IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, Saint (c. 50–107), bishop of Antioch and martyr, one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church. He referred to himself as Theophoros (Gr., “Godbearer”) and is believed to have been a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. During the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan, Ignatius was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts. On his way from Antioch to Rome, where the execution took place, he wrote seven letters. Of these, five were addressed to the Christian communities of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Philadelphia, and Smyrna—cities in Asia Minor that had sent representatives to greet him as he passed through. The other letters were addressed to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, and to the Christian community of his destination, Rome.
The letters are an important source of information about the beliefs and organization of the early Christian church. Ignatius wrote them as warnings against heretical doctrines, thus providing his readers with detailed summaries of Christian doctrine. He also gave a vivid picture of church organization as a community of love gathered around a presiding bishop assisted by a council of presbyters (elders) and deacons. He was the first Christian writer to stress the virgin birth and to use the term catholic church to mean the faithful collectively.
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