Ignatius of Antioch died about A. How did St. Edmund Fortman gives this analysis which shows the high view St. Ignatius had of the Son and Holy Spirit:. Ignatius delves more deeply into some matters than do the other Apostolic Fathers and adds his personal reflections but without developing any systematic theology. God wished to save the world and humanity from the despotism of the prince of this world.
But just how He was distinct from the Father, since both are God, Ignatius does not say. While Ignatius concentrated most of his thought on Christ, he did not ignore the Holy Spirit. This Spirit spoke through Ignatius himself Phil. Ignatius does not cite the Matthean baptismal formula, but he does sometimes mention Father. Son, and Holy Spirit together. Thus although there is nothing remotely resembling a doctrine of the Trinity in Ignatius, the triadic pattern of thought is there, and two of its members, the Father and Jesus Christ, are clearly and often designated as God.
It has been urged 4 that for Ignatius there is no Trinity before the birth of Jesus, but that before the birth there was only God and a pre-existent Christ, who is called either Logos or Holy Spirit. There is, however, no solid evidence that Ignatius either in intention or in words made any such identification either in his letter to the Smyrnaeans inscr.
On the contrary. Tixeront, History of Dogmas 3 vols. Louis, 1 : Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Church Fathers , pp. Fortman, pp. This entry was posted on Thursday, September 30th, at pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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