The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians

Estimated Range of Dating: 105-115 A.D.

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians

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Chapter IX.-Let Us Live with Christ.

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death-whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master-how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead.

If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me;" and again, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad; for before Abraham was, I am; " how shall we be able to live without Him? The prophets were His servants, and foresaw Him by the Spirit, and waited for Him as their Teacher, and expected Him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He will come and save us." Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat." For say the [holy] oracles, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, "To the end, for the eighth day," on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, "whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things," who are "lovers of pleasure, and not lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." These make merchandise of Christ, corrupting His word, and giving up Jesus to sale: they are corrupters of women, and covetous of other men's possessions, swallowing up wealth insatiably; from whom may ye be delivered by the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Around 110 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch used kyriake in a passage of his letter to the Magnesians. Ambiguity arises due to textual variants. The only extant Greek manuscript of the letter, the Codex Mediceo-Laurentianus, reads, "If, then, those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbath, but living according to the Lord’s life ..." (kata kyriaken zoen zontes). A medieval Latin translation indicates an original textual reading of kata kyriaken zontes: "no longer observing Sabbath, but living according to the Lord's [Day]".

(The expanded Pseudo-Ignatian version of Magnesians, from the middle of the third century, rewrites this passage to make "Lord's Day" a clear reference to Sunday. Pseudo-Ignatius saw believers "no longer observing the [Jewish] Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day", and amplified this point as follows: "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness .... But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days."^[5] This is typical^{[citation needed]} of early church fathers who saw weekly observance of seventh-day Sabbath followed the next day by Lord's Day assembly.)

Canon LI.

The nativities of Martyrs are not to be celebrated in Lent, but commemorations of the holy Martyrs are to be made on the Sabbaths and Lord’s days.

Notes.

Ancient Epitome of Canon LI.

Commemorations of Martyrs shall only be held on Lord’s days and Sabbaths.

By this canon all Saints-days are forbidden to be observed in Lent on the days on which they fall, but must be transferred to a Sabbath or else to the Sunday, when they can be kept with the festival service of the full liturgy and not with the penitential incompleteness of the Mass of the Presanctified. Compare canon xlix. of this Synod, and canon lij. of the Quinisext Council.

Balsamon.

The whole of Lent is a time of grief for our sins, and the memories of the Saints are not kept except on the Sabbaths.

Van Espen remarks how in old calendars there are but few Saints-days in those months in which Lent ordinarily falls, and that the multitude of days now kept by the Roman ordo are mostly of modern introduction.

Canon VIII.

Canon VIII.

That Hebrews ought not to be received unless they have been converted
in sincerity of heart.

Since certain, erring in the superstitions of the Hebrews, have thought
to mock at Christ our God, and feigning to be converted to the religion
of Christ do deny him, and in private and secretly keep the Sabbath and
observe other Jewish customs, we decree that such persons be not
received to communion, nor to prayers, nor into the Church; but let
them be openly Hebrews according to their religion, and let them not
bring their children to baptism, nor purchase or possess a slave. But
if any of them, out of a sincere heart and in faith, is converted and
makes profession with his whole heart, setting at naught their customs
and observances, and so that others may be convinced and converted,
such an one is to be received and baptized, and his children likewise;
and let them be taught to take care to hold aloof from the ordinances
of the Hebrews. But if they will not do this, let them in no wise be
received.

Notes.

Ancient Epitome of Canon VIII.

Hebrews must not be received unless they are manifestly converted with
sincerity of heart.

Hefele.

The Greek commentators Balsamon and Zonaras understood the words "nor
to baptize their children" to mean, "these seeming Christians may not
baptize their own children,'" because they only seem to be Christians.
But parents were never allowed to baptize their own children, and the
true sense of the words in question comes out clearly from the second
half of the canon.
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Canon LXVI.

Canon LXVI.

If any of the clergy be found fasting on the Lord's day, or on the
Sabbath, [576] excepting the one only, let him be deposed. If a
layman, let him be excommunicated.

Canon XC.

Canon XC.

We have received from our divine Fathers the canon law that in honour
of Christ's resurrection, we are not to kneel on Sundays. Lest
therefore we should ignore the fulness of this observance we make it
plain to the faithful that after the priests have gone to the Altar for
Vespers on Saturdays (according to the prevailing custom) no one shall
kneel in prayer until the evening of Sunday, at which time after the
entrance for compline, again with bended knees we offer our prayers to
the Lord. For taking the night after the Sabbath, which was the
forerunner of our Lord's resurrection, we begin from it to sing in the
spirit hymns to God, leading our feast out of darkness into light, and
thus during an entire day and night, we celebrate the Resurrection.

Notes.

Ancient Epitome of Canon XC.

From the evening entrance of the Sabbath until the evening entrance of
the Lord's day there must be no kneeling.

Van Espen.

No doubt the synod by the words "we have received from the divine
Fathers," referred to canon xx. of the Council of Nice.

For many centuries this custom was preserved even in the Latin Church;
and the custom of keeping feasts and whole days generally from evening
to evening is believed to have been an Apostolic tradition, received by
them from the Jews. At the end of the VIII^th Century the Synod of
Frankfort declared in its xxj. canon, that "the Lord's day should be
kept from evening to evening." [385]
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[385] "The evening and the morning were the first day."--Gen. i. 5.
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Canon LVI.

Canon LVI.

We have likewise learned that in the regions of Armenia and in other
places certain people eat eggs and cheese on the Sabbaths and Lord's
days of the holy lent. It seems good therefore that the whole Church
of God which is in all the world should follow one rule and keep the
fast perfectly, and as they abstain from everything which is killed, so
also should they from eggs and cheese, which are the fruit and produce
of those animals from which we abstain. But if any shall not observe
this law, if they be clerics, let them be deposed; but if laymen, let
them be cut off.

Notes.

Ancient Epitome of Canon LVI.

Armenians eat eggs and cheese on the Sabbaths in Lent. It is
determined that the whole world should abstain from these. If not let
the offender be cast out.

Van Espen.

This canon shows that the ancient Greeks, although they did not fast on
the Sabbaths and Lord's days of Lent, nevertheless they abstained on
them from flesh food; and it was believed by them that abstinence from
flesh food involved also necessarily abstinence from all those things
which have their origin from flesh. This also formerly was observed by
the Latins in Lent, and in certain regions is known still to be the
usage.
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