Ignatius of Antioch was going to die. He knew it. He wanted it. The only possible problem, as he saw it, was meddling Christians.

"I fear your kindness, which may harm me," he wrote to Roman Christians hoping to free him. "You may be able to achieve what you plan. But if you pay no heed to my request, it will be very difficult for me to attain unto God." And that was truly Ignatius's goal: to imitate "our God Jesus Christ" in death. If Christians really wanted to do something, they should pray that he would remain faithful. "If you remain silent about me, I shall become a word of God. But if you allow yourselves to be swayed by the love in which you hold my flesh, I shall again be no more than a human voice."

That Ignatius truly wanted to die was about as much as we know about his martyrdom. It's not even known for certain that he was killed, though that's likely.

As the second (or third) bishop of Antioch, one of the most important churches of the day, he was certainly one of the most prominent Christians of the time immediately succeeding the apostles. But Antioch was also home to some religious debates, and while Ignatius denounced division as "the beginning of evil," the bishop engaged in debate with tenacity.

He was probably arrested on the charge of "atheism"—denial of the Roman gods—and was taken from Antioch to Rome by an escort of ten soldiers. At nearly every stop, he met leaders of local churches, and during the trip he penned, with the help of a secretary, seven letters.

The details of Ignatius's death are lost to history, but not his desire to have his life count for something: "Now I begin to be a disciple … Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment … come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ."

Adapted from "Ignatius of Antioch" by ChristianHistory.net, Christianity Today. Click here to read the original article and for reprint information.

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