Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I:
IGNATIUS: Chapter I.—Thanks to God for your...

Chapter I.—Thanks to God for your faith.

I Glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that He was truly of the seed of David according to the flesh, 975 and the Son of God according to the will and power 976 of God; that He was truly born of a virgin, was baptized by John, in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled 977 by Him; and was truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed [to the cross] for us in His flesh. Of this fruit 978 we are by His divinely-blessed passion, that He might set up a standard 979 for all ages, through His resurrection, to all His holy and faithful [followers], whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church.

I Glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by Him has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded, in very truth, with respect to our Lord Jesus Christ, that He was the Son of God, “the first-born of every creature,” 980 God the Word, the only-begotten Son, and was of the seed of David according to the flesh, 981 by the Virgin Mary; was baptized by John, that all righteousness might be fulfilled 982 by Him; that He lived a life of holiness without sin, and was truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed [to the cross] for us in His flesh. From whom we also derive our being, 983 from His divinely-blessed passion, that He might set up a standard for the ages, through His resurrection, to all His holy and faithful [followers], whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church.

Footnotes

Rom. i. 3.

Theodoret, in quoting this passage, reads, “the Godhead and power.”

Matt. iii. 15.

i.e., the cross, “fruit” being put for Christ on the tree.

Isa. v. 26, Isa. xlix. 22.

Col. i. 15.

Rom. i. 3.

Matt. iii. 15.

Literally, “we are.”