It will thus be seen that the whole of these authorities confirm the later date assigned to the martyrdom, and that Baur, in the note in which Dr. Westcott finds "nothing in any way bearing upon the history except a passing supposition," really advances a weighty argument for it and against the earlier date, and as Dr. Westcott considers, rightly, that argument should decide everything, I am surprised that he has not perceived the propriety of my referring to arguments as well as statements of evidence.
To sum up the opinions expressed, I may state that whilst all the nine writers support the later date, for which purpose they were quoted, three of them (Bleek, Guericke, and Mayerhoff) ascribe the martyrdom to Rome, one (Bretschneider) mentions no place, one (Hagenbach) is doubtful, but leans to Antioch, and the other four declare for the martyrdom in Antioch. Nothing, however, could show more conclusively the purpose of note 3, which I have explained, than this very contradiction, and the fact that I claim for the general statement in the text, regarding the martyrdom in Antioch itself in opposition to the legend of the journey to and death in Rome, only the authorities in note 4, which I shall now proceed to analyse in contrast with Dr. Westcott's statements, and here I beg the favour of the reader's attention.
NOTE 4.
DR. WESTCOTT'S STATEMENTS. | THE TRUTH. | 1. Volkmar: see above. | Volkmar, Handbuch Einl. Apocr. | i. pp. 121 ff., 136 f. | | It will be observed on turning to | the passage "above" (10), to which | Dr. Westcott refers, that he quotes | a single sentence containing merely | a concise statement of facts, and | that no indication is given to the | reader that there is anything beyond | it. At p. 136 "the same statement | is repeated briefly." Now either | Dr. Westcott, whilst bringing a most | serious charge against my work, based | upon this "one example," has actually | not taken the trouble to examine my | reference to "pp. 121 ff., 136 f.," | and p. 50 ff., to which he would | have found himself there directed, | or he has acted towards me with a | want of fairness which I venture to | say he will be the first to regret, | when he considers the facts. | | Would it be divined from the words | opposite, and the sentence "above," | that Volkmar enters into an elaborate | argument, extending over a dozen | closely printed pages, to prove that | Ignatius was not sent to Rome at all, | but suffered martyrdom in Antioch | itself on the 20th December, A.D. 115, | probably as a sacrifice to the | superstitious fury of the people | against the [Greek: atheoi], excited | by the earthquake which occurred on | the thirteenth of that month? I shall | not here attempt to give even an | epitome of the reasoning, as I shall | presently reproduce some of the | arguments of Volkmar and others in a | more condensed and consecutive form. | | Ibid. Der Ursprung, p. 52 ff. | | Volkmar repeats the affirmations which | he had fully argued in the above | work and elsewhere. | 2. "Baur, _Ursprung d. Episc., | Baur, Urspr. d. Episc., Tüb. Tüb. Zeitschr. 1838, ii. H. 3, | Zeitschr._ 1838, H. 3, p. 149 f. p. 149 f. | | "In this passage Baur discusses | Baur enters into a long and minute generally the historical | examination of the historical character of the martyrdom, which | character of the martyrdom of he considers, as a whole, to be | Ignatius, and of the Ignatian 'doubtful and incredible.' To | Epistles, and pronounces the whole establish this result he notices | to be fabulous, and more especially the relation of Christianity to | the representation of his sentence the Empire in the time of Trajan, | and martyr-journey to Rome. He which he regards as inconsistent | shows that, while isolated cases of with the condemnation of Ignatius;| condemnation to death, under and the improbable circumstances | occurred during Trajan's reign may of the journey. The personal | justify the mere tradition that he characteristics, the letters, the | suffered martyrdom, there is no history of Ignatius, are, in his | instance recorded in which a opinion, all a mere creation of | Christian was condemned to be sent the imagination. The utmost he | to Rome to be cast to the beasts; allows is that he may have | that such a sentence is opposed to suffered martyrdom." (P. 169.) | all historical data of the reign of | Trajan, and to all that is known of | his character and principles; and | that the whole of the statements | regarding the supposed journey | directly discredit the story. The | argument is much too long and | elaborate to reproduce here, but I | shall presently make use of some | parts of it. | "3. Baur, Gesch. chr. Kirche, | "Ibid., Gesch. chr. Kirche, 1863, 1863, i. p. 440, Anm. 1. | i. p. 440, Anm. 1. | "'Die Verurtheilung ad bestias | "The reality is 'wohl nur' that in und die Abführung dazu nach Rom | the year 115, when Trajan wintered … mag auch unter Trajan nichts | in Antioch, Ignatius suffered zu ungewöhnliches gewesen sein, | martyrdom in Antioch itself, as a aber … bleibt ie Geschichte | sacrifice to popular fury seines Märtyrerthums auch nach | consequent on the earthquake of der Vertheidigung derselben von | that year. The rest was developed Lipsius … höchst | out of the reference to Trajan for unwahrscheinlich. Das Factische | the glorification of martyrdom." ist wohl nur dass Ignatius im J. | 115, als Trajan in Antiochien | überwinterte, in Folge des | Erdbebens in diesem Jahr, in | Antiochien selbst als ein Opfer | der Volkswuth zum Märtyrer | wurde.' | | 4. Davidson: see above. | Davidson, Introd. N.T., p. 19. | | "All (the Epistles) are posterior | to Ignatius himself, who was not | thrown to the wild beasts in the | amphitheatre at Rome by command of | Trajan, but at Antioch, on December | 20th, A.D. 115." | 5. Scholten: see above. | Scholten, Die ält. Zeugnisse, | p. 51 f. The Ignatian Epistles are | declared to be spurious for various | reasons, but partly "because they | mention a martyr-journey of Ignatius | to Rome, the unhistorical character | of which, already earlier recognised | (see Baur, Urspr. des Episc. 1838, | p. 147 ff., Die Ign. Briefe, 1848; | Schwegler, Nachap. Zeitalt. ii. | p. 159 ff.; Hilgenfeld, Apost. | Väter, p. 210 ff.; Réville, | Le Lien, 1856, Nos. 18-22), is | made all the more probable by | Volkmar's not groundless conjecture. | According to it Ignatius is reported | to have become the prey of wild beasts | on the 20th December, 115, not in the | amphitheatre in Rome by the order of | the mild Trajan, but in Antioch | itself, as the victim of superstitious | popular fury consequent on an | earthquake which occurred on the | 13th December of that year." | 6. "Francke, _Zur Gesch. | "Cf. Francke, Zur Gesch. Trajan's, Trajan's_, 1840 [1837], p. 253 f. | 1840. This is a mere comparative [A discussion of the date of the | reference to establish the important beginning of Trajan's Parthian | point of the date of the Parthian war, which he fixes in A.D. 115, | war and Trajan's visit to Antioch. but he decides nothing directly | Dr. Westcott omits the "Cf." as to the time of Ignatius' | martyrdom.] | | 7. "Hilgenfeld, Die ap. Väter, | Hilgenfeld, Die ap. Väter, p. 214 ff. p. 214 [pp. 210 ff.] Hilgenfeld | Hilgenfeld strongly supports Baur's points out the objections to the | argument which is referred to narrative in the Acts of the | above, and while declaring the Martyrdom, the origin of which he | whole story of Ignatius, and more refers to the period between | especially the journey to Rome, Eusebius and Jerome: setting | incredible, he considers the mere aside this detailed narrative he | fact that Ignatius suffered considers the historical character| martyrdom the only point regarding of the general statements in the | which the possibility has been made letters. The mode of punishment | out. He shows [97:1] that the by a provincial governor causes | martyrology states the 20th some difficulty: 'bedenklicher,' | December as the day of Ignatius' he continues, 'ist jedenfalls der | death, and that his remains were andre Punct, die Versendung nach | buried at Antioch, where they still Rom.' Why was the punishment not | were in the days of Chrysostom and carried out at Antioch? Would it | Jerome. He argues from all that is be likely that under an Emperor | known of the reign and character of like Trajan a prisoner like | Trajan, that such a sentence from Ignatius would be sent to Rome to | the Emperor himself is quite fight in the amphitheatre? The | unsupported and inconceivable. A circumstances of the journey as | provincial Governor might have described are most improbable. | condemned him ad bestias, but in The account of the persecution | any case the transmission to Rome itself is beset by difficulties. | is more doubtful. He shows, Having set out these objections | however, that the whole story is he leaves the question, casting | inconsistent with historical facts, doubt (like Baur) upon the whole | and the circumstances of the history, and gives no support to | journey incredible. It is the bold affirmation of a | impossible to give even a sketch of martyrdom 'at Antioch on the 20th | this argument, which extends over December, A.D. 115.'" | five long pages, but although | Hilgenfeld does not directly refer | to the theory of the martyrdom in | Antioch itself, his reasoning | forcibly points to that conclusion, | and forms part of the converging | trains of reasoning which result in | that "demonstration" which I | assert. I will presently make use | of some of his arguments.
At the close of this analysis Dr. Westcott sums up the result as follows:
"In this case, therefore, again, Volkmar alone offers any arguments in support of the statement in the text; and the final result of the references is, that the alleged 'demonstration' is, at the most, what Scholten calls 'a not groundless conjecture.'" [98:1]
It is scarcely possible to imagine a more complete misrepresentation of the fact than the assertion that "Volkmar alone offers any arguments in support of the statement in the text," and it is incomprehensible upon any ordinary theory. My mere sketch cannot possibly convey an adequate idea of the elaborate arguments of Volkmar, Baur, and Hilgenfeld, but I hope to state their main features, a few pages on. With regard to Dr. Westcott's remark on the "alleged 'demonstration,'" it must be evident that when a writer states anything to be "demonstrated" he expresses his own belief. It is impossible to secure absolute unanimity of opinion, and the only question in such a case is whether I refer to writers, in connection with the circumstances which I affirm to be demonstrated, who advance arguments and evidence bearing upon it. A critic is quite at liberty to say that the arguments are insufficient, but he is not at liberty to deny that there are any arguments at all when the elaborate reasoning of men like Volkmar, Baur, and Hilgenfeld is referred to. Therefore, when he goes on to say:
"It seems quite needless to multiply comments on these results. Anyone who will candidly consider this analysis will, I believe, agree with me in thinking that such a style of annotation, which runs through the whole work, is justly characterised as frivolous and misleading"—[99:1]
Dr. Westcott must excuse my retorting that, not my annotation, but his own criticism of it, endorsed by Professor Lightfoot, is "frivolous and misleading," and I venture to hope that this analysis, tedious as it has been, may once for all establish the propriety and substantial accuracy of my references.
As Dr. Westcott does not advance any further arguments of his own in regard to the Ignatian controversy, I may now return to Dr. Lightfoot, and complete my reply to his objections; but I must do so with extreme brevity, as I have already devoted too much space to this subject, and must now come to a close. To the argument that it is impossible to suppose that soldiers such as the "ten leopards" described in the Epistles would allow a prisoner, condemned to wild beasts for professing Christianity, deliberately to write long epistles at every stage of his journey, promulgating the very doctrines for which he was condemned, as well as to hold the freest intercourse with deputations from the various Churches, Dr. Lightfoot advances arguments, derived from Zahn, regarding the Roman procedure in cases that are said to be "known." These cases, however, are neither analogous, nor have they the force which is assumed. That Christians imprisoned for their religious belief should receive their nourishment, while in prison, from friends, is anything but extraordinary, and that bribes should secure access to them in many cases, and some mitigation of suffering, is possible. The case of Ignatius, however, is very different. If the meaning of [Greek: oi kai euergetoumenoi cheirous ginontai] be that, although receiving bribes, the "ten leopards" only became more cruel, the very reverse of the leniency and mild treatment ascribed to the Roman procedure is described by the writer himself as actually taking place, and certainly nothing approaching a parallel to the correspondence of pseudo-Ignatius can be pointed out in any known instance. The case of Saturus and Perpetua, even if true, is no confirmation, the circumstances being very different; [100:1] but in fact there is no evidence whatever that the extant history was written by either of them, [100:2] but on the contrary, I maintain, every reason to believe that it was not.