First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Chapter 1: The Study of Scripture

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suffering as being His members. The head, therefore, cannot be born without its members since God has promised their unity, which He Himself is. I gnatius to P olycarp 3: Do not let those who seem worthy of recognition but teach strange doctrines fill you with apprehension. Stand firm just like an anvil which is beaten. It is the mark of an honorable athlete to be bruised and yet still conquer. We ought to especially bear all things for God’s sake so that He also will bear with us. Always be becoming more passionate than what you are. Carefully understand the times. Look for Him who is above all time, eternal and invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes. He is indescribable and impassible, 4 yet He became passible 5 on our account and suffered in every way for our sakes. P olycarp to the P hilippians 7: “For whoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist” ( 1 John 4:3 ); and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil. And whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord for his own desires and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the firstborn of Satan. For this reason, forsaking the foolishness of many and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning, watching in prayer, and persevering in fasting. Let us implore the all-seeing God in our prayers to “lead us not into temptation” (Matt 6:13). As the Lord has said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41).

4 Impassible – Unable to suffer or feel pain. 5 Passible – Able to suffer or feel pain.