UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Death as Eschaton. A Study of Ignatius of Antioch's Desire for Death Mellink, A.O. Publication date 2000 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Mellink, A. O. (2000). Death as Eschaton. A Study of Ignatius of Antioch's Desire for Death. in eigen beheer. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:05 Oct 2021 CHAPTERR THREE UNTOO FULFILMENT ~~ A CLOSE READING ~ "Becomee such as you are, havingg learned what that is." PINDARR Pythian 2.72 1.. INTRODUCTION Inn the preceding chapter I have already touched upon many aspects of Ignatius' reflectionss on his impending execution. Certainly, the outcome of the discussion off previous works has not been merely negative. Yet, as I have tried to argue, nonee of these earlier studies has proven to be really satisfactory. How then should onee proceed in the hope to come to a more adequate description of Ignatius' fears andd hopes in the face of his imminent death? What are the lessons which can be learntt from the history of research? First,, an important flaw of many of the investigations dealt with in the previouss chapter is their selective usage of texts. This means that many of these accountss of Ignatius are lopsided. For instance, it cannot be denied that Ignatius speakss of his death as an imitation of Christ's passion (chap. 2.3.3), or that there iss a certain analogy between the lot of Christ and that of Ignatius (chap. 2.4.1-2), orr that Ignatius uses eucharistie language when he speaks of his hopes for the futuree (chap. 2.6.1). But none of these ideas really controls Ignatius' thought. Thus,, first and foremost one should be careful to take into account the whole of Ignatius'' ideas on his imminent death. One should not simply focus on one or merelyy a hand full of salient passages. Second,, the history of research learns us to be cautious to correlate Ignatius' reflectionss too readily to pagan views of suffering and death, or to later Christian ideass on martyrdom. Certainly, there are resemblances with what can be found in Gnosticc sources (chap. 2.3.1-3), Greco-Roman traditions (chap. 2.8.1-3), and later Christiann accounts of the violentt deaths of believers (chap. 2.2.2 and 2.8.1-2). But inn every instance, and with regard to every term, the data should be evaluated carefully.. Starting-point should be the use of similar terminology, and the possible differencess in the way these terms are used should not be ignored. The wish to explicatee Ignatius' ideas by reference to other sources is valid, but should be taken upp with more caution. Third,, one should be alert with regard to the dangers of working with a preconceivedd scheme which has not come forth from an analysis of Ignatius' own thought.. The investigation should not be dominated by one's own theological or psychologicall frame of reference. A study of the role of God, Christ, Spirit, and thee church in Ignatius' meditations on his death is in itself legitimate and helpful, §§ 1: INTRODUCTION 131 1 butt is also bound to misrepresent Ignatius' thought more or less seriously (chap. 2.5).. The same holds true of all kinds of psychologizing theories which are based onn rather questionable hypotheses and not on a meticulous analysis of the relevant passagess themselves (chap. 2.7). Inn sum, a conscientious investigation should deal with all relevant passages, shouldd consider the parallels carefully, and should not work with an anachronistic scheme.. How can these three requirements be met? Of course various reading strategiess are possible. What I have done is the following. I have chosen to select alll key concepts and terms and to arrange them under several headings. Thus, I hopee to have precluded a biased selection, and to have done justice to the structure off Ignatius' own thought. With regard to each term and phrase, I will look at Ignatius'' usage of the word in other contexts and at the possible traditio-historical background. Thiss chapter does not aim to be a purely lexicographical study. I am not so muchh interested in terms as in ideas, and ideas are properly expressed in sentences andd larger text segments. Or, in other words, for me philology has not been an end inn itself, but merely the inescapable basis of my interpretation. Accordingly, I will analyzee the terms in their direct context, in their relation to each other, and in the frameworkk of the whole of Ignatius' letters. This strategy implicates that many passagess in the letters will be discussed more than once, each time focusing on a differentt concept. The unfortunate consequence of this strategy is that a certain amountt of repetitiousness cannot be avoided. Despite this disadvantage, it seems too me that this approach - i.e. focusing on Ignatius' specific terminology - is the bestt way to get a clear and unbiased picture of Ignatius' desire for death. Too begin with, I will look at those passages in which Ignatius speaks about his deathh simply in terms of suffering, dying, or fighting with the beasts (§ 2). This clusterr of passages will, for instance, clarify to what extent Ignatius saw his impendingg execution as an awe-inspiring occasion to die for God, or to suffer with Christ.. I hope to show that Ignatius' language in these passages often finds close parallelss in other writings. Subsequently,, I will turn to those notions which seem to be more distinctive forr Ignatius' views on such a violent death for the sake of one's faith. I think that twoo clusters of terms can be distinguished. First, I will consider his desire to be judgedd worthy (§ 3), to be perfected (§ 4), to be justified (§ 5), and to become a truee disciple (§ 6). These notions - and some related but less important concepts whichh will be discussed in § 6.4 - seem to point to a future hope as well as a presentt reality. Thus, Ignatius envisions his road unto death in terms of a process off becoming what he already is. Second, I will turn to those notions which point (more)) exclusively to the final consummation, when Ignatius will attain God (§ 7), receivee the lot (§ 8), and be raised (§ 9). With these three notions, Ignatius seems too portray his imminent death more in particular as a way unto the eschatological salvation. Finally,, I will look at those passages in which he speaks of his death in termss of setting from this world (§ 10). The main question here is whether Ignatius alsoo understood his death as a welcome opportunity to be liberated from earthly 1322 CHAPTER THREE: UNTO FULFILMENT misery,, an aspect which seems to have been such an important element in other traditionss in which is spoken of a desire for death. After these detailed analyses, aa more general picture can be drawn (§ 11). 2.. TO SUFFER - TO DIE - TO FIGHT WITH BEASTS Ann investigation of Ignatius' terminology with regard to his imminent death must necessarilyy begin withh an analysis of those passages in which Ignatius speaks most straightforwardlyy about his execution, namely in terms of "suffering" (rcdcrx*0)» "dying"" (d7io$vrjrjKco), or "fighting with the beasts" (Snpiofiaxéo)).1 Ignatius' usagee of these three verbs in itself may not be very surprising; and an analysis of thesee terms may not promise to yield much information with regard to Ignatius' specificc ideas about his death. However, a close reading of the passages in which thesee terms occur surely should tell us something more about his thoughts on the themee of the violent and voluntary death of a Christian. I will deal with Ignatius' usagee of these three verbs one after another, beginning with the verbs naG%® (§ 2.1-2)) and aouTcdaxG) (§ 2.3), and subsequently turning to the verb dTcodvrjcncco (§§ 2.4-6) and the verb ör)piop.axéa> (§ 2.7). 2.12.1 To Suffer (Rm 4:3, 8:3 and Pol 7:1) Ass has already been noted in chap. 2.3.4c, Ignatius uses the verb 7tdax<ö four timess to refer to the event of his execution. Three of these passages have a similar tenor.. In Rm 4:3, Ignatius states: "If I suffer, I shall be a freedman of Christ (èdv Tiddö),, dTieXeuSepoq yevfjcronat ' Inaoö Xpicrtoü);" and in Rm 8:3, he remarks similarly:: "If I suffer, you wanted it (èdv 7id&©, f|$8X,fjaaTe)." The construction inn Pol 7:1 is somewhat different: "If through suffering I may attain God (èdvrcep 8idd TOO raxÖeiv Öeoö eimox©)." Three remarks can be made with regard to thesee three passages. First,, Ignatius' usage of conditional clauses seems to point to his prudence andd anxiety. 'To suffer" is an awe-inspiring event.