Romulus Stefanut: Martyrdom as ‘Eucharistic’ discipleship in Ignatius of Antioch

The relationship between discipleship and martyrdom received a new and radical treatment in the case of Ignatius of Antioch.  In this paper, I will treat the particular ‘eucharistic’ (self)portrait of Ignatius’ martyrdom, as it appears in his letter “To the Romans.”  This will be done in light of the larger inter-textual frame(work), comprised of the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, and also in light of Ignatius’ own Eucharistic theology, as it can be reconstructed from the Corpus Ignatianum.

My thesis is that in his martyrological voyage to Rome, the bishop of Antioch, portraits his own death as an eucharistic act of discipleship, by means of an ancient rhetorical device known as ekphrasis (Greek). Ignatius’ martyrdom becomes, ironically, a public event which the church of Rome is exhorted not to prevent. In the end, not only is Ignatius a disciple of Jesus Christ (imitatio Christi), but also an eucharistic participant in his death (imitatio communionis mortis Christi).

William R. Schoedel downplays in his important Hermeneia commentary a quasi-Eucharistic reading of Ignatius’ martyrdom (cf. Schoedel,  pp.171, 175-6, 186). I will suggest, however, that in light of Ignatius’ Euchatistic theology one can trace the allegorical symbolism of ‘faith’ and ‘love’ in the two elements of the eucharist: ‘bread’ and ‘wine’ (cf. Ign.Trall. 8.1). In this light the Eucharistic portrait of Ignatius’ martyrdom becomes the centerpiece within the whole gallery (cf., Ign.Rom. 1.1; 3.2; 4.1-2; 5.3; 6.3; 7:3).

While the studies on discipleship do acknowledge the connection discipleship - martyrdom, they are usually limited in their scope to the New Testament and thus neglecting this eucharistic development. The studies on martyrdom (Frend, Boyarin, Bowersock, Ton, etc.), on the other hand, do not touch, as far as I researched, on the issue of portraiture being more interested in historical and social approaches.