Trey Gilliam: Ignatius of Antioch: The Road to Chalcedon?

It is a common understanding among scholars of early Christianity that the Christology of Ignatius of Antioch was ahead of its time. In fact, one scholar refers to Ignatian Christology as “on the road to Chalcedon.” It is the goal of this paper to begin to challenge this common understanding via a close examination of variant readings to the Medicean manuscript. These variants provide evidence of later fourth-century orthodox scribal alterations. The texts brought forward in order to make this argument are Ephesians 7.2, Magnesians 8.2, and Magnesians 13.2 of the Ignatian middle recension. Thus, this paper concludes that Ignatius' Christology was not ahead of its time. Rather, it was part and parcel of its day.