The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter 5
Objection: Christians affirm that Jesus is “the exact imprint of the Father’s nature,” which goes beyond the language of Genesis 1:26-27, where humanity is said to be made “in God’s image.” Humanity reflects God, but not in the sense of being His exact image. If this unique description of Jesus is taken to mean He is fully God, then one must also reckon with Ignatius, who says that believers themselves partake in the Father’s hypostasis in The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter 5.
Response:
This is simply a misquotation and a lie on Ignatius.
- Ignatius never uses the word Hypostasis (check the Greek below) like in Hebrews 1:3 “ὑποστάσεως” (The root word is ὑπόστασις). Rather it is the word charaktēra – χαρακτῆρα which is used in Hebrews 1:3, Character is a transliteration “character – χαρακτῆρα”(exact expression, exact representation). Which has nothing to do with ontology by itself with the word θεοῦ. If it included hypostasis in Ignatius sentence like in Hebrews 1:3 then there would be an argument because it qualifies what it is talking about. Rather, Hebrews 1:3 says the “exact expression of the substance (hypostasis).”
- You also achieve this in love by Jesus Christ to all believers, which shows how Christ is necessary.
- The very same word character (χαρακτῆρα) appears just before this, and Ignatius himself qualifies its meaning, as explained in point 4. He likens character to the impression stamped on a coin: one side represents the world, the other represents God. If we follow the objector’s logic, it would absurdly imply that non-believers take on the ontological nature of the earth or of other people (however you want to define world), effectively transforming into plants, trees, rocks, dirt or other people, simply by staying in unbelief or becoming a unbeliever.
- Ignatius just contrasts unbelievers, who belong to the world and live under its corrupt principles, with believers, who through love receive the “character of God the Father” in Christ. Believers are transformed by the Spirit into true disciples and imitators of God, filled with His life and righteousness. Yet, this life is only real if they are willing to share in Christ’s passion: to embrace suffering and even death for His sake. For Ignatius, union with Christ’s death whether through martyrdom or the mortification of sin is the path to sharing His life, resurrection, and immortality.
“Seeing, then, all things have an end, these two things are simultaneously set before us death and life; and every one shall go unto his own place. For as there are two kinds of coins, the one of God, the other of the world, and each of these has its special character stamped upon it, [so is it also here.] The unbelieving are of this world; but the believing have, in love, the character of God the Father by Jesus Christ, by whom, if we are not in readiness to die into His passion, His life is not in us.”
ΜΑΓΝΗΣΙΕΥΣΙΝ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΣ
1. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τέλος τὰ πράγματα ἔχει καὶ πρόκειται τὰ δύο ὁμοῦ, ὅ τε θάνατος καὶ ἡ ζωή, καὶ ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον μέλλει χωρεῖν· 2. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐστιν νομίσματα δύο, ὃ μὲν θεοῦ, ὃ δὲ κόσμου, καὶ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἴδιον χαρακτῆρα ἐπικείμενον ἔχει, οἱ ἄπιστοι τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, οἱ δὲ πιστοὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ χαρακτῆρα θεοῦ πατρὸς διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι’ οὗ ἐὰν μὴ αὐθαιρέτως ἔχωμεν τὸ ἀποθανεῖν εἰς τὸ αὐτοῦ πάθος, τὸ ζῆν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter 5 (Greek, English short reading, English long reading)