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Polycarp
Polycarp (; , ''Polýkarpos''; ; AD 69 155) was a Christian Metropolis of Smyrna, bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Fathers, Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism. Both Irenaeus and Tertullian say that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Apostles in the New Testament, Jesus's disciples. In ''De Viris Illustribus (Jerome), On Illustrious Men'', Jerome similarly writes that Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle, who had ordained him as a bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch. Surviving writings and early accounts The sole surviving work attributed to him is the ''Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippian ...
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Martyrdom Of Polycarp
''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' (latin: ''Martyrium Polycarpi'') is a manuscript written in the form of a letter that relates the religious martyrdom of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (the site of the modern city of İzmir, Turkey) in the 2nd centuryAD. It forms the earliest account of Christian martyrdom outside of the New Testament. The author of ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is unknown, but it has been attributed to members of the group of early Christian theologians known as the Church Fathers. The letter, sent from the church in Smyrna to another church in Asia Minor at Philomelium, is partly written from the point of view of an eye-witness, recounting the arrest of the elderly Polycarp, the Romans' attempt to execute him by fire, and subsequent miraculous events. The letter takes influence from both Jewish martyrdom texts in the Old Testament and the Gospels. Furthermore, the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' promotes an ideology of martyrdom, by delineating the proper conduct of a martyr. Con ...
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Epistle Of Polycarp To The Philippians
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians (commonly abbreviated Pol. Phil.) is an epistle attributed to Polycarp, an early bishop of Smyrna, and addressed to the early Christian church in Philippi. It is widely believed to be a composite of material written at two different times (see ), in the first half of the second century. The epistle is described by Irenaeus as follows: The epistle is one of a number believed to have been written by Polycarp, but is the only extant document.Kirsopp Lakebr>''The Apostolic Fathers''Volume 1. (London: Heinemann, 1912), pp. 280-281. Manuscript tradition The epistle was composed in Greek, but the Greek text has not been preserved in its entirety. Eight Greek manuscripts are known, but in each the text is defective and incomplete. The oldest Greek witness iVaticanus Graecus 859from the 11th–13th centuries, but most are from the 15th–16th centuries. There is a complete Latin translation of the epistle. It survives in 13 or 14 manuscripts ...
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Apostolic Fathers
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though widely circulated in early Christianity, were not included in the canon of the New Testament. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature which came to be part of the New Testament. Background The label ''Apostolic Fathers'' has been applied to these writers only since the 17th century, to indicate that they were thought of as representing the generation that had personal contact with the Twelve Apostles. The earliest known use of the term "Apostolic(al) Fathers" was by William Wake in 1693, when he was chaplain in ordinary to King William and Queen Mary of England. According to the ''Catholic Enc ...
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Ignatius Of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (; ; died 108/140), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (), was an early Christian writer and Patriarch of Antioch. While en route to Rome, where he met his Christian martyrs, martyrdom, Ignatius wrote a series of letters. This correspondence forms a central part of a later collection of works by the Apostolic Fathers. He is considered one of the three most important of these, together with Clement of Rome and Polycarp. His letters also serve as an example of early Christian theology, and address important topics including ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops. Life Nothing is known of Ignatius' life apart from the words of his letters and later traditions. It is said Ignatius conversion (religious), converted to Christianity at a young age. Tradition identifies him and his friend Polycarp as disciples of John the Apostle. Later, Ignatius was chosen to serve as Bishop of Antioch; the fourth-century Church historian Eusebius writes that Ignatius ...
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Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristics, Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the State church of the Roman Empire, state church of the Roman Empire. For many denominations of Christianity, the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene Fathers and Christianity in the 5th century#Post-Nicene Fathers, Post-Nicene Fathers are included in Sacred tradition, Sacred Tradition. As such, in traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative for the establishment of doctrine. The academic field of patristics, the study of the Chu ...
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Metropolis Of Smyrna
The Metropolis of Smyrna () is an ecclesiastical territory (diocese) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, modern Turkey. The Christian community of Smyrna was one of the Seven Churches of Asia, mentioned by Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. It was initially an archbishopric, but was promoted to a metropolis during the 9th century. Although the local Christian element was reduced during the 14th and 15th centuries, it retained its ecclesiastical autonomy continuously until 1922. History Early Christianity and Byzantine era The precise year when Christianity spread in Smyrna is unknown. It was perhaps introduced by Apostle Paul or one of his companions.Ascough, 2005: 8 By the end of the 1st century the city already hosted a small Christian community, while its first head was one named Aristion. The Church of Smyrna was also one of the Seven Churches of Asia, mentioned at the New Testament, Book of Revelation, written by John of Patmos. In ca. 110 AD, Ignatius o ...
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Irenaeus
Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by opposing Gnostic interpretations of Christian Scripture and defining proto-orthodoxy. Originating from Smyrna, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist. Chosen as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lyon, Bishop of Lugdunum, now Lyon, Irenaeus wrote his best-known work ''Against Heresies (Irenaeus), Against Heresies'' around 180 as a refutation of gnosticism, in particular that of Valentinus (Gnostic), Valentinus. To counter the doctrines of the gnostic sects claiming Sophia (gnosticism), secret wisdom, he offered three pillars of orthodoxy: the Bible, scriptures, the Apostolic Tradition, tradition said to be handed down from the apostles, and the teaching of the apostles' Apostolic succ ...
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Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. Since about 1930, the city's name has been İzmir. Two sites of the ancient city are today within İzmir's boundaries. The first, probably founded by indigenous peoples, rose to prominence during the Archaic period in Greece, Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia. The second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the ancient city's present-day remains date to the Roman era, the majority from after a 2nd-century AD earthquake. In practical terms, a distinction is often made between these. ''Old Smyrna'' was the initial settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an ...
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John The Apostle
John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee and Salome (disciple), Salome. His brother James the Great, James was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Presbyter, John the Elder, and the Disciple whom Jesus loved, Beloved Disciple, and claim that he outlived the remaining apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes, although modern scholars are divided on the veracity of these claims. John the Apostle is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, and many Christian denominations believe that he authored several other books of the New Testament (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine ...
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Sant'Ambrogio Della Massima
Sant'Ambrogio della Massima (also Sant'Ambrogio alla Massima) is an ancient Catholic church in rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. It is home to the General Curia of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation of the Order of Saint Benedict. Perhaps dating to the 4th century it is said to have been the house of Saint Ambrose’s sister, Saint Marcellina who first established a monastery on the site. This monastery was home to a great many different communities of women through the centuries until a canonical investigation in the 19th century, when it was disbanded and repurposed as a missionary college later becoming the church of the General Curia of the Cassinese Benedictines. Etymology The name of the church derives from the tradition that the church was built on the site of the house in which Saint Ambrose lived in Rome, before he moved to become the consul in Milan. The family home was built on the ruins of a temple to Hercules. Archeological research has discovered parts of the templ ...
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On The Detection And Overthrow Of The So-Called Gnosis
''Against Heresies'' (Koine Greek: Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ''Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs'', "Refutation and Overthrowal of Knowledge falsely so-called"), sometimes referred to by its Latin title ''Adversus Haereses'', is a work of Christian theology written in Greek about the year 180 by Irenaeus, the bishop of Lugdunum (now Lyon in France). In it, Irenaeus identifies and describes several schools of Gnosticism, and other schools of Christian thought, whose beliefs he rejects as heresy. He contrasts them with orthodox Christianity. Until the discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, ''Against Heresies'' was the best surviving contemporary description of Gnosticism. Today, the treatise remains historically important as one of the first unambiguous attestations of the canonical gospel texts and some of the Pauline epistles. Irenaeus cites from most of the New Testament canon, as well ...
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De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)
''De Viris Illustribus'' (''On Illustrious Men'') is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th-century Latin Church Father Jerome. He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392–393 AD. The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography. Jerome himself is the subject of the final chapter. A Greek version of the book, possibly by the same Sophronius who is the subject of Chapter 134, also survives. Many biographies take as their subject figures important in Christian Church history and pay especial attention to their careers as writers. It "was written as an apologetic work to prove that the Church had produced learned men." The book was dedicated to Flavius Lucius Dexter, who served as high chamberlain to Theodosius I and as praetorian prefect to Honorius. Dexter was the son of Saint Pacianus, who is eulogized in the work. Contents Listed below are the subjects of Jerome's 135 biographies. The nu ...
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