ted with that of his contemporaries. Of kindred spirit with him
are Melito and Irenaeus, whose forerunner he is. He is related to them as
Methodius at a later period was related to the classical orthodox
theology of the fourth and fifth centuries. This parallel is
appropriate, not merely in point of form: it is rather one and the same
tendency of mind which passes over from Ignatius to Melito, Irenaeus,
Methodius, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa (here, however, mixed with
Origenic elements), and to Cyril of Alexandria. Its characteristic is
that not only does the person of Christ as the God-man form the central
point and sphere of theology, but also that all the main points of his
history are mysteries of the world's redemption. (Ephes. 19). But
Ignatius is also distinguished by the fact that behind all that is
enthusiastic, pathetic, abrupt, and again all that pertains to
liturgical form, we find in his epistles a true devotion to Christ
([Greek: ho theos mou]). He is laid hold of by Christ: Cf. Ad. Rom. 6:
[Greek: ekeinon zeto, ton hyper hemon apothanonta, ekeinon thelo ton di'
hemas anastanta]; Rom. 7: [Greek: ho emos eros estaurotai kai ouk estin
en emoi pur philoulon]. As a sample of his theological speech and his
rule of faith, see ad. Smyrn. 1: [Greek: enoesa humas katertismenous en
akineto pistei, hosper kathelomenous en to stauro tou kuriou Iesou
Christou sarki te kai pneumati kai hedrasmenous en agape en to haimati
Christou, peplerophoremenous eis ton kuriou hemon, alethos onta ek
genous Dabid kata sarka, huion theou kata thelema kai dunamin theou,
gegenemenon alethos ek parthenou, bebaptismenon hypo Ioannou, hina
plerothe pasa dikaiosune hup' autou, alethos epi Pontiou Pilatou kai
Herodou tetrarchou kathelomenon huper hemon en sarki--aph' hou karpou
hemeis, apo tou theomakaritou autou pathous--hina are sussemon eis tous
aionas dia tes anastaseos eis tous agious kai pistous autou eite en
Ioudaious eite en ethnesin en heni somati tes ekklesias autou]. The
Epistle of Polycarp is characterised by its dependence on earlier
Christian writings (Epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, 1 John), consequently, by
its conservative attitude with regard to the most valuable traditions of
the Apostolic period. The _Kerygma_ of Peter exhibits the transition
from the early Christian literature to the apologetic (Christ as [Greek:
nomos] and as [Greek: logos]).

It is manifest that the lineage, "Ignatius, Polycarp, Melito, Irenaeus",
is in ch