Ignatius of Antioch: A Martyr Bishop and the Origin of Episcopacy PB

Ignatius of Antioch is one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Christian Church. In his letters to other churches he re-interpreted church order, the Eucharist and martyrdom by using the cultural material of a pagan society. Allen Brent shows how Ignatius shaped the idea and theology of the office of a bishop in the Christian Church. He provides an account of the circumstances and the cultural context in which Ignatius constructed what became the historic church order of Christendom.