Tonight
is the Eve of the Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. He was the Bishop of Antioch in the early 2nd
Century and, during an intense persecution of Christians in that city, was
condemned to death by wild beasts, to be executed at Rome.
And
we do not know much else about him except from a number of letters he wrote to
churches as he was being taken to his sentence.
But
what letters they are! Ignatius’
heart and pugnaciously joyful personality shine through these letters. Impending martyrdom did not discourage
him but emboldened him. He even
looked forward with eagerness to “get to God” through his grisly martyrdom in
the Coliseum.
And
his letters are full of wisdom, particularly in how churches should relate to
their leaders. He also took aim at
heresies, particularly Docetism.
I
wish to conclude by quoting a statement of his about heresies in his Letter to
the Trallians.
[Heretics] mingle Jesus
Christ with their teachings just to gain your confidence under false pretenses. It is as if they were giving a deadly
poison mixed with honey and wine, with the result that the unsuspecting victim
gladly accepts it and drinks down death with fatal pleasure.
And
so it remains today. The inventors
of just about every false religion and heresy, even if mad and blind, still
realize that the person of Jesus Christ is important and attractive. Even in their delusions, they are
compelled to answer his question, “Who do you say that I am?” So they include in their falsehoods
what I call a “token Jesus.” They
give lip service to Jesus to add attractiveness and legitimacy to their false
religion. But it is not the real
Jesus Christ, but a supposed Jesus who is not the Son of God, the King
of kings and Lord of lords. And,
yes, the Jesus of “mainline” libchurchers is such a token Jesus.
Which
St. Ignatius so well warned against some 1900 years ago. God’s Holy Church does well to remember
his courage and wisdom and to thank the Lord for his teaching and godly example.
No comments:
Post a Comment