Apr
21
St Ignatius, Judaizing and the Letter to the Magnesians
Some anti-Jewish Christians quote from passages in the letters of St Ignatius of Antioch's letters to demonstrate how he was anti-Jewish in his theology. They especially love to quote the Letter to the Magnesians. Of course St Ignatius was not anti-Jewish at all and was a disciple of St John and knew the Apostles who were Jewish. There was a Syriac abridgement of the letters known as the low recension. There is the middle recension which is the original second century version of the seven letters and then the long recension of the letters being reworked in the form of thirteen letters in the 4th century. Most scholars accept the middle recension as the original documents.