This revision into modern English is by Richard Neil Shrout, from the translation of J.B. Lightfoot.
INTRODUCTION
For background, The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp, and the
Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, should be read in
connection with this epistle from the Smyrneans about the
martyrdom of Polycarp.
The Apostle John, author of the Gospel of John and Revelation, was a "pillar" of the church in Jerusalem, and later moved to Ephesus for the rest of his ministry. During the reign of the tyrannical Roman Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96), he was exiled to the nearby island of Patmos, where he wrote Revelation about A.D. 95. Upon the emperor's death he returned to Ephesus to resume his episcopacy and to write his Gospel about A.D. 96. The last remaining of the Twelve Apostles, John was nearly a hundred when he died about A.D. 96-100. (The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp was written within a decade of St. John's death.)
It was this last of the Twelve Apostles who ordained Polycarp bishop of Smyrna, a city north of Ephesus. When St. Ignatius passed through Smyrna on his way to martyrdom, Polycarp was perhaps no more than thirty-five. The Epistles of Ignatius were collected by Polycarp, a fact mentioned by Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, Athanasius, Theodoret, and other ancients.
After a lifetime of exemplary ministry, Polycarp was martyred at the age of eighty-six. This Epistle of the Smyrneans is the first example of Christian Martyrology.
One Item of Commentary
In 3:2 and 9:2 appears the phrase "Away with the atheists."
Roman persecutors called the Christians "atheists"
because they refused to worship the Roman gods. In 9:2 Polycarp
says "Away with the atheists" in irony, referring to
the unbelieving Romans in the stadium.
In a similar vein, early Christians were also called "agnostics" in contrast to the Gnostics, who claimed direct knowledge of God. (An atheist is one who believes God does not exist; an agnostic is one who doesn't know whether or not God exists.) The Christian religion is based on believing in revelation (faith), not on direct knowledge. Thus the startling (to modern ears) of St. Augustine to the effect that because he was an agnostic, he was a Christian!
Prologue
The church of God which sojourns (temporarily lives) at Smyrna to
the Church of God which sojourns in Philomelium and to all the
brotherhoods of the holy and universal Church sojourning in every
place; mercy and peace and love from God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ be multiplied.
1:1
We write unto you, brethren, an account of what befell those that
suffered martyrdom and especially the blessed Polycarp, who
stayed the persecution, having as it were set his seal upon it by
his martyrdom. For nearly all the foregoing events came to pass
that the Lord might show us once more an example of martyrdom
which is conformable to the Gospel.
1:2
For he lingered that he might be delivered up, even as the Lord
did, to the end that we too might be imitators of him, not
looking only to that which concerns ourselves, but also to that
which concerns our neighbors. For it is the office of true and
steadfast love, not only to desire that oneself be saved, but all
the brethren also.
2:1
Blessed therefore and noble are all the martyrdoms which have
taken place according to the will of God (for it behooves us to
be very scrupulous and to assign to God the power over all things).
2:2
For who could fail to admire their nobility and patient endurance
and loyalty to the Master? Seeing that when they were so torn by
lashes that even as far as the veins and arteries and inward
mechanism of their flesh were visible, they endured patiently, so
that the very bystanders had pity and wept; while they themselves
reached such a pitch of bravery that none of them uttered a cry
or a groan, thus showing to us all that at that hour the martyrs
of Christ being tortured were absent from the flesh, or rather
that the Lord was standing by and conversing with them.
2:3
And giving heed unto the grace of Christ they despised the
tortures of this world, purchasing at the cost of one hour a
release from eternal punishment. And they found the fire of their
inhuman torturers cold: for they set before their eyes the escape
from the eternal fire which is never quenched; while with the
eyes of their heart they gazed upon the good things which are
reserved for those that endure patiently, things which neither
ear has heard nor eye has seen, neither have they entered into
the heart of man, but were shown by the Lord to them, for they
were no longer men but angels already.
2:4
And in like manner also those that were condemned to the wild
beasts endured fearful punishments, being made to lie on sharp
shells and buffeted with other forms of manifold tortures, that
the devil might, if possible, by the persistence of the
punishment bring them to a denial; for he tried many wiles
against them.
3:1
But thanks be to God; for He truly prevailed against all. For the
right noble Germanicus encouraged their timorousness through the
constancy which was in him; and he fought with the wild beasts in
a signal way. For when the proconsul wished to prevail upon him
and bade him have pity on his youth, he used violence and dragged
the wild beast towards him, desiring the more speedily to obtain
a release from their unrighteous and lawless life.
3:2
So after this all the multitude, marveling at the bravery of the
God-beloved and God-fearing people of the Christians, raised a
cry, "Away with the atheists; let search be made for
Polycarp."
4:1
But one man, Quintus by name, a Phrygian newly arrived from
Phrygia, when he saw the wild beasts, turned coward. He it was
who had forced himself and some others to come forward of their
own free will (and recant their faith). The proconsul by much
entreaty persuaded this man to swear the oath and to offer
incense. For this cause therefore, brethren, we praise not those
who volunteer to recant, since the Gospel does not so teach us.
5:1
Now the glorious Polycarp at the first, when he heard it, so far
from being dismayed, wanted to remain in town; but the greater
part persuaded him to withdraw. So he withdrew to a farm not far
distant from the city, and there he stayed with a few companions,
doing nothing else night and day but praying for all men and for
the churches throughout the world, for this was his constant
habit.
5:2
And while praying he fell into a trance three days before his
arrest, and he saw his pillow burning with fire. He turned and
said to those that were with him: "It must needs be that I
shall be burned alive."
6:1
Since those that were in search of him persisted, he departed to
another farm. Immediately they who were in search of him came up,
and not finding him, they seized two slave lads, one of whom
confessed under torture;
6:2
for it was impossible for him to lie concealed, seeing that the
very persons who betrayed him were people of his own household.
And the captain of the police, who chanced to have the very name,
being called Herod, was eager to bring him into the stadium, that
he might fulfill his appointed lot, being made a partaker with
Christ, while they -- his betrayers -- underwent the punishment
of Judas himself.
7:1
So taking the lad with them, on the Friday about the supper hour,
the police and horsemen went forth with their accustomed weapons,
hurrying as against a robber. And coming up in a troop late in
the evening, they found the man himself (Polycarp) in bed in an
upper chamber in a certain cottage; and though he might have
departed from there to another place, he would not, saying,
"The will of God be done."
7:2
So when he heard that they were come, he went down and conversed
with them, the bystanders marveling at his age and his constancy,
and wondering why there should be so much eagerness for the
apprehension of an old man like him. At that, he immediately gave
orders that a table should be spread for them to eat and drink at
that hour, as much as they desired. And he persuaded them to
grant him an hour so he might pray unmolested;
7:3
and on their consenting, he stood up and prayed, being so full of
the grace of God, that for two hours he could not hold his peace,
and those that heard were amazed, and many repented that they had
come against such a venerable old man.
8:1
But when at length he brought his prayer to an end, after
remembering all who at any time had come in his way, small and
great, high and low, and all the universal Church throughout the
world, the hour of departure being come, they seated him on a
donkey and brought him into the city, it being a high Sabbath.
8:2
And he was met by Herod the captain of police and his father
Nicetes, who also removed him to their carriage and tried to
prevail upon him, seating themselves by his side and saying,
"Why, what harm is there in saying, Caesar is Lord, and
offering incense," with more to this effect, "and
saving yourself?" But he at first gave them no answer. When
however they persisted, he said, "I am not going to do what
you counsel me."
8:3
Then they, failing to persuade him, uttered threatening words and
made him dismount with speed, so that he bruised his shin, as he
got down from the carriage. And without even turning round, he
went on his way promptly and with speed, as if nothing had
happened to him, being taken to the stadium; there being such a
tumult in the stadium that no man's voice could be so much as
heard.
9:1
But as Polycarp entered into the stadium, a voice came to him
from heaven; "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man."
And no one saw the speaker, but those of our people who were
present heard the voice. And at length, when he was brought up,
there was a great tumult, for they heard that Polycarp had been
apprehended.
9:2
When then he was brought before him, the proconsul asked whether
he were the man. And on his confessing that he was, he tried to
persuade him to a denial saying, "Have respect to your age,"
and other things in accordance therewith, as it is their habit to
say, "Swear by the genius of Caesar; repent and say, 'Away
with the atheists.'" Then Polycarp with solemn countenance
looked upon the whole multitude of lawless heathen that were in
the stadium, and waved his hand to them; and groaning and looking
up to heaven he said, "Away with the atheists."
9:3
But when the magistrate pressed him hard and said, "Swear
the oath, and I will release you; revile the Christ,"
Polycarp said, "Eighty-six years have I been His servant,
and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who
saved me?"
10:1
But on his persisting again and saying, "Swear by the genius
of Caesar," he answered, "If you suppose vainly that I
will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you say, and feign that
you are ignorant who I am, hear you plainly: I am a Christian.
But if you would learn the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day
and give me a hearing."
10:2
The proconsul said, "Prevail upon the people." But
Polycarp said, "As for yourself, I should have held you
worthy of discourse; for we have been taught to render, as is
proper, to princes and authorities appointed by God such honor as
does us no harm; but as for these, I do not hold them worthy,
that I should defend myself before them."
11:1
Whereupon the proconsul said: "I have wild beasts here and I
will throw you to them, except you repent." But he said,
"Call for them, for the repentance from better to worse is a
change not permitted to us; but it is a noble thing to change
from that which is improper to righteousness."
11:2
Then he said to him again, "If you despise the wild beasts,
I will cause you to be consumed by fire, unless you repent."
But Polycarp said: "You threaten that fire which burns for a
season and after a little while is quenched: for you are ignorant
of the fire of the future judgment and eternal punishment, which
is reserved for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Come, do what
you will."
12:1
Saying these things and more besides, he was inspired with
courage and joy, and his countenance was filled with grace, so
that not only did it not drop in dismay at the things which were
said to him, but on the contrary the proconsul was astounded and
sent his own herald to proclaim three times in the midst of the
stadium, "Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian."
12:2
When this was proclaimed by the herald, the whole multitude both
of Gentiles and of Jews who dwelt in Smyrna cried out with
ungovernable wrath and with a loud shout, "This is the
teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the puller down of
our gods, who teaches multitudes not to sacrifice nor worship."
Saying these things, they shouted aloud and asked the Asiarch
Philip to let a lion loose upon Polycarp. But he said that it was
not lawful for him, since he had brought the sports to a close.
12:3
Then they thought fit to shout out with one accord that Polycarp
should be burned alive. For it must needs be that the matter of
the vision should be fulfilled, which was shown him concerning
his pillow, when he saw it on fire while praying, and turning
round he said prophetically to the faithful who were with him,
"I must needs be burned alive."
13:1
These things then happened with so great speed, quicker than
words could tell, the crowds immediately collected timber and
sticks from the workshops and baths, and the Jews more especially
assisted in this with zeal, as is their custom.
13:2
But when the pile was made ready, divesting himself of all his
upper garments and loosing his belt, he endeavored also to take
off his shoes, though not in the habit of doing this before,
because all the faithful at all times vied eagerly who should
soonest touch his flesh. For he had been treated with all honor
for his holy life even before his gray hairs came.
13:3
Immediately then the instruments that were prepared for the pile
were placed about him. As they were going likewise to nail him to
the stake, he said: "Leave me as I am; for He that has
granted me to endure the fire will grant me also to remain at the
pyre unmoved, even without the security which you seek from the
nails."
14:1
So they did not nail him, but tied him. Then he, placing his
hands behind him and being bound to the stake, like a noble ram
out of a great flock for an offering, a burnt sacrifice made
ready and acceptable to God, looking up to heaven said: "O
Lord God Almighty, the Father of Your beloved and blessed Son
Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of You,
the God of angels and powers and of all creation and of the whole
race of the righteous, who live in Your presence;
14:2
I bless You because You have granted me this day and hour, that I
might receive a portion amongst the number of martyrs in the cup
of Your Christ unto resurrection of eternal life, both of soul
and of body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be
received among these in Your presence this day, as a rich and
acceptable sacrifice, as You did prepare and reveal it
beforehand, and have accomplished it, You that art the faithful
and true God.
14:3
For this cause, yea and for all things, I praise You, I bless
You, I glorify You, through the eternal and heavenly High-priest,
Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, through Whom, with Him and the
Holy Spirit, be glory both now and ever and for the ages to come.
Amen."
15:1
When he had offered up the Amen and finished his prayer, the
firemen lighted the fire. And, a mighty flame flashing forth, we
to whom it was given to see, saw a marvel, yea and we were
preserved that we might relate to the rest what happened.
15:2
The fire, making the appearance of a vault, like the sail of a
vessel filled by the wind, made a wall round about the body of
the martyr; and it was there in the midst, not like flesh
burning, but like a loaf in the oven or like gold and silver
refined in a furnace. For we perceived such a fragrant smell, as
if it were the wafted odor of frankincense or some other precious
spice.
16:1
So at length the lawless men, seeing that his body could not be
consumed by the fire, ordered an executioner to go up to him and
stab him with a dagger. And when he had done this, there came
forth [a dove and] a quantity of blood, so that it extinguished
the fire; and all the multitude marveled that there should be so
great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect.
16:2
In the number of these latter was this man, the glorious martyr
Polycarp, who was found an apostolic and prophetic teacher in our
own time, a bishop of the holy Church which is in Smyrna. For
every word which he uttered from his mouth was accomplished and
will be accomplished.
17:1
But the jealous and envious Evil One, the adversary of the family
of the righteous, having seen the greatness of his martyrdom and
his blameless life from the beginning, and how he was crowned
with the crown of immortality and had won a reward which none
could gainsay, managed that not even his poor body should be
taken away by us, although many desired to do this and to touch
his holy flesh.
17:2
So he put forward Nicetes, the father of Herod and brother of
Alce, to plead with the magistrate not to give up his body,
"lest," so it was said, "they should abandon the
crucified one and begin to worship this man" -- this being
done at the instigation and urgent entreaty of the Jews, who also
watched when we were about to take it from the fire, not knowing
that it will be impossible for us either to forsake at any time
the Christ who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of
those that are saved -- suffered though faultless for sinners --
nor to worship any other.
17:3
For Him, being the Son of God, we adore, but the martyrs as
disciples and imitators of the Lord we cherish as they deserve
for their matchless affection towards their own King and Teacher.
May it be our lot also to be found partakers and fellow-disciples
with them.
18:1
The centurion therefore, seeing the opposition raised on the part
of the Jews, set him in the midst and burnt him after their
custom.
18:2
And so we afterwards took up his bones which are more valuable
than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them
in a suitable place;
18:3
where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we
are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the anniversary
of his martyrdom for the commemoration of those that have already
fought in the contest, and for the training and preparation of
those that shall do so hereafter.
19:1
So it befell the blessed Polycarp, who having with those from
Philadelphia suffered martyrdom in Smyrna -- twelve in all -- is
especially remembered more than the others by all men, so that he
is talked of even by the heathen in every place: for he showed
himself not only a notable teacher, but also a distinguished
martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, seeing that it was
after the pattern of the Gospel of Christ.
19:2
Having by his endurance overcome the unrighteous ruler in the
conflict and so received the crown of immortality, he rejoices in
company with the Apostles and all righteous men, and glorifies
the Almighty God and Father, and blesses our Lord Jesus Christ,
the savior of our souls and helmsman of our bodies and shepherd
of the universal Church which is throughout the world.
20:1
You indeed required that the things which happened should be
shown unto you at greater length; but we for the present have
certified you, as it were, in a summary through our brother
Marcianus. When then you have informed yourselves of these
things, send the letter likewise to the brethren which are
farther off, that they also may glorify the Lord, who makes
election from His own servants.
20:2
Now unto Him that is able to bring us all by His grace and bounty
unto His eternal kingdom, through His only-begotten Son Jesus
Christ, be glory, honor, power, and greatness for ever. Salute
all the saints. They that are with us salute you, and Euarestus,
who wrote the letter, with his whole house.
21:1
Now the blessed Polycarp was martyred on the second day of the
first part of the month Xanthicus, on the seventh before the
calends of March, on a great Sabbath, at the eighth hour. He was
apprehended by Herod, when Philip of Tralles was high priest, in
the proconsulship of Statius Quadratus, but in the reign of the
Eternal King Jesus Christ. To Whom be the glory, honor,
greatness, and eternal throne, from generation to generation.
Amen.
22:1
We bid you God speed, brethren, while you walk by the word of
Jesus Christ which is according to the Gospel; with Whom be glory
to God for the salvation of His holy elect; even as the blessed
Polycarp suffered martyrdom, in whose footsteps may it be our lot
to be found in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
22:2
This account Gaius copied from the papers of Irenaeus, a disciple
of Polycarp. The same also lived with Irenaeus.
22:3
And I Socrates wrote it down in Corinth from the copy of Gaius.
Grace be with all men.
22:4
And I Pionius again wrote it down from the aforementioned copy,
having searched it out (for the blessed Polycarp showed me in a
revelation, as I will declare in the sequel), gathering it
together when it was now well nigh worn out by age, that the Lord
Jesus Christ may gather me also with His elect into His heavenly
kingdom; to Whom be the glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.
(The three preceeding verses appear in the Moscow Manuscript as follows:)
22:2
This account Gaius copied from the papers of Irenaeus. The same
lived with Irenaeus who had been a disciple of the holy Polycarp.
For this Irenaeus, being in Rome at the time of the martyrdom of
the bishop Polycarp, instructed many; and many most excellent and
orthodox treatises by him are in circulation. In these he makes
mention of Polycarp, saying that he was taught by him. And he
ably refuted every heresy, and handed down the catholic rule of
the Church just as he had received it from the saint. He mentions
this fact also, that when Marcion, after whom the Marcionites are
called, met the holy Polycarp on one occasion, and said "Recognize
us, Polycarp," he said in reply to Marcion, "Yes
indeed, I recognize the firstborn of Satan." The following
statement also is made in the writings of Irenaeus, that on the
very day and hour when Polycarp was martyred in Smyrna Irenaeus
being in the city of the Romans heard a voice as of a trumpet
saying, "Polycarp is martyred."
22:3
From these papers of Irenaeus then, as has been stated already,
Gaius made a copy, and from the copy of Gaius, Isocrates made
another in Corinth.
22:4
And I Pionius again wrote it down from the copy of Isocrates,
having searched for it in obedience to a revelation of the holy
Polycarp, gathering it together, when it was well nigh worn out
by age, that the Lord Jesus Christ may gather me also with His
elect into His heavenly kingdom; to Whom be the glory with the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
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