Tag Archive | Ignatius
Ignatius on the Hatred of Christians
A brief note on Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch in the early second century, wrote seven letters to churches as he was traveling as a prisoner to Rome. He was looking forward to being torn apart by wild beasts before the emperor. At one point he makes the profound declaration, “Christianity is greatest when it […]
“No Pain, No Gain”–An Ancient Idiom?
As I was reading in Ignatius’s letters today, I came across this idiom: πάντων τὰς νόσους βάσταζε, ὡς τέλειος ἀθλητής· ὅπου πλείων κόπος, πολὺ κέρδος (Ignatius to Polycarp, 1.3). Roughly translated, “bear the diseases of all, as a perfect athlete. Where there is great labor, there is great gain.” J. B. Lightfoot, in his magnificent […]
