In his Epistle to the Philadelphians, Ignatius is primarily concerned with guarding the unity of the church, “for where there is division and wrath, God doth not dwell” (ch.8).  He does this by (1) extolling the office of bishop and (2) denouncing schismatics (“wolves that appear worthy of credit, who, by means of a pernicious pleasure, carry captive those that are running towards God,” ch.2).

A charitable reading of Ignatius will find a deep love for the church behind his almost frantic push for the people to respect, obey, and love their bishop.  Yet it must be said that here we sense and feel a push away from the New Testament emphasis on Christ.  This is not to say that the New Testament does not extol the leaders of the church, nor that Ignatius does not exalt Christ.  Both of these ideas would be false.  But the strong emphasis on the bishop in Ignatius’ writings almost seems to overshadow Christ (i.e., “For, when I was among you, I cried, I spoke with a loud voice:  Give heed to the bishop, and to the presbytery and deacons.” ch.7)

In this epistle, Ignatius extols the meekness of the bishop, the fact that “he is in harmony with the commandments [of God], even as the harp is with its string,” his virtuous mind, his stability, and his “freedom from all anger” (ch.1).  In ch.3 we find Ignatius arguing that “as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop.”

We find a strong statement in ch.4 concerning Holy Communion:

“Take ye heed, then, to have but one Eucharist.  For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it according to [the will of] God.”

Ignatius positions the unity of the church in the context of that most sacred meal in which and whereby we celebrate our union with Christ.  Baptist Christians would do well to consider the importance of allowing the Supper to hold binding sway in our midst.  Our factionalism and splintering is in desperate need of a tonic and I believe that Ignatius points us the right way.

There is a curious and interesting glimpse into Ignatius’ thoughts concerning the diaconate when we find him encouraging the Philadelphians “to elect a deacon to act as the ambassador” (ch.10) and to send this deacon to the believers at Antioch in Syria to encourage them in the aftermath of their persecution.  This is interesting not only because of the “ad hoc” nature of deacon tasks, but also because of the congregational emphasis we find here (“it will become you, as a Church of God, to elect a deacon”).