A Thought of Unity: Ignatius of Antioch

Abstract

Ignatius of Antioch is considered to be the herald and champion of "monarchic episcopacy", and thus to have introduced a process of centralization in Church organization, if not a kind of despotism. The standpoint of this article is quite different. It postulates that the mystic of union with Christ through martyrdom, as expressed in Ignatius' famous epistle to the Church of Rome, is the basis of his whole theology. Therefore, this would project a new light on his ecclesiology, and allow it to be viewed as a "thought of unity" rather than an enforcement of hierarchy.