"mind" (gnwvmh) (1 Cor 1:10) and he gave them his "mind" on the issue of virgins (1 Cor 7:25; cf. 7:4; 2
Cor 8:10). In Philemon the word means "consent" (Phile 14). In Revelation it means plan or purpose
(Rev 17:13, 17). The word basically means not merely cognition, but active mind, firm opinion, resolve,
or purposeful intent. Thus, Christ is seen as the purpose of God the Father, one in mind and purpose just
as the bishops are united "in the mind of Christ." This is similar to the thought that both the Father and
the Son have the same will (Eph. Pro).
bishops are set over the Church, so also Ignatius pictures the Father set over Jesus Christ, yet all are in
harmony by virtue of their one mind and will. There is no conflict in such a scheme, though there is no
exact equality of function. That Ignatius had an ordinatesubordinate rather than congregational
democratic view of local church order seems rather clear.
between Father and Son as one of authority and submission. Pfleiderer is correct, however, when he
writes, "We must not press these figures too closely; they vary considerably (in one case it is the
deacons who are compared to Christ while the bishop is described as the representative of God, while in
other passages he, as the head of the individual church, is paralleled with Christ as the Head of the
Church universal); they are not intended to embody dogmatic or ecclesiastical definitions, but serve to
commend Church-order to popular respect as a copy of the heavenly order."
relationship of Father and Son, whatever else they might tell us about second century church order.
clearly "God" (Ign. Eph. Pro; 1:1), is consistently portrayed as functioning in a role of submission to the
Father in the economy of creation (Ign. Magn. 13:2; Phld. 7:2). The Spirit, too, functions in a role of
submission to the Father and the Son (Ign. Phld. Pro).
(Phil. Pro). For Polycarp the Father and the Son's work of election is at one level indistinguishable (1:1),
but at another level believers are saved by the will of God through Jesus Christ (1:3).
relationship to the created realm is of unparalleled superiority. We are to love and serve God and Christ
together without distinction (3:3; 5:2). A final passage begins with their united movement toward
humanity and ends with humanity's movement toward Father and Son:
Jesus Christ, build you up [aedificet, singular] in faith and truth and in all gentleness and in all freedom from
anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity and may he give [det, singular] you