Loading...The next “Apostolic Father” we will consider is Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, a friend of Ignatius, who like him came to be martyred on account of his Christian faith (see chapter 26), Polycarp was himself the recipient of one of the surviving letters of Ignatius around 110 c.e., some forty-five years or so before his own death. Soon after he received this letter, he wrote to the Philippian Christians, evidently in response to their requests on several matters (Pol. Phil. 3:1).
Here is what I say about him and his writing in my textbook, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (Oxford University Press).
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The Philippians had requested from Polycarp
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Hi Dr. Ehrman,
Congratulations on your final lecture! I have a somewhat unusual question that I thought you might be willing to address now that you’re no longer bound by the handcuffs of the Ivory Tower.
Pretend I gave you a truth serum and asked: “Do you believe—or even just suspect—that the Vatican possesses authentic source materials that, if widely known, would fundamentally upend your entire field?”
I realize that as a scholar, you’re naturally skeptical of conspiracy theories. I’ve also spent a good deal of my life reading about this stuff, but it occurred to me recently that I’ve been wasting my time if the historical scale had been thumbed the entire time.
I know you can’t prove a negative, but what about intuition? What say you??
I think the answer is absolutely not. Nothing at all suggests the Vatican is hiding early documents away that would be damaging. It’s just modern rumor/slander.
In ch8, Polycarp reflects on Christ’s death and urges readers to “be imitators of his *patience*,” and to *suffer* for his glory- following his example. *Patience* here isnt mere endurance but perseverance in suffering, modeled by Christ.
This continues into ch9, where Polycarp exhorts them to obedience by “exercising *all patience*.” Given the context (*patience* defined by Christ’s suffering/death) the phrase points toward willingness to endure martyrdom.
Polycarp reinforces this by naming examples whove already lived out *all patience*. He lists “apostles” and names 4 individuals (2 we know died martyrs). Polycarp states these figures are dead and *suffered* because they loved Jesus more than the world.
The most coherent reading is Polycarp is holding up martyrs as models of imitation. Christ’s sacrifice is described in terms of patience/suffering; believers are urged to follow that pattern; and those whove already “exercised *all patience*” are praised because they suffered and died for love of Jesus. The language of loving Christ more than the world implies a voluntary loss of life for his sake- especially given its placement immediately after Polycarp notes that they are dead.
If this is correct, it represents the earliest surviving indication that apostles died martyrs’ deaths.
1 Clement would be earlier.
Yes, 1 Clement mentions the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, but Polycarp speaks of “Paul and the rest of the apostles.” I’m not entirely sure whether the Greek carries the same nuance as the English (you’d know better than I would!), but it seems to imply at least “Paul along with a plurality of the apostles,” if not “Paul and all the other apostles.” From what I can tell, “Παῦλος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι” seems to be treating the apostles as a complete group, not just some of unspecified plurality.
If Polycarp had meant “Paul and some other apostles,” he had other, more ambiguous options available (e.g., τινές, “certain ones”). He did not use those.
Either way, this appears to be the earliest testimony suggesting that the apostles more broadly (not just Peter and Paul) died as martyrs.
By that time, of course, the apostles had all died some 70 years earlier. But there certainly a lot of exagerrations going on then, among people who didn’t have access to historical records. (Ecen in later records, John, e.g., is recorded as NOT being martyred.)
It’s true that later accounts of the apostles’ martyrdoms are often filled with legendary embellishments. And if I understand you correctly, you reject both the story that John was boiled in oil and exiled to Patmos, as well as the identification of John of Patmos (the author of Revelation) with John the son of Zebedee. If these later traditions are unreliable, then we’re left in a position of agnosticism about what actually happened to the apostles… John included, meaning we cannot simply assume that he didn’t die as a martyr.
Polycarp, however, stands on very different historical footing. He lived significantly earlier than these later traditions, with a lifespan that actually overlaps the apostolic generation itself. He is writing to a church that was founded during the lives of the first-century apostles. His testimony is notably free of legendary detail and, in fact, is almost frustratingly terse- suggesting not invention, but rather a lack of need for elaboration, since his audience would already have been familiar with the events he alludes to.
I’ve read just a few snippets of this letter years ago. Does it seem to you that Polycarp has given up on the idea of an imminent Parousia?
Sorry not to reply sooner; I was away from my books for a couple of weeks. Polycarp definitely believes in (discusses) the day of judgment and teh coming resurrection; but he doesn’t indicate whether he expects it imminently or not. My sense is that at this point most Christians were not convinced it was coming soon, but knew it was coming, possibly soon.