Commenting on The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians and it being a witness to the antiquity of subordinationist Christology, one 19th century theologian wrote:
The Epistle, which is
mostly hortative, and retains the old simplicity of thought and expression, is
brief, and will help us very little in our inquiry as to what Christians of
that day believed concerning the origin and precise rank of the Son. Its testimony
to the supremacy of the Father, and the subordination of the Son, however, is clear
and decisive. Thus we are saved “by the will of God through Jesus Christ”;--“who
died, and was raised again by God for us” (Cap. 1, 9). Again, the writer speaks
of believing in “him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave
him glory and a throne at his right hand; to whom all things in heaven and
on earth are made subject, whom every living creature shall worship”; (Cap. 2 [ω πασα πνοη λατρευσει (so two MSS.; common
reading λατρευει), “to whom every living creature will pay religious service.” Comp. 1
Cor. xv. 27; Phil. ii.9-11; 1 Pet. iii.22; Rev. v. 13.—ED.]), not, however, as
supreme. The prevailing language of the Epistle teaches the contrary. So in the
following quotation: “Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he
himself, the everlasting high-priest, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, build you
up in faith and truth” (Cap. 12). Here the Son is sufficiently distinguished
from the Father. The high-priest makes an offering to God, but is not God
himself.
Such passages,
scattered over the short Epistle, show clearly enough that this old martyr had
no conception of Jesus Christ as equal with God, or as one with him except in
will and purpose. Here are no metaphysics, no confusion or obscurity, no
hair-splitting distinctions. The Father is separated from the Son by a broad
and distinct line, or as supreme, the other as subordinate; one as giving, the
other as receiving; the Father granting to the Son “a throne at his
right hand.” (Alvan Lamson, The Church of the First Three Centuries: Or,
Notices of the Lives and Opinions of the Early Fathers, with Special reference
to The Doctrine of the Trinity; Illustrating Its Late Origin and Gradual
Formation [rev ed.; Boston: Horace B. Fuller, 1873], 16-17)
Such subordinationism is also found in The Martyrdom of Polycarp.
In chapter xiv, "The Prayer of Polycarp," his final prayer shows that
the One God was not the Trinity, but the person of the Father with Christ being
subordinated thereto:
They did not nail him
then, but simply bound him. And he, placing his hands behind him, and being
bound like a distinguished ram [taken] out of a great flock for sacrifice, and
prepared to be an acceptable burnt-offering unto God, looked up to heaven, and said,
"O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus
Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of Thee, the God of angels and
powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live
before thee, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast counted me, worthy of this day
and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Thy martyrs, in the
cup of thy Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body,
through the incorruption [imparted] by the Holy Ghost. Among whom may I be
accepted this day before Thee as a fat and acceptable sacrifice, according as
Thou, the ever-truthful God, hast foreordained, hast revealed beforehand to me,
and now hast fulfilled. Wherefore also I praise Thee for all things, I bless
Thee, I glorify Thee, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, Thy
beloved Son, with whom, to Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to
all coming ages. Amen." (ANF 1:42)
Polycarp is also a witness against the
antiquity of Sola Fide. On this, see:
Polycarp on the Salvific Efficacy of Almsgiving
