For some are in the habit of carrying about the name of Jesus Christ in wicked guile, while yet they practice things unworthy of God, whom you must flee as you would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly, against whom you must be on your guard, inasmuch as they are men who can scarcely be cured. There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible—even Jesus Christ our Lord.Note 1▼Roberts, A., Donaldson, J., & Coxe, A. C., eds. (1885). The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 52). Christian Literature Company.
1
This passage contains one of the earliest Christological formulas in Christian literature outside the New Testament. The series of paradoxes—"both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death"—anticipates the later conciliar definitions while expressing the apostolic faith in immediate, confessional form.
The title "Physician" (ἰατρός) is particularly significant for understanding early soteriology. Christ heals humanity; He does not merely pronounce it legally well while leaving it sick. The medical metaphor pervades patristic soteriology and stands in tension with purely juridical models.
@subpoint[The Christological Foundation]
For Ignatius, right doctrine about Christ is not abstract speculation but is directly connected to salvation. The false teachers he warns against apparently denied either Christ's true divinity or His true humanity—and either denial undermines the saving exchange. If Christ is not truly God, He cannot communicate divine life; if not truly human, He cannot heal human nature from within.
Chapter XIX. The three mysteries of the Lord.
Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. How, then, was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else in the heavens. Hence every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life.Note 2▼
2
This cosmic vision of salvation—magic destroyed, wickedness's bonds broken, ignorance removed, the old kingdom abolished—exemplifies the Christus Victor motif in early Christianity. Salvation is not primarily a transaction between the Father and Son to satisfy legal demands, but a victory of God over the powers that held humanity captive.
The phrase "God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life" (θεοῦ ἀνθρωπίνως φανερουμένου εἰς καινότητα ἀϊδίου ζωῆς) captures the essence of patristic soteriology: the Incarnation itself is salvific. God entering human existence renews it from within. This is theosis in seed form—humanity receives eternal life not as an external gift but through union with the God who has united Himself to human nature.