Letter to the Smyrnaeans

E106803

Christian theological work early Christian epistle patristic text

Letter to the Smyrnaeans is an early Christian epistle by Ignatius of Antioch that emphasizes the reality of Christ’s incarnation and the importance of unity under the bishop against emerging heresies.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Letter to the Smyrnaeans canonical	4
Letter to the Smyrnaeans (Ignatius)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Christian theological work ⓘ early Christian epistle ⓘ patristic text ⓘ
addressedTo	Christian community in Smyrna ⓘ
approximateDate	c. 110 CE ⓘ
associatedWith	Ignatius’s journey to martyrdom in Rome ⓘ
attributedTo	Ignatius of Antioch ⓘ
audience	Christians in Asia Minor ⓘ
author	Ignatius of Antioch ⓘ
dateWritten	early 2nd century ⓘ
ecclesiology	centrality of the bishop ⓘ cooperation of presbyters and deacons with the bishop ⓘ
emphasizes	full divinity of Christ ⓘ full humanity of Christ ⓘ importance of the Eucharist ⓘ importance of unity under the bishop ⓘ visible, hierarchical church order ⓘ
genre	epistle ⓘ
historicalContext	conflicts over Christ’s nature ⓘ early post-apostolic Church ⓘ emergence of structured church hierarchy ⓘ
includedIn	collections of the Apostolic Fathers ⓘ
influenced	later Christological debates ⓘ later patristic ecclesiology ⓘ
language	Greek ⓘ
partOf	Ignatian corpus ⓘ surface form: Ignatian epistles Apostolic Fathers ⓘ surface form: corpus of Apostolic Fathers
placeOfDestination	Smyrna ⓘ
preservedIn	manuscript tradition of the Apostolic Fathers ⓘ
religiousTradition	Christianity ⓘ
studiedIn	New Testament background studies ⓘ historical theology ⓘ patristics ⓘ
supportsDoctrine	bodily resurrection of Christ ⓘ real presence of Christ in the Eucharist ⓘ real, not apparent, suffering of Christ ⓘ real, not symbolic, death of Christ ⓘ
survivesAs	part of early Christian literature ⓘ
theologicalTheme	Christology ⓘ ecclesial obedience ⓘ reality of Christ’s death ⓘ reality of Christ’s incarnation ⓘ reality of Christ’s resurrection ⓘ reality of Christ’s suffering ⓘ unity of the Church ⓘ
warnsAgainst	Docetism ⓘ early Christian heresies ⓘ those who deny the flesh of Christ ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ignatius of Antioch → work → Letter to the Smyrnaeans ⓘ

Defense of the real presence in the Eucharist → isExpressedIn → Letter to the Smyrnaeans ⓘ

Letter to the Philadelphians → relatedWork → Letter to the Smyrnaeans ⓘ

Letter to Polycarp → relatedWork → Letter to the Smyrnaeans ⓘ

this entity surface form: Letter to the Smyrnaeans (Ignatius)