PHILAD. 7:1-2
When writing to the church at Philadelphia
shortly after having paid that congregation a visit, Ignatius recalls:
Revelation Formula: I cried out [ekraugasa]
while I was with you,
I spoke with a great voice [megalē phōnē],
with the voice of God [theou phōnē]
Admonition: “to the bishop give heed,
and to the presbytery,
and to the deacons.”
The short oracular utterance is
immediately followed by another prophetic saying, or rather a string of
sayings:
Narrative: But some suspected that I
said these things because I already knew of the division caused by certain
people.
Oath and Revelation Formulas: But he
is my witness [martys] in whom I am bound
that I learned nothing from any human being,
but the Spirit was proclaiming [ekēryssen] by speaking
in this manner [tade]
Admonitions: “Apart from the bishop do
nothing”;
“Guard your flesh at the temple of God”;
“Love unity”;
“Flee divisions”;
“Be imitators of Jesus Christ as he was of the Father!”
Ignatius clearly
regards these exhortations as prophetic utterances directly inspired by God
and/or the Spirit. The setting in
which these oracles were uttered was that of a service of worship. The first
oracle caused the Philadelphians to suspect Ignatius of having gained some previous
knowledge of the situation in Philadelphia, a charge which he vehemently denied
through the use of an oath formula. It is precisely the Spirit from God, claims
Ignatius, who “exposes secrets” (ta krypta elenchei, Philad 8:1). Here prophecy
functions in a way very similar to 1 Cor. 14;25, where Paul focuses on the fact
that prophecy discloses the secrets of men’s hearts. (David E. Aune, Prophecy
in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World [Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 1983], 291-92, emphasis in bold added)
