DR. WESTCOTT'S STATEMENTS. | THE TRUTH.
|
| Baur, _Urspr. d. Episc., Tüb.
| Zeitschr._ 1838, H.3 (p. 149,
| Anm.) Baur states as the date of
| the Parthian war, and of Trajan's
| visit to Rome, "during which the
| above order" (the sentence against
| Ignatius) is said to have been
| given, A.D. 115 and not 107.
|
"1. Baur, _Urspr. d. Episc., Tüb. | _Ibid._ p. 155, Anm.
Zeitschr._ 1838, ii. 3. p. 155, |
Anm. In this note, which is too | After showing the extreme
long to quote, _there is nothing_, | improbability of the circumstances
so far as I see, _in any way | under which the letters to the
bearing_ upon the history [90:1] | Smyrnaeans and to Polycarp are said
except a passing supposition 'wenn | to have been written, Baur points
... Ignatius im J. 116 an ihn | out the additional difficulty in
[Polycarp] ... schrieb ...' | regard to the latter that, if
| [Polycarp] died in A.D. 167 in his
| 86th year, and Ignatius wrote to him
| as already Bishop of Smyrna in A.D.
| 116, he must have become bishop at
| least in his 35th year, and
| continued so for upwards of half
| a century. The inference is clear
| that if Ignatius died so much
| earlier as A.D. 107 it involves
| the still greater improbability
| that Polycarp must have become
| Bishop of Smyrna at latest in his
| 26th year, which is scarcely to be
| maintained, and the later date is
| thus obviously supported.
|
| (Ibid. _Gesch. christl. Kirche_,
| i. p. 440, Anm. 1.)
|
| Baur supports the assertion that
| Ignatius suffered martyrdom in
| Antioch, A.D. 115.
|
"2. Bretschneider, _Probabilia_, x. | The same.
p. 185. 'Pergamus ad Ignatium '_qui |
circa annum cxvi obiisse dicitur_.' |
|
"3. Bleek, _Einl. N.T._ p. 144 | Bleek, _Einl. N.T._ p. 144.
[p. 142 ed. 1862] '... In den |
Briefen des Ignatius Bischofes von | Ignatius suffered martyrdom at Rome
Antiochien, der unter Trajan gegen | under Trajan, A.D. 115.
115 _zu Rom_ als Märtyrer starb.' |
|
"4. Guericke, _Handb. K.G._ i. | Guericke, _Handbuch K.G._ i. p. 148.
p. 148 [p. 177 ed. 3, 1838, the |
edition which I have used]. | Ignatius was sent to Rome, under
'Ignatius, Bischoff von Antiochien | Trajan, A.D. 115, and was destroyed
(Euseb. "H.E." iii. 36), _welcher_ | by lions in the Coliseum, A.D. 116.
wegen seines standhaften |
Bekenntnisses Christi _unter Trajan |
115 _nach Rom geführt, und hier 116 |
im Colosseum von Löwen zerrissen |
wurde_ (vgl. § 23, i.)' [where the |
same statement is repeated]. |
|
"5. Hagenbach, K.G. i. 113 f. [I | Hagenbach, _K.G._ 1869, p. 113. f.
have not been able to see the book |
referred to, but in his Lectures | "He (Ignatius) may have filled his
'Die christliche Kirche der drei | office about 40 years when the
ersten Jahrhunderte," [91:1] 1853 | Emperor, in the year 115 (according
(pp. 122 ff.), Hagenbach mentions | to others still earlier), came to
the difficulty which has been felt | Antioch. It was during his war
as to the execution at Rome, while | against the Parthians." [Hagenbach
an execution at Antioch might have | states some of the arguments for and
been simpler and more impressive, | against the martyrdom in Antioch,
and then quotes Gieseler's solution,| and the journey to Rome, the former
and passes on with 'Wie dem such | of which he seems to consider more
sei.'] | probable.]
|
"6. Davidson, _Introd. N.T._ i. | Davidson, _Introd. N.T._ i. p. 19.
p. 19. 'All [the Epistles of |
Ignatius] are posterior to Ignatius | The same as opposite.
himself, who was not thrown to the |
wild beasts in the amphitheatre at | These "peremptory statements" are
Rome by command of Trajan, but at | of course based upon what is
Antioch on December 20, A.D. 115. | considered satisfactory evidence,
The Epistles were written after | though it may not be adduced here.
150 A.D.' [For these peremptory |
statements no authority whatever is |
adduced]. |
|
"7. Mayerhoff, _Einl. petr. Schr._ | Mayerhoff, _Einl. petr. Schr._
p. 79. '... Ignatius, _der | p. 79.
spätestens 117 zu Rom den |
Märtyrertod litt ..._' | Ignatius suffered martyrdom in Rome
| at latest A.D. 117.
|
"8. Scholten, _Die ält. Zeugnisse_, | Scholten, _Die ält. Zeugnisse_,
p. 40, mentions 115 as the year of | p. 40, states A.D. 115 as the date
Ignatius' death: p. 50 f. The | of Ignatius' death. At p. 50 he
Ignatian letters are rejected | repeats this statement, and gives
partly 'weil sie eine Märtyrerreise | his support to the view that his
des Ignatius nach Rom melden, deren | martyrdom took place in Antioch on
schon früher erkanntes | the 20th December, A.D. 115.
ungeschichtliches Wesen durch |
Volkmar's nicht ungegründete |
Vermuthung um so wahrscheinlicher |
wird. Darnach scheint nämlich |
Ignatius nicht zu Rom auf Befehl |
des sanftmüthigen Trajans, sondern |
zu Antiochia selbst, in Folge eines |
am dreizehnten December 115 |
eingetretenen Erdbebens, als Opfer |
eines abergläubischen Volkswahns am |
zwanzigsten December dieses Jahres |
im Amphitheater den wilden Thieren |
zur Beute überliefert worden zu |
sein.' |
|
"9. Volkmar, _Der Ursprung_, p. 52 | Volkmar, _Der Ursprung_, p. 52,
[p. 52 ff.] [92:1] [This book I | affirms the martyrdom at Antioch,
have not been able to consult, but | 20th December, 115.
from secondary references I gather |
that it repeats the arguments given |
under the next reference.] |
|
"10. Volkmar, Haindb. _Einl. Apocr._| Ibid. _Handbuch Einl. Apocr._
pp. 121 f., 136. 'Ein Haupt der | p. 121 f., affirms the martyrdom
Gemeinde zu Antiochia, Ignatius, | at Antioch, 20th December, 115.
wurde, während Trajan dortselbst |
überwinterte, am 20. December den |
Thieren vorgeworfen, in Folge der |
durch das Erdbeben vom 13. December |
115 gegen die [Greek: atheoi] |
erweckten Volkswuth, ein Opfer |
zugleich der Siegesfeste des |
Parthicus, welche die Judith- |
Erzählung (i. 16) andeutet, Dio |
(c. 24 f.; vgl. c. 10) voraussetzt |
...' |
|
"P. 136. The same statement is | Ibid. p. 136. The same
repeated briefly." [93:1] | statement, with fuller
| chronological evidence.
It will thus be seen that the whole of these authorities confirm the
later date assigned to the martyrdom, and that Baur, in the note in
which Dr. Westcott finds "nothing in any way bearing upon the history
except a passing supposition," really advances a weighty argument for it
and against the earlier date, and as Dr. Westcott considers, rightly,
that argument should decide everything, I am surprised that he has not
perceived the propriety of my referring to arguments as well as
statements of evidence.
To sum up the opinions expressed, I may state that whilst all the nine
writers support the later date, for which purpose they were quoted,
three of them (Bleek, Guericke, and Mayerhoff) ascribe the martyrdom to
Rome, one (Bretschneider) mentions no place, one (Hagenbach) is
doubtful, but leans to Antioch, and the other four declare for the
martyrdom in Antioch. Nothing, however, could show more conclusively the
purpose of note 3, which I have explained, than this very contradiction,
and the fact that I claim for the general statement in the text,
regarding the martyrdom in Antioch itself in opposition to the legend of
the journey to and death in Rome, only the authorities in note 4, which
I shall now proceed to analyse in contrast with Dr. Westcott's
statements, and here I beg the favour of the reader's attention.