St. Ignatius of Antioch: The Epistles

The epistles of St. Ignatius are presented here in their entirety, their historical insights imparted in an excellent translation to English.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch was one of the foremost early Christians, acceding to the role of Bishop of Antioch in circa 67 A.D. . During his tenure as bishop he wrote several Epistles - letters - to various figures of the time. These are treasured as some of the earliest surviving Christian texts. As a committed traveller, Ignatius made effort to spread Christianity's influence. He coined the term 'Catholic Church', popularly used to this day.

This edition contains letters generally agreed as authentic for their reference by the Roman historian Eusebius in the 4th century. These are as follows:

Epistle to the Ephesians; Epistle to the Magnesians; Epistle to the Trallians; Epistle of the Romans; Epistle to the Philadelphians; Epistle to the Smyrnaeans; Epistle to Polycarp; Bishop of Smyrna.

For the sake of completeness, this edition also contains annotated epistles whose authenticity is disputed by historians and theologians:

Epistle to the Tarsians; Epistle to the Antiochians; Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch; Epistle to the Philippians; The Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius; Epistle to Mary at Neapolis, Zarbus; First and Second Epistles to St. John; The Epistle of Ignatius to the Virgin Mary.