The memory of Ignatius of Antioch: the martyr as a locus of Christian identity, remembering and remembered

Thesis

The fundamental argument of my thesis is that the concept of ‘memory’ provides remarkable insight into the early second-century bishop and martyr, Ignatius of Antioch; my thesis seeks to explore the nature of this insight and unpack its significance. His palimpsestic literary legacy and personal preoccupation with remembering and its correlates make Ignatius uniquely suited among early Christians to be unlocked by the key of memory. This endeavour broadly takes its lead from Elizabeth Castelli’s Martyrdom and Memory (2004). She argues that ‘memory work’ done by early Christians on the experience of persecution and martyrdom was a form of ‘culture making’; Christian identity is coloured by memory of the religious suffering of others. My focal question is an extension of hers, and has three parts. Given that remembering in community is central to the development of the early church, its theology and self-understanding: 1) What is the nature of the memories inherited by Ignatius and his communities, and how are they engaged in the rhetorical and polemical context of his letters? 2) How does Ignatius construct himself as a figure to be remembered by Christian interpreters? 3) How was Ignatius in fact memorialised in early Christian history?

This thesis spans three centuries and three distinct parts. I therefore establish my argument by a combination of means: close reading of the ‘authentic’ middle recension letters, select and critical interaction with sociology and anthropology, and thorough analysis of the long recension and Ignatian martyrological accounts. The long recension has received only meagre scholarly attention, so my work constitutes a significant contribution to Ignatian scholarship with regard to this corpus in particular. Memory is demonstrated to afford a previously unnoticed hermeneutic from which to approach Ignatius, who is at once one remembering, one aspiring to be worthy of remembrance, and one indeed remembered.

Authors: MacDiarmid, F

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-gjaxqbp7w
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Ignatius of Antioch; Memory; Remembrance; Patristics; Sacrifice; Theology; Martyr; Girard; Remembering
• Subjects: Fathers of the church; Christianity and culture; Theology; Christian martyrs