12
saying that "he hoped that his final confrontation with death would be found consistent
with his profession of faith in Christ." In a second understanding of what it means to be a
Christian disciple, the emphasis is placed on the devotion of the Christian to the Lord
Jesus.
63
For Ignatius, martyrdom is the clearest way to express his personal devotion to Christ and
his rejection of the world. But he is quite aware that there are other ways to journey. For
example, his urging the believers in Rome to express their devotion to Christ by allowing
him to die as a martyr clearly indicates an awareness that his path of discipleship and
theirs are not identical. Although Ignatius might see martyrdom as the straighter road
upon which he must travel, he is not denying the fact that there are other paths which
other disciples can travel.
64
In this regard, it is vital to note that he does not exhort any of
the believers in Rome--nor for that matter any of his other correspondents--to join him
as a martyr. He obviously does not see martyrdom as being essential to discipleship.
65
Martyrdom and the defence of the Faith
A final aspect of Ignatius thinking about his martyrdom is the way that he believes it
forms a bulwark against a species of false teaching that threatened the unity of at least a
couple of the churches to which he was writing, namely those in Smyrna and in Tralles.
Present even during the days of the Apostles,
66
the proponents of this perspective, known
as Docetism, denied the death of Christ and asserted that Christs "sufferings were not
genuine."
67
Ignatius uses what was becoming a technical word to describe these
theological opponents of core Christian teaching: they have embraced "heresy"
62
Similarly J.B. Lightfoot translates this phrase by "my earthly passion has been crucified" [The
Apostolic Fathers: Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp (2
nd
ed.; repr. Grand Rapids: Baker Books House,
1981), II/2, 222]. See also the comments of Castelli, Martyrdom and Memory, 81, 83.
63
Daniel N. McNamara, "Ignatius of Antioch On His Death: Discipleship, Sacrifice, Imitation"
(Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, McMaster University, 1977), 247.
64
Corwin, St. Ignatius and Christianity in Antioch, 254-255.
65
Pace Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church, 198. See also, in this regard, Ignatius
exhortation to Polycarp in Polycarp 2.
66
See, for example, in the New Testament: 2 Timothy 2:16-18; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-11.
67
Trallians 9-11.