Volume 1: The Letters of Iganatius of the new AFGR series is available today. In this post I give some background of the project as well.
Read MoreQOTD: John Milton on Ignatius
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I'm currently reading Stephen Neil and N.T. Wright's excellent book, The Interpretation of the New Testament: 1861-1986. It provides a fascinating narrative overview of the history of New Testament interpretation. One of the more interesting sections describes the history behind the use of the Apostolic Fathers, especially Ignatius, in churches. Neil says, "If you approved of episcopacy, Ignatius was just your man; if you disapproved of episcopacy, Ignatius just would not do." Well, John Milton was one man who definitely disapproved of Ignatius and the episcopacy. He says,
“Had God intended that we should have sought any part of useful instruction from Ignatius, doubtless he would have not so ill-provided our knowledge as to send him to our hands in this broken and disjointed plight; and, if he intended no such thing, we do injuriously in thinking to taste better the pure evangelic manna by seasoning our mouths with the tainted scraps and fragments of an unknown table, and searching among the verminous and polluted rags dropt overworn from the toiling shoulders of the Time, with these defomedly to quilt and interlace the entire, the spotless, and undecaying robe of truth.”
It seems that Milton had a way with words and no doubt would have been a provocative blogger in our day.
The Resurrection is our Hope
Tonight my wife and I were reading and reflecting on the necessity of the resurrection. Whenever I meditate on this great fact I am always amazed that the hope the believer rests in, namely being resurrected with Christ in the last day, is anchored in the resurrection of Christ (see 1 Cor. 15). As we rejoice in the historical fact that Christ was raised from death to life tomorrow let us also rejoice that we will be raised from death to life, from perishable bodies to imperishable, from the natural to the spiritual, and from a dying to a flourishing body because of the resurrection of Christ. Ignatius has some inspiring parting words on the reflection of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ:
“I want to forewarn you not to get snagged on the hooks and worthless opinions but instead to be fully convinced about the birth and the suffering and the resurrection that took place during the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate. These things were truly and most assuredly done by Jesus Christ, our hope, from which may none of you ever be turned aside.”