Polycarp of Smyrna

Apostolic Father · Pastor of Smyrna · c. 69–155

Polycarp, whose name means “fruitful,” was a disciple of the apostle John and pastored the church at Smyrna, one of the seven churches of Revelation, for much of the first half of the second century. He knew Ignatius and taught the young Irenaeus. When he met the heretic Marcion in Rome, he called him “the first born of Satan.”1

His only surviving writing, the Letter to the Philippians, contains more than a hundred citations of or allusions to the New Testament, drawn from seventeen books. It opens with the gospel of grace:2

… knowing that by grace you have been saved, not because of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.3 Polycarp of SmyrnaTo the Philippians 1

When soldiers came to arrest him in his old age, he served them dinner and spent the time in prayer. Before the governor, urged to deny Christ, he replied, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury. How then could I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” He was burned at the stake about 155.4

His Legacy

Polycarp’s greatest contribution was his faithful death, recorded in The Martyrdom of Polycarp. But his letter also matters to the later debate over the ministry: he urged the Philippians to submit to their presbyters and deacons, and Gregg Allison notes that evangelicals cite him, with Clement and the Didache, for the twofold office of elders and deacons rather than the threefold hierarchy that grew up after Ignatius. Rome, for its part, numbers him among its saints and Church Fathers.5

Church Fathers

Notes

  1. Nathan Busenitz, Forerunners of the Faith Teacher’s Guide: 13 Lessons to Understand and Appreciate the Basics of Church History (Chicago: Moody, 2020), 39; Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, eds., 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000), “Polycarp.” Summarized. ↩
  2. Busenitz, Forerunners of the Faith Teacher’s Guide, 39–40. Summarized. ↩
  3. Busenitz, Forerunners of the Faith Teacher’s Guide, 39–40. ↩
  4. Busenitz, Forerunners of the Faith Teacher’s Guide, 40–41, quoting The Martyrdom of Polycarp. ↩
  5. Busenitz, Forerunners of the Faith Teacher’s Guide, 40; Gregg R. Allison, Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical Assessment (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), citing Polycarp, To the Philippians 5; James G. McCarthy, The Gospel According to Rome (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995), on the Church Fathers. ↩