teaching.  When I read them, however, they seemed clearly to state that they were not to be intended figuratively or symbolically, but really and literally. 

So who was right?  Given the diverse views on this among well-meaning persons, it seemed pretty clear that the Scriptures were not as perspicuous as Protestants claimed.  And this seemed to be an important teaching, one upon which Jesus said eternal life depended.

Where was I to go for an answer?  I sort of felt like the Ethiopian reading Scripture who was approached by the Apostle St. Philip as recorded in Acts 8:30-31:

"Do you understand what you are reading?
"How can I, unless someone guides me?" 

But I had no Apostle Philip to guide me.

I decided therefore that I ought to go to those who were closest to the Evangelists who wrote the words of the Gospels.  "Surely there must be some historical record of these sorts of people?" I thought.

There is.  They are called the Apostolic Fathers.  The Apostolic Fathers are Christian authors who wrote in the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century.  Three of the most important are St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Polycarp of Smyrna.  They were taught by the Apostles, and some even wrote while some of the Apostles were still living.

So I turned to the Apostolic Fathers sort of like the Ethiopian turned to St. Philip. 

I will never forget the experience as a Southern Baptist in picking up the epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch.  On his way to Rome to be martyred for the faith, St. Ignatius--the second bishop of Antioch (unless we count the Apostle Peter among them, in which case he would be the third)--wrote to a number of local churches: at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna.  These epistles have been preserved.  Originally written in Greek, English translations are readily available.

By the time I finished these epistles, I was no longer Southern Baptist.  I realized that whatever Church I had to belong to had to have three signs: (1) ordained bishops, (2) a liturgy, and (3) the sacrifice of the Eucharist as the center of worship.  None of these were to be found in any real sense in the Southern Baptist denomination.

Imagine my surprise when I encountered words such as these in St. Ignatius of Antioch in his epistle to the Smyrnaeans:

"See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery [priests] as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God.  Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop.  Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it.  Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."

Or these words, in his epistle to the Philadelphians:

"Take heed, then, to have but one Eucharist.  For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup [to show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery [priesthood] and deacons, my fellow servants: that so, whatsoever you do, you may do it according to God."

As to the Eucharist, is there any doubt about how St. Ignatius felt?  How could anyone take the apostolic doctrine to be that Jesus' words on the Eucharist should be taken symbolically or figuratively when he confronts such words as these?

"Let no man deceive himself.  Both the things which are in heaven, and the glorious angels, and rulers, both visible and invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ, shall, in consequence, incur condemnation.  He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.  . . . But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God."

Nowhere is there any record of dissent to these teachings of St. Ignatius of Antioch accusing him of a novelty in maintaining the importance of ordained bishops and priests to whom the people owed obedience.  There is nothing to suggest he was doing something extraordinary in instructing Christians to gather for Sunday Eucharistic services that were sacrificial in nature, revolved around an altar, and involved the offering up and consumption of the Body and Blood of Christ.

"To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant," famously wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman in his introduction to his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.  I can attest to the truth of these words.  I started reading nineteen centuries' old works of the third bishop of Antioch a Protestant, and by the time I finished, I came out a Catholic.

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Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas.  He is married with three children.  He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum.  You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Ignatius of Antioch, Eucharist, the church, bishops, liturgy, bible, scripture, magisterium, Andrew Greenwell

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