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Church History Report - Polycarp - Outline

Polycarp of Smyrna was a bishop in the 2nd century AD who was martyred for his Christian faith. He was a disciple of the Apostle John and served as the bishop of Smyrna. In 155 AD, he was burned at the stake but his body was not consumed by the flames, so he was stabbed to death. Polycarp's only known writing is a letter to the Philippians encouraging Christians to remain faithful. He played an important role by passing on the authentic teachings of Jesus from the Apostles to Christians in the 2nd century.

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Ronnell Lontayao Macaldo
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294 views5 pages

Church History Report - Polycarp - Outline

Polycarp of Smyrna was a bishop in the 2nd century AD who was martyred for his Christian faith. He was a disciple of the Apostle John and served as the bishop of Smyrna. In 155 AD, he was burned at the stake but his body was not consumed by the flames, so he was stabbed to death. Polycarp's only known writing is a letter to the Philippians encouraging Christians to remain faithful. He played an important role by passing on the authentic teachings of Jesus from the Apostles to Christians in the 2nd century.

Uploaded by

Ronnell Lontayao Macaldo
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Ronnell Macaldo, TOR

Polycarp of Smyrna
OUTLINE
I. Life of Polycarp
a. Life before his martyrdom (taken from different sources)
b. During his martyrdom (taken from different sources)
II. Written Work
a. Polycarps Letter to the Philippians
III. Importance
IV. Reflection
______________________________________________________________________________
Polycarp of Smyrna was a Bishop of Smyrna. He was born sometime in
the year 69 AD and became a martyr sometime around 155 177 AD (it
depends on the sources because different authors have different date of his
martyrdom). He was one of the three apostolic fathers.
Life of Polycarp
Nothing much is known regarding his early life except for an account of
Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Saint Jerome that he was a disciple of John and that
he was ordained by John as bishop of Smyrna.
Accounts of his life from different sources such as The Letter of the
Smyrnaeans, Irenaeus Adversus Haereses, and Epistles of Ignatius
focus more about his activities with the church at his later age and the time
of his martyrdom.

Irenaeus wrote in his letter to a certain Florinus that he personally saw


and heard in Lower Asia (Izmir, Turkey), Polycarps discussion with John and
others who had seen Jesus. According to him, Polycarp was converted to
Christianity by the apostles and was consecrated to be a bishop in Smyrna.
He visited Rome to discuss to Pope Anicetus the differences that Asia and
Rome in regarding with the time of the Easter festivals. In the end of their
discussion, they came to an understanding to have different style of
celebrating the Easter without breaking off communion with each other. Pope
Anicetus followed the western practice of celebrating easter on the first
Sunday after the first fullmoon after March 21 (Spring Equinox). On the other
hand, Polycarp followed the eastern way of celebrating easter in the 14 th day
of Nisan.
According to the Letter of the Smyrnaeans, around the year 155,
Polycarp became aware that the authorities were looking out for him decided
to retreat himself in a nearby country and occupied himself with prayer.
There in his stay, he received a vision that he must be burned alive. He
usually changed his locations but was later captured because of an
information by a young man who was tortured in order to tell his
whereabouts. During the night in when his capturers arrived, he even offered
dinner to them and they dined together after saying a prayer. It was
Saturday when he was brought up to the city for his trial. It was during his
way to the city that he heard a voice from heaven saying to him to be strong
and play the man. Later, when he was put in trial he was ordered to say,

Down with the Atheists! which he obligingly repeated. It was when the
proconsul ordered him to reproach Christ that he said these words, Eightysix years I have served Him and He has done me no wrong. How can I
blaspheme my King and Savior? There were many attempts to make him
submit like throwing him into the wild animals or burning him but he just
answered, You have threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is
then extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgement
and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting?
Bring on whatever you want. In the end he was sentenced to be burned but
a great miracle happened when he was set into fire. His body looked not like
a flesh that is burnt, instead it looked like a baked bread or like gold and
silver refined in a furnace. Upon seeing that his body was not consumed by
fire, an executioner stabbed him with a dagger and as soon as he was
stabbed, a gush of his blood spurted forth and extinguished the fire that
surrounded him.
Written Work
His only known written work is his Letter to the Philippians. His letter
contains encouragement for Christians to persevere in doing good works,
warning against apostasy, as well as instructions for the duties of presbyters,
deacons, youths, and virgins.
Importance
Polycarp played a great role in the Catholic Church because he became
one of the bridges from the apostles to the people of the second century who

just relied on the teachings that were all not authentic and was just made up
by heretics. He was relied on the authenticity of the teachings that was
taught by Jesus to the apostles because he was a disciple of John and
conversed many apostles.
Reflection
The martyrdom of Polycarp personally inspired me to live out my faith
even if time asked my life in exchange of it. In accord with the happenings of
the world especially on what happened in the Christians in the Middle East
which were killed by ISIS fighters, this is an invitation for me to ask myself,
how even in simple ways can I defend my faith?
Clinging to my faith in exchange for being killed instantly may be a
little easier for me to do, but clinging to my faith in exchange of prolong
torture which would let me feel every ounce of pain is another thing. Usually,
martyrs dont die instantly. They suffered long procedure of sacrifice and in
this long procedure their strength to cling on what they believe cant be done
without the help of God. They could have break off and throw away their
faith in order to get away from the suffering, but they cling on it. This is the
true beauty of martyrdom, this can be an ultimate way on how a person can
show his love to the God that he believes.
In order to answer my question on how in simple ways can I defend my
faith, as of now, practicing what I believe in can be a solid way of defending
my faith. It is because when I will practice what I believe, I can be an

example for others to follow and I can truly live the common saying which
says, Practice what you preach, actions are better that words.

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