Unless otherwise stated, all citations taken from Polycarp of Smryna. (1885). The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
Authorship
From the title of the letter, we learn that Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna and a martyr. Obviously, this must be a later addition to the letter (How could Polycarp call himself a “martyr” before his own death?). Even though this is a posthumous title, scholars believe that it is reliable history. Jefford writes, “There also is little question that the author was the man Polycarp, bishop of the Christian community in Smyrna during the early to mid-second century.”[1]
Eusebius tells us that Polycarp was a disciple of John the apostle (Against Heresies, 3.3; Ecclesiastical History 5.20.5-8). Irenaeus claimed that Polycarp wrote more letters, but his letter to the Philippians is the only one to survive (Against Heresies, 3.3). Irenaeus also claims to have been a direct disciple of Polycarp. Irenaeus writes, “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.”
Date
Historians usually date Polycarp’s life from AD 70 to 156.[2] In The Martyrdom of Polycarp (9.3), we learn that Polycarp lived to age 86, placing his birth around AD 70. This text “places the martyrdom of Polycarp within the rule of the proconsul Statius Quadratus, whose proconsulship occurred during the years 154–155. Furthermore, chapter 12 refers to Philip the Asiarch, whose reign can be assigned to the sixth decade of the second century. Based on this information, the date of Polycarp’s death is traditionally assigned to February 23, 155, though many recent scholars prefer the later date of February 22, 156.”[3]
Remember, scholars argue that this letter is actually a composite of two separate letters. So the dating of the letter can be broken up into two separate dates:
Chapter 13. Scholars date this chapter earlier than the rest of the letter, because Polycarp seems unaware of Ignatius’ death. Polycarp writes, “Any more certain information you may have obtained respecting both Ignatius himself, and those that were with him, have the goodness to make known to us.” If Ignatius died in ~AD 110, then this chapter would likely date before or around this time (~AD 105).[4]
Chapters 1-12, 14. These chapters may date later (~AD 120-135), because Polycarp may refer to Marcion of Sinope (ch.7) as the “firstborn of Satan.”
Manuscripts
Our manuscripts of this letter are difficult to reconstruct. We possess one complete Latin manuscript, nine incomplete Greek manuscripts, and various citations from the church historian Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History, 3.36.13-15). The text was originally written in Greek, but “much of the original Greek text has been lost over the centuries.”[5] Our current text is a “combination of two unrelated letters written by the bishop Polycarp on separate occasions.”[6]
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
(Chapter 1) He encourages the Philippian Christians.
(Chapter 2) He encourages them to live for Christ. He explains several ethical ways to serve Christ.
(Chapter 3) Regarding Paul, he writes, “Neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and glorified Paul. He, when among you, accurately and [steadfastly] taught the word of truth in the presence of those who were then alive. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that faith which has been given you.”
(Chapter 4) He gives them various imperatives for following Christ.
(Chapter 5) He gives standards for deacons, young men, and young women.
(Chapter 6) He addresses the presbyters, and he encourages them to fight false teaching.
(Chapter 7) He affirms that Jesus came “in the flesh.” This could be evidence that he was battling with Docetism.
Polycarp may have been battling Marcion. Irenaeus writes, “Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, “[Do you] know me?” [Polycarp replied,] ‘I do know [you], the first-born of Satan’” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.4). Polycarp uses this same expression in this chapter.
(Chapter 8) He points to Jesus as the reason for righteous living, and as an example of righteous living.
(Chapter 9) He mentions Ignatius and Rufus (Rom. 16?). He also mentions Paul as an apostle.
(Chapter 10) He quotes from the Apocrypha: “When you can do good, defer it not, because ‘alms delivers from death’” (Tobit 4:10; 12:9). How does this fit with his emphasis on the importance of faith in Jesus throughout the rest of his letter?
(Chapter 11) He refers to a former presbyter named Valens. Then he implores them to abstain from being covetous. Did Valens lose his position because of these issues? He later prays that God would grant Valens (and his wife) “true repentance.” He tells them not to treat Valens as an enemy, but to try to win him back to Christ.
(Chapter 12) He cites Paul as “Scripture” right alongside the OT: “It is declared then in these Scriptures, ‘Be angry, and sin not,’ [Ps. 4:5] and, ‘Let not the sun go down upon your wrath’” [Eph. 4:26].
These people were experiencing persecution: “Pray also for kings, and potentates, and princes, and for those that persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest to all, and that ye may be perfect in Him.”
(Chapter 13) Ignatius had written a letter to Polycarp (Ignatius to Polycarp, ch.8). In this portion of the letter, it seems that Polycarp doesn’t know if Ignatius has died yet: “Any more certain information you may have obtained respecting both Ignatius himself, and those that were with him, have the goodness to make known to us.”
(Chapter 14) Farewell.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
Unless otherwise stated, all citations taken from Roberts, A., Donaldson, J., & Coxe, A. C. (Eds.). (1885). The Encyclical Epistle of the Church at Smyrna. In The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
We have a later source which captures the martyrdom of Polycarp. Of course, Polycarp did not write this document.
Manuscripts
We have seven Greek manuscripts, one Latin manuscript, and Eusebius’ citations from his Ecclesiastical History. The Greek manuscripts date from the 10th to the 13th centuries.[7]
Authorship
The book was a letter sent from the church in Smyrna to the church in Philomelium. It claims to be written by an eye-witness of Polycarp’s death. It could have actually been more than one witness, because the author(s) use the term “we” in 15.1 (“we, to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle”).
After chapter 22, multiple authors added material to the letter, including Socrates, Gaius, and Pionius. Jefford writes, “Pionius was a presbyter in Smyrna who himself was eventually martyred in AD 250.”[8]
Date
Jefford writes, “scholars assume that the Martyrdom was composed by an actual witness to the death of the bishop Polycarp. This person would have then composed the original text only a short time after the event. Traditionally, scholars assign the text somewhere during the years of 155–160, though the decade of 170–180 during the persecutions by Marcus Aurelius certainly is possible.”[9]
Important content in this letter
(Chapter 1) They wrote this letter to explain the martyrdom of Polycarp. His martyrdom had an evangelistic effect: “It is the part of a true and well-founded love, not only to wish one’s self to be saved, but also all the brethren.”
(Chapter 2) “Who can fail to admire their nobleness of mind, and their patience, with that love towards their Lord which they displayed?—who, when they were so torn with scourges, that the frame of their bodies, even to the very inward veins and arteries, was laid open, still patiently endured, while even those that stood by pitied and bewailed them.”
“At the very time when they suffered such torments, were absent from the body, or rather, that the Lord then stood by them, and communed with them.”
The torturers tried to get believers to deny Christ: “In like manner, those who were condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful tortures, being stretched out upon beds full of spikes, and subjected to various other kinds of torments, in order that, if it were possible, the tyrant might, by their lingering tortures, lead them to a denial [of Christ].”
(Chapter 3) The proconsul told Germanicus to “take pity of his [old] age,” but instead of recanting, Germanicus “attracted the wild beast towards himself, and provoked it, being desirous to escape all the more quickly from an unrighteous and impious world.”
The crowds referred to Christians as “atheists.”
(Chapter 4) Quintus was persuaded to “swear and to offer sacrifice.”
(Chapter 5) Polycarp was a man of prayer. The text tells us that he had a prophetic dream that he would be burned alive.
(Chapter 6) One of the young servants in the house was tortured until he gave up Polycarp to the authorities.
(Chapter 7) When the authorities came to his house, Polycarp fed them. Then he asked if he could have an hour to pray: “On their giving him leave, he stood and prayed, being full of the grace of God, so that he could not cease for two full hours, to the astonishment of them that heard him, insomuch that many began to repent that they had come forth against so godly and venerable an old man.”
(Chapter 8) The text refers to “the whole Catholic Church throughout the world.” Catholic simply means “universal.” This is one of the earliest usages of this term.[10]
The authorities asked him, “What harm is there in saying, Lord Caesar [or “Caesar is Lord”] and in sacrificing, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions, and so make sure of safety?” When he refused, they threw him out of the chariot, and he dislocated his leg.
(Chapter 9) The text claims that a voice from heaven encouraged Polycarp (“Be strong, and show thyself a man, O Polycarp!”). The “brethren” (plural) heard the voice.
The proconsul told Polycarp to consider his old age. He told him, “Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists.”
Instead, Polycarp turned to the crowds and said, “Away with the Atheists.”
The proconsul said, “Swear, and I will set [you] at liberty, reproach Christ.”
Polycarp declared, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”
(Chapter 10) Polycarp tried to witness to the proconsul.
(Chapter 11) The proconsul threatened him with the wild beasts and with being burned alive. Polycarp said, “[You threaten] me with fire which burn[s] for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but [are] ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why [do you wait]? Bring forth what [you will].”
(Chapter 12) The authorities chose to burn him alive, confirming his prophetic vision.
(Chapter 13) The people brought together wood for the funeral pyre. The text notes, “The Jews especially, according to custom, eagerly assisting them in it.” Jewish and Christian hostility ran high during this time. It’s also possible that the author or authors were anti-Semitic.
The authorities were going to nail him to the funeral pyre to keep him from escaping when the fires started to cook him. But Polycarp said, “Leave me as I am; for He that give[s] me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me; without your securing me by nails, to remain without moving in the pile.”
(Chapter 14) Instead of nailing him, they bound him to the pyre. Polycarp publically prays to God and thanks him for considering him worthy to suffer.
(Chapter 15) The text claims that Polycarp was supernaturally protected from the flames: “He appeared within not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Moreover, we perceived such a sweet odour [coming from the pile], as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been smoking there.”
(Chapter 16) Since the fire couldn’t kill him, they had an executioner stab him to death.
(Chapter 17) The “Jews” urged the authorities not to give up the body of Polycarp to the Christians present.
(Chapter 18) The executioner burned Polycarp’s corpse, and the Christians gathered his bones together. They celebrated his death annually.
(Chapter 19) The text praises what Polycarp did. Apparently, Polycarp was “an illustrious teacher.”
(Chapter 20) Marcus delivered the letter to explain how Polycarp died. Evarestus was the author (or scribe).
(Chapter 21) This chapter helps us to date the life of Polycarp.
(Chapter 22) Irenaeus “was a disciple of Polycarp.”
These later Christians (Socrates, Pionius) added this chapter after he received the letter.
[1] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 76). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[2] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 76). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[3] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 91). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[4] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 77). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[5] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 74). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[6] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 74). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[7] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 88). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[8] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 90). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[9] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 91). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[10] Jefford, C. N. (2012). Reading the Apostolic Fathers: A Student’s Introduction (Second Edition, p. 95). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.