Introductory Note to the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
[ 65–100–155.]
Epistle of Polycarp is
usually made a sort of preface to those of Ignatius, for reasons which
will be obvious to the reader. Yet he was born later, and lived to a much
later period. They seem to have been friends from the days of their
common pupilage under St. John; and there is nothing improbable in the
conjecture of Usher, that he was the “angel of the church in
Smyrna,” to whom the Master says, “Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” His pupil Irenæus
gives us one of the very few portraits of an apostolic man which are to
be found in antiquity, in a few sentences which are a picture: “I
could describe the very place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and
taught; his going out and coming in; the whole tenor of his life; his
personal appearance; how he would speak of the conversations he had held
with John and with others who had seen the Lord. How did he make mention
of their words and of whatever he had heard from them respecting the
Lord.” Thus he unconsciously tantalizes our reverent curiosity. Alas! that such conversations were not written for our learning. But there is a wise Providence in what is withheld, as well as in the inestimable treasures we have received.
Irenæus will tell us more concerning him, his visit to
Rome, his rebuke of Marcion, and incidental anecdotes, all which are
instructive. The expression which he applied to Marcion is found in this
Epistle. Other facts of interest are found in the Martyrdom, which
follows in these pages. His death, in extreme old age under the first of
the Antonines, has been variously dated; but we may accept the date we
have given, as rendered probable by that of the Paschal question, which
he so lovingly settled with Anicetus, Bishop of Rome.
The Epistle to the Philippians is the more interesting
as denoting the state of that beloved church, the firstborn of European
churches, and so greatly endeared to St. Paul. It abounds in practical
wisdom, and is rich in Scripture and Scriptural allusions. It reflects
the spirit of St. John, alike in its lamb-like and its aquiline features: he is as loving as the beloved disciple himself when he speaks of Christ and his church, but “the son of thunder” is echoed in his rebukes of threatened corruptions in faith and morals. Nothing can be more clear than his view of the doctrines of grace; but he writes like the disciple of St. John, though in perfect harmony with St. Paul’s hymn-like eulogy of Christian love.
The following is the original :—
authenticity of the following Epistle can on no fair grounds be
questioned. It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is
also supported by the internal evidence. Irenæus says (Adv. Hær., iii. 3): “There is extant an Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, most satisfactory, from which those that have a mind to do so may learn the character of his faith,” etc. This passage is embodied by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (iv. 14); and in another place the same writer refers to the Epistle before us as an undoubted production of Polycarp (Hist. Eccl., iii. 36). Other ancient testimonies might easily be added, but are superfluous, inasmuch as there is a general consent among scholars at the present day that we have in this letter an authentic production of the renowned Bishop of Smyrna.
Of Polycarp’s life little is known, but that
little is highly interesting. Irenæus was his disciple, and tells us
that “Polycarp was instructed by the apostles, and was brought into
contact with many who had seen Christ” (Adv. Hær., iii. 3; Euseb. Hist. Eccl., iv. 14). There is also a very graphic account given of Polycarp by Irenæus in his Epistle to Florinus, to which the reader is referred. It has been preserved by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., v. 20).
The Epistle before us is not perfect in any of the
Greek which contain
it. But the chapters wanting in Greek are contained in an ancient Latin
version. While there is no ground for supposing, as some have done, that
the whole Epistle is spurious, there seems considerable force in the
arguments by which many others have sought to prove chap. xiii. to be an
interpolation.