Early Church Writings — historically valuable Christian documents, presented as noncanonical writings rather than Scripture.

Epistle to the Romans

Ignatius

Chapter II.—Do not save me from martyrdom

For it is not my desire to act towards you as a man-pleaser, 831 but as pleasing God, even as also ye please Him. For neither shall I ever have such [another] opportunity of attaining to God; nor will ye, if ye shall now be silent, ever be entitled to 832 the honour of a better work. For if ye are silent concerning me, I shall become God's; but if you show your love to my flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any greater favour upon me than that I be sacrificed to God while the altar is still prepared; that, being gathered together in love, ye may sing praise to the Father, through Christ Jesus, that God has deemed me, the bishop of Syria, worthy to be sent for 833 from the east unto the west. It is good to set from the world unto God, that I may rise again to Him.

For it is not my desire that ye should please men, but God, even as also ye do please Him. For neither shall I ever hereafter have such an opportunity of attaining to God; nor will ye, if ye shall now be silent, ever be entitled to 834 the honour of a better work. For if ye are silent concerning me, I shall become God's; but if ye show your love to my flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any greater favour upon me than that I be sacrificed to God, while the altar is still prepared; that, being gathered together in love, ye may sing praise to the Father, through Christ Jesus, that God has deemed me, the bishop of Syria, worthy to be sent for 835 from the east unto the west, and to become a martyr 836 in behalf of His own precious 837 sufferings, so as to pass from the world to God, that I may rise again unto Him.

Notes

  1. Some translate as in longer recension, but there is in the one case humin, and in the other humas. ↩
  2. Literally, "have to be inscribed to." ↩
  3. Literally, "to be found and sent for." ↩
  4. Literally, "have to be inscribed to." ↩
  5. Literally, "to be found and sent for." ↩
  6. The text is here in great confusion. ↩
  7. Literally, "beautiful." Some read, "it is good," etc. ↩

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume I, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; revised by A. Cleveland Coxe. Public domain. Electronic text courtesy of CCEL.