest of the epistles and could
not therefore have been later interpolations. (4) The Curetonian letters
are often abrupt and broken and show signs of abridgment. (5) The
discovery of the Armenian version proves the existence of an earlier
Syriac recension corresponding to the Vossian of which the Curetonian
may be an abbreviation. It seems impossible to account for the origin of
the Curetonian recension on theological grounds. The theory that the
abridgment was made in the interests of Eutychianism or Monophysitism
cannot be substantiated.
V. _The Date and Genuineness of the Vossian Epistles._--We are left
therefore with the seven Epistles. Are they the genuine work of
Ignatius, and, if so, at what date were they written? The main
objections are as follows: (1) The conveyance of a condemned prisoner to
Rome to be put to death in the amphitheatre is unlikely on historical
grounds, and the route taken is improbable for geographical reasons.
This objection has very little solid basis. (2) The heresies against
which Ignatius contends imply the rise of the later Gnostic and Docetic
sects. It is quite certain, however, that Docetism was in existence in
the 1st century (cf. 1 John), while many of the principles of Gnosticism
were in vogue long before the great Gnostic sects arose (cf. the
Pastoral Epistles). There is nothing in Ignatius which implies a
knowledge of the teaching of Basilides or Valentinus. In fact, as
Harnack says: "No Christian writer after 140 could have described the
false teachers in the way that Ignatius does." (3) The ecclesiastical
system of Ignatius is too developed to have arisen as early as the time
of Trajan. At first sight this objection seems to be almost fatal. But
we have to remember that the bishops of Ignatius are not bishops in the
modern sense of the word at all, but simply pastors of churches. They
are not mentioned at all in two Epistles, viz. _Romans_ and
_Philippians_, which seems to imply that this form of government was not
universal. It is only when we read modern ecclesiastical ideas into
Ignatius that the objection has much weight. To sum up, as Uhlhorn says:
"The collective mass of internal evidence against the genuineness of the
letters ... is insufficient to counterbalance the testimony of the
Epistle of Polycarp in their favour. He who would prove the Epistles of
Ignatius to be spurious must begin by proving the Epistle of Polycarp to
be spurious, and such an undertaking is not likely to succeed." This
being so, there is no reason for rejecting the opinion of Eusebius that
the Epistles were written in the reign of Trajan. Harnack, who formerly
dated them about 140, now says that they were written in the latter
years of Trajan, or possibly a little later (117-125). The majority of
scholars place them a few years earlier (110-117).[5]
The letters of Ignatius unfortunately, unlike the Epistles of St Paul,
contain scant autobiographical material. We are told absolutely nothing
about the history of his career. The fact that like St Paul he describes
himself as an [Greek: ektrôma] (_Rom._ 9), and that he speaks of himself
as "the last of the Antiochene Christians" (_Trall._ 13; _Smyrn._ xi.),
seems to suggest that he had been converted from paganism somewhat late
in life and that the process of conversion had been abrupt and violent.
He bore the surname of Theophorus, i.e. "God-clad" or "bearing God."
Later tradition regarded the word as a passive form ("God-borne") and
explained it by the romantic theory that Ignatius was the child whom
Christ took in his arms (Mark ix. 36-37). The date at which he became
bishop of Antioch cannot be determined. At the time when the Epistles
were written he had just been sentenced to death, and was being sent in
charge of a band of soldiers to Rome to fight the beasts in the
amphitheatre. The fact that he was condemned to the amphitheatre proves
that he could not have been a Roman citizen. We lose sight of him at
Troas, but the presumption is that he was martyred at Rome, though we
have no early evidence of this.
But if the Epistles tell us little of the life of Ignatius, they give us
an excellent picture of the man himself, and are a mirror in which we
see reflected certain ideals of the life and thought of the day.
Ignatius, as Schaff says, "is the incarnation of three closely connected
ideas: the glory of martyrdom, the omnipotence of episcopacy, and the
hatred of heresy and schism."
1. Zeal for martyrdom in later days became a disease in the Church, but
in the case of Ignatius it is the mark of a hero. The heroic note runs
through all the Epistles; thus he says:
"I bid all men know that of my own free will I die for God, unless ye
should hinder me.... Let me be given to the wild beasts, for through
them I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the
wild beasts that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Entice the
wild beasts that they may become my sepulchre...; come fire and cross
and grapplings with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs,
crushings of my whole body; only be it mine to attain unto Jesus
Christ" (_Rom._ 4-5).
2. Ignatius constantly contends for the recognition of the authority of
the ministers of the church. "Do nothing," he writes to the Magnesians,
"without the bishop and the presbyters." The "three orders" are
essential to the church, without them no church is worthy of the name
(cf. _Trall._ 3). "It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to
baptize or to hold a love-feast" (_Smyrn._ 8). Respect is due to the
bishop as to God, to the presbyters as the council of God and the
college of apostles, to the deacons as to Jesus Christ (_Trall._ 3).
These terms must not, of course, be taken in their developed modern
sense. The "bishop" of Ignatius seems to represent the modern pastor of
a church. As Zahn has shown, Ignatius is not striving to introduce a
special form of ministry, nor is he endeavouring to substitute one form
for another. His particular interest is not so much in the form of
ministry as in the unity of the church. It is this that is his chief
concern. Centrifugal forces were at work. Differences of theological
opinion were arising. Churches had a tendency to split up into sections.
The age of the apostles had passed away and their successors did not
inherit their authority. The unity of the churches was in danger.
Ignatius was resisting this fatal tendency which threatened ruin to the
faith. The only remedy for it in those days was to exalt the authority
of the ministry and make it the centre of church life. It should be
noted that (1) there is no trace of the later doctrine of apostolical
succession; (2) the ministry is never sacerdotal in the letters of
Ignatius. As Lightfoot puts it: "The ecclesiastical order was enforced
by him (Ignatius) almost solely as a security for doctrinal purity. The
threefold ministry was the husk, the shell, which protected the precious
kernel of the truth" (i. 40).
3. Ignatius fights most vehemently against the current forms of heresy.
The chief danger to the church came from the Docetists who denied the
reality of the humanity of Christ and ascribed to him a phantom body.
Hence we find Ignatius laying the utmost stress on the fact that Christ
"was _truly_ born and ate and drank, was _truly_ persecuted under
Pontius Pilate ... was _truly_ raised from the dead" (_Trall._ 9). "I
know that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection, and when He
came to Peter and his company, He said to them, 'Lay hold and handle me,
and see that I am not an incorporeal spirit'" (_Smyrn._ 3). Equally
emphatic is Ignatius's protest against a return to Judaism. "It is
monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism, for
Christianity did not believe in Judaism but Judaism in Christianity"
(_Magn._ 10).
Reference must also be made to a few of the more characteristic points
in the theology of Ignatius. As far as Christology is concerned,
besides the insistence on the reality of the humanity of Christ already
mentioned, there are two other points which call for notice. (1)
Ignatius is the earliest writer outside the New Testament to describe
Christ under the categories of current philosophy; cf. the famous
passage in _Eph._ 7, "There is one only physician, of flesh and of
spirit ([Greek: sarkikos kai pneumatikos]), generate and ingenerate
([Greek: gennêtos kai agennêtos]), God in man, true life in death, son
of Mary and son of God, first passible and then impassible" ([Greek:
prôton pathêtos kai apathês]). (2) Ignatius is also the first writer
outside the New Testament to mention the Virgin Birth, upon which he
lays the utmost stress. "Hidden from the prince of this world were the
virginity of Mary and her child-bearing and likewise also the death of
the Lord, three mysteries to be cried aloud, the which were wrought in
the silence of God" (_Eph._ 19). Here, it will be observed, we have the
nucleus of the later doctrine of the deception of Satan. In regard to
the Eucharist also later ideas occur in Ignatius. It is termed a [Greek:
mystêrion] (_Trall._ 2), and the influence of the Greek mysteries is
seen in such language as that used in _Eph._ 20, where Ignatius
describes the Eucharistic bread as "the medicine of immortality and the
antidote against death." When Ignatius says too that "the heretics
abstain from Eucharist because they do not allow that the Eucharist is
the flesh of Christ," the words seem to imply that materialistic ideas
were beginning to find an entrance into the church (_Smyr._ 6). Other
points that call for special notice are: (1) Ignatius's rather
extravagant angelology. In one place for instance he speaks of himself
as being able to comprehend heavenly things and "the arrays of angels
and the musterings of principalities" (_Trall._ 5). (2) His view of the
Old Testament. In one important passage Ignatius emphatically states his
belief in the supremacy of Christ even over "the archives" of the faith,
i.e. the Old Testament: "As for me, my archives--my inviolable
archives--are Jesus Christ, His cross, His death, His resurrection and
faith through Him" (_Philadel._ 8).
AUTHORITIES.--T. Zahn, _Ignatius von Antiochien_ (Gotha, 1873); J. B.
Lightfoot, _Apostolic Fathers_, part ii. (London, 2nd ed., 1889); F.
X. Funk, _Die Echtheit der ignat. Briefe_ (Tübingen, 1892); A.
Harnack, _Chronologie der altchristlichen Litteratur_ (Leipzig, 1897).
There is a good bibliography in G. Krüger, _Early Christian
Literature_ (Eng. trans., 1897, pp. 28-29). See also APOSTOLIC
FATHERS. (H. T. A.)