Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp & others · a new plain-English translation from the original language
From Polycarp and the elders serving with him, greetings to God's assembly living as strangers in Philippi: may you be granted an abundance of mercy and peace from Almighty God and Jesus Christ our Savior.
Great was my joy over you, shared together in our Lord Jesus Christ, when I saw how warmly you received true love's living examples and sent them onward, exactly as befit you, men bound in chains that suit the holy — fetters that stand, in reality, as crowns worn by those whom God and our Lord have truly chosen. I am glad too that the sturdy root of your faith, announced from ancient days, has held firm to the present and produces fruit for our Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered death on account of our sins, and God raised him, breaking apart the agonies of Hades; in him, unseen by your eyes, you place your trust, rejoicing with a gladness beyond words and already touched by glory — a joy many long to reach. You know that grace has brought you salvation, not any achievement of your own, but rather God's own will working through Jesus Christ.
So then, gird up your loins, and serve God with reverence and sincerity, putting away idle talk and the error common to the crowd. Trust in him who brought our Lord Jesus back to life out of death, granting him glory together with a seat of honor at his right side; to him every creature in heaven and on earth has been subjected, every living breath does him service, and he is coming to judge both the living and the dead — and his blood God will demand from all who refuse to obey him. The same one who brought him back from among the dead will likewise restore us to life, provided we carry out his will, follow his teachings faithfully, and cherish everything he cherished, holding ourselves apart from wrongdoing of every kind — greed, avarice, slander, false testimony. Do not answer evil with evil, insult with insult, blow with blow, curse with curse. Remember instead his own teaching: judge not, lest you be judged; forgive, and forgiveness will be yours; show mercy, and mercy will be shown to you; the measure you use will be used back on you. And happy are the poor, happy too are those made to suffer on account of what is right, since the kingdom of God belongs to them.
Brothers, I did not decide on my own to write to you about righteousness — you yourselves asked me to do so first. Paul, that blessed and glorious man, possessed a wisdom that neither I nor anyone of my stature could ever match; while he lived among you, in the presence of the people of his generation, he taught the message of truth with precision and firmness, and afterward, once he had departed, he sent you letters. Study these carefully, and you will be able to grow strong in the faith handed down to you — faith that is mother to us all, with hope trailing behind it and love for God, for Christ, and for one's neighbor leading the way ahead of it. Whoever abides within these has kept the whole demand of righteousness, for love, wherever it is found, keeps a person distant from every sin.
Love of money is where every kind of trouble begins. Since we know we carried nothing into this world, and that nothing can be carried out of it when we leave, let us take up righteousness as our weaponry; let us first learn, ourselves, to walk by the Lord's own command, and only then instruct our wives — that they should hold to the trust placed in them, living out purity and devotion, honoring their husbands with total loyalty, showing equal affection toward everyone else with full self-restraint, and raising their children within the discipline that fear of God supplies. The widows, for their part, ought to keep a sound mind concerning what the Lord requires, praying for all people without ceasing, kept well away from slander, idle talk, false accusation, greed, and any wrongdoing whatsoever, since they serve as an altar belonging to God, where everything is inspected for blemish and nothing — no reasoning, no notion, nothing concealed within the heart — escapes his notice.
Since we understand that no one mocks God and escapes it, our conduct must match the honor and the command he has given. In the same way, deacons must stand blameless before what righteousness demands, serving God and Christ rather than men — no slander, no double-dealing, no love of silver, restrained in everything, tender-hearted, hard-working, and living out the Lord's own truth, since he himself became a servant to all. Should we succeed in pleasing him during our present life, the coming age will be ours as well, for he pledged that our resurrection from death would follow his own, and that a life lived worthily of him earns us a shared reign with him — provided our faith holds. Younger men, likewise, must be blameless in every respect, giving purity their first concern and steering clear of every wrong. Cutting away worldly cravings serves us well, since every craving makes war on the spirit within, and none of the following will inherit God's kingdom: the sexually immoral, the effeminate, men who lie with men, or anyone practicing indecency. All such things, therefore, must be avoided, submitting instead to elders and deacons as one submits to God and Christ. The virgins must conduct themselves with a conscience unblemished and pure.
The elders, too, must show tenderness and mercy toward everyone, bringing back those who have gone astray, tending to the weak, and never overlooking any widow, orphan, or person in need — always intent instead on what is honorable in the sight of both God and mankind. They must hold themselves apart from anger, from partiality, from unjust verdicts, and keep well clear of any fondness for silver; they must not be hasty to believe accusations against another, nor severe in judgment, remembering that every one of us owes a debt because of sin. If we ask the Lord to pardon us, then we in turn are obligated to pardon others, since we live under the gaze of the Lord and of God, and each of us will one day stand at Christ's tribunal and answer for what we have done. Let us therefore serve him in fear and complete reverence, exactly as he commanded, following the pattern set by those sent to proclaim good news to us and by the prophets who announced beforehand our Lord's arrival — eager for what is good, avoiding anything that causes stumbling, avoiding false brothers, and avoiding people who wear the Lord's name as a mask while leading the simple-minded astray.
Anyone unwilling to acknowledge Jesus Christ as one who came in human flesh stands as an antichrist; anyone who refuses to acknowledge what the cross bore witness to belongs to the devil; and whoever bends the Lord's own words to fit his private appetites, claiming there will be no resurrection and no judgment, is nothing less than Satan's own firstborn. Let us, then, abandon the crowd's empty pursuits along with their false doctrines, and return instead to the teaching handed down to us from the start — remaining watchful in prayer, persisting in fasting, and begging the God who oversees everything not to lead us into trial, exactly as the Lord himself said: the spirit is indeed eager, though the flesh is frail.
Let us cling without letup, then, to our hope and to the pledge of our righteousness — Christ Jesus, who carried the weight of our sins up onto the wood, in his own flesh, having committed no sin himself, with no dishonesty ever discovered on his lips; yet for our benefit, so that we could live through him, he bore every hardship. Let us then take up the pattern of his patient endurance, and if suffering comes to us because of his name, let us give him glory for it. This, after all, is the model he laid down in his own person, and this is the very thing we have come to believe.
I appeal to every one of you, then, to submit to what righteousness teaches and to exercise patient endurance in every form — the very quality you witnessed firsthand, not merely in Ignatius, Zosimus, and Rufus, those blessed men, but also among others in your own community, and in Paul as well, together with the remaining apostles. Be assured that none of them ran their race for nothing: they ran it in faith and uprightness, and they now occupy the place set aside for them at the Lord's side, having shared also in his sufferings. For their love was not fixed on the present age, but on him who died on our behalf and whom God raised for our sake.
[LATIN] Remain steady, then, in all this, taking the Lord as your model — unmoving and secure in faith, devoted to your brothers and sisters, treasuring one another, bound together by truth, bearing with one another in the gentleness the Lord shows, and regarding no one with contempt. [LATIN] Whenever you are able to act well, do not put it off, since generosity toward others rescues from death. Submit yourselves, all of you, to one another, keeping how you live blameless among the nations, so that through your good deeds you yourselves gain commendation and no reproach falls on the Lord's name because of you. [LATIN] But sorrow awaits whoever causes the Lord's name to be reproached. Teach everyone, then, to practice self-control, following the pattern of your own lives.
[LATIN] I was deeply grieved on account of Valens, who was once made a presbyter among you, that he should so misunderstand the place given to him. I urge you, therefore, to keep yourselves from love of money and to be chaste and truthful. Keep yourselves from every evil. [LATIN] But how can someone who cannot govern himself in these matters instruct another to do so? If anyone does not keep himself from love of money, he will be defiled by idolatry and will be judged as though among the nations, who do not know the judgment of the Lord. Or do we not know that the saints will judge the world, as Paul teaches? [LATIN] But I have neither perceived nor heard anything of this sort among you, in whom the blessed Paul labored, and who are named at the beginning of his letter. For he boasts of you in all the churches which had at that time come to know the Lord alone; we ourselves had not yet come to know him. [LATIN] I am deeply grieved, then, brothers, for him and for his wife; may the Lord grant them true repentance. Be sober-minded, therefore, yourselves as well in this matter, and do not regard such people as enemies, but call them back as suffering and erring members, so that you may save the whole body of you all. For in doing this you build up yourselves.
[LATIN] I trust that you have deep familiarity with the sacred writings, with nothing hidden from you — a gift not given to me in the same measure. Only remember what these scriptures tell us: be angry, yet do not sin, and do not let the sun set upon your wrath. Happy is the person who keeps this in mind, and I believe that person is you. [LATIN] May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with Jesus Christ himself, God's Son and our eternal high priest, establish you firmly in faith and truth and every form of gentleness, free from anger, patient, long-suffering, enduring, and pure; may he grant you a share and an inheritance among his holy ones — and to us alongside you, and to everyone beneath heaven destined to place their trust in our Lord and God Jesus Christ, and in the Father who raised him from among the dead. [LATIN] Offer prayer on behalf of all the holy ones. Pray as well for kings, for those holding power, for rulers, for whoever persecutes or despises you, and for enemies of the cross, so that the fruit you bear may be plain for all to see and you yourselves may reach completeness in him.
You yourselves wrote to me, as did Ignatius, that if anyone were traveling to Syria, he should also carry along letters from you. I will do this if I find a suitable opportunity — either going myself, or sending someone who will act as an envoy on your behalf as well. As for the letters of Ignatius that were sent to us by him, and any others we had in our possession, we have sent them to you, just as you asked; they are appended to this letter, and from them you will be able to gain great benefit. In them you will find steadfast trust, patient perseverance, and instruction of every sort fitting for life in our Lord. [LATIN] And whatever you learn more definitely about Ignatius himself and those who are with him, let us know.
[LATIN] These things I have set down for you and sent by the hand of Crescens — a man I recommended to you a while ago, and recommend to you again now, since he has lived without fault among us, and I trust he will do likewise among you. Receive his sister too with confidence when she arrives among you. May you fare well in Christ Jesus our Lord, living in grace, together with all those who belong to you. Amen.
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