apostolicfathers0201clem - Carmel Apologetics

368 EPISTLES OF S. IGNATIUS.
a fourth, Daphnus {Smyrfi. 13),
we can only say that, not being a
very common name, it
appears in at least one inscription {Bullett. delV
Istit. Archeol. 1867, p. 48, dapnvs asiaticvs, quoted in Devit Lexic.
Forcell. Onomast. s. v.
Daphnus) as borne by a native of proconsular
Asia.
From Smyrna the martyr is represented in these epistles as going to
Troas. From Troas three — letters purport to have been written to the
Philadelphians, to the Smyrnaeans, and to Polycarp. The situation of
affairs at Antioch has entirely changed meanwhile. Whereas in the
letters from Smyrna he exhorts his correspondents to pray
for the
Church of Antioch, which is left desolate by his departure {Ephes. 21,
Magn. 14, Trail. 13, Eom. 9),
in those sent from Troas he desires that
letters and delegates may be sent to congratulate
this church on the
restoration of peace, apparently by the cessation of persecution {Philad.
10, Smyrii. 11, Polyc. 7), and he speaks of this altered state of things as
an answer to the prayers of the Philadelphians and Smyrnaeans. But
how did he learn that peace had been restored to the Church of
Antioch In one place he says that it had been ' '
announced
(aTrrj-yyiXrj)
to him {Philad. 10); in another that it had been 'shown'
(iSrjXiaOr]) to him {Polyc. 7).
The meaning of these expressions
is so
far from obvious that some Ignatian
critics have supposed a miraculous
revelation to be implied in them (Bunsen Die drei aechtm etc. p. 73,
Denzinger Ueber die Aechtheit etc. p. 45 ; comp. Cureton C. I. p. 312)—
defenders of the genuineness resorting to this expedient in order to
account for his possession of this knowledge, and impugners on the
other hand condemning the letters on the very ground that recourse
is had to supernatural interposition.
The true explanation however is
found in the letters themselves. From these we learn that two deacons,
Philo from Cilicia and Rhaius Agathopus from Syria, had followed in
his wake. They evidently took the same route with him, as already
mentioned (p. 363). Thus we find that they were entertained first at
Philadelphia {Philad. 11) and then at Smyrna {Smyrn. 10, 13). As he
had already left Smyrna when they arrived there, they followed him
to Troas, where they caught him up. But the inference is built on
scattered notices pieced together. The facts relating to their journey
are gathered from different epistles; and they are not placed in any
connexion with the tidings respecting the restoration of peace at
Antioch. As we have seen, many intelligent Ignatian critics have
failed to see this connexion. Yet, when once pointed out, it is the
obvious and natural account of the receipt of these tidings. But again ;
the movements of these two persons
involve another coincidence. We