Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version)

I OBSERVED YOUR BISHOP: and I know that he was not chosen for the ministry that benefits everyone, either by himself or by others, or out of vanity, but by the love of Jesus Christ and of God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. I am struck with admiration at his meekness, and he is able to accomplish more by his silence than those who talk a lot. For he is in harmony with the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, just as strings are with a harp, and he is as blameless as Zacharias the priest was. Therefore, my soul declares his mind towards God as happy, knowing it to be virtuous and perfect, and that his stability and lack of anger reflect the infinite meekness of the living God.

THEREFORE: as children of light and truth, avoid dividing your unity and the wicked doctrine of the heretics, from whom "a defiling influence has spread across the earth." But where the shepherd is, there you, as sheep, should follow. For there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing, who, through a harmful pleasure, capture those who are running towards God; but in your unity, they will have no place.

KEEP YOURSELVES: then, from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, but that wild beast, the destroyer of men, because they are not the planting of the Father, but the seed of the wicked one. Not that I have found any division among you do I write these things; but I arm you beforehand, as the children of God. For as many as are of Christ are also with the bishop; but as many as fall away from him and embrace communion with the accursed, these shall be cut off along with them.

For they are not Christ’s husbandry, but the seed of the enemy, from whom may you ever be delivered by the prayers of the shepherd, that most faithful and gentle shepherd who presides over you. I therefore exhort you in the Lord to receive with all tenderness those that repent and return to the unity of the Church, that through your kindness and patience they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, and becoming worthy of Jesus Christ, may obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of Christ.

Brethren, do not be deceived. If any man follows him that separates from the truth, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and if any man does not stay away from the preacher of falsehood, he shall be condemned to hell. For it is obligatory neither to separate from the godly, nor to associate with the ungodly. If anyone walks according to a strange opinion, he is not of Christ, nor a partaker of His passion; but is a fox, a destroyer of the vineyard of Christ.

Have no fellowship with such a man, lest you perish along with him, even should he be your father, your son, your brother, or a member of your family. For says [the Scripture], “Your eye shall not spare him.” You ought therefore to “hate those that hate God, and to waste away [with grief] on account of His enemies.” I do not mean that you should beat them or persecute them, as do the Gentiles “that know not the Lord and God;” but that you should regard them as your enemies, and separate yourselves from them, while yet you admonish them, and exhort them to repentance, if it may be they will hear, if it may be they will submit themselves.

For our God is a lover of mankind, and “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Therefore, “He makes His sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust;” of whose kindness the Lord, wishing us also to be imitators, says, “Be perfect, even as also your Father that is in heaven is perfect.”

I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU IN THE LORD: that you will be of no other mind.

Therefore, I write boldly to your love, which is worthy of God, and urge you to have only one faith, and one type of preaching, and one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His blood, which was shed for us, is one; one loaf is also broken for all, and one cup is shared among them all: there is only one altar for the whole Church, and one bishop, with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants.

Since there is only one unbegotten Being, God, even the Father; and one only-begotten Son, God, the Word and man; and one Comforter, the Spirit of truth; and also one preaching, and one faith, and one baptism; and one Church that the holy apostles established from one end of the earth to the other by the blood of Christ, and by their own sweat and toil; you should also, therefore, as “a peculiar people, and a holy nation,” perform all things with harmony in Christ.

Wives, be subject to your husbands in the fear of God; and you virgins, to Christ in purity, not regarding marriage as an abomination, but desiring that which is better, not for the reproach of wedlock, but for the sake of meditating on the law. Children, obey your parents, and have affection for them, as workers together with God for your birth into the world. Servants, be subject to your masters in God, that you may be the freed-men of Christ.

Husbands, love your wives, as fellow-servants of God, as your own body, as the partners of your life, and your co-workers in the procreation of children. Virgins, have Christ alone before your eyes, and His Father in your prayers, being enlightened by the Spirit. May I take pleasure in your purity, as that of Elijah, or as of Joshua the son of Nun, as of Melchizedek, or as of Elisha, as of Jeremiah, or as of John the Baptist, as of the beloved disciple, as of Timothy, as of Titus, as of Evodius, as of Clement, who departed this life in perfect chastity.

Not, however, that I blame the other blessed saints because they entered into the married state, of which I have just spoken. For I pray that, being found worthy of God, I may be found at their feet in the kingdom, as at the feet of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as of Joseph, and Isaiah, and the rest of the prophets; as of Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles, who were married men. For they entered into these marriages not for the sake of desire, but out of regard for the propagation of mankind.

Fathers, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” and teach them the holy Scriptures, and also trades, so that they may not indulge in idleness. Now the Scripture says, “A righteous father educates his children well; his heart shall rejoice in a wise son.” Masters, be gentle towards your servants, as holy Job has taught you; for there is one nature, and one family of mankind. For “in Christ there is neither bond nor free.” Let governors be obedient to Caesar; soldiers to those that command them; deacons to the presbyters, as to high priests; the presbyters, deacons, and the rest of the clergy, together with all the people, soldiers, governors, and Caesar himself, to the bishop; the bishop to Christ, just as Christ to the Father.

And thus unity is preserved throughout. Let not the widows be wanderers, nor fond of dainties, nor going from house to house, but let them be like Judith, noted for her seriousness; and like Anna, known for her sobriety. I do not ordain these things as an apostle: for “who am I, or what is my father’s house,” that I should pretend to be equal in honor to them? But as your “fellow-soldier,” I hold the position of one who simply admonishes you.

MY BROTHERS: I am greatly increased in loving you; and rejoicing greatly over you, I seek to secure your safety.

Yet it is not I, but the Lord Jesus through me; for whose sake being bound, I fear more, for I am not yet perfect.

But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may reach what I have been called to, while I flee to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus Christ, and to the apostles as the presbytery of the Church.

I also love the prophets as those who announced Christ, and as sharing the same Spirit with the apostles. For just as the false prophets and the false apostles drew to themselves the same wicked, deceitful, and seducing spirit; so also did the prophets and the apostles receive from God, through Jesus Christ, the same Holy Spirit, who is good, sovereign, and true, and the Author of saving knowledge. For there is one God of the Old and New Testament, “one Mediator between God and men,” for the creation of both intelligent and sensitive beings, and to provide beneficial and suitable guidance over them.

There is also one Comforter, who showed His power in Moses, and the prophets, and apostles. All the saints, therefore, were saved by Christ, hoping in Him, and waiting for Him; and they obtained salvation through Him, being holy ones, worthy of love and admiration, having testimony given to them by Jesus Christ, in the Gospel of our common hope.

IF ANYONE PREACHES THE ONE GOD OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS: but denies Christ to be the Son of God, he is a liar, just like his father the devil, and is falsely called a Jew, only possessing mere physical circumcision. If anyone confesses Christ Jesus the Lord, but denies the God of the law and the prophets, saying that the Father of Christ is not the Maker of heaven and earth, he has not remained in the truth any more than his father the devil, and is a disciple of Simon Magus, not of the Holy Spirit.

If anyone says there is one God and also confesses Christ Jesus, but thinks the Lord to be just a man, and not the only-begotten God, and Wisdom, and the Word of God, and considers Him to consist merely of a soul and body, such a one is a serpent, preaching deceit and error for the downfall of people. And such a man is poor in understanding, even as by name he is an Ebionite. If anyone confesses the truths mentioned but calls lawful wedlock and the procreation of children destruction and pollution or considers certain kinds of food abominable, such a one has the apostate dragon dwelling within him.

If anyone confesses the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and praises the creation, but calls the incarnation merely an appearance and is ashamed of the passion, such a one has denied the faith, not less than the Jews who killed Christ. If anyone confesses these things, and that God the Word did dwell in a human body, being within it as the Word, just as the soul is in the body, because it was God that inhabited it, and not a human soul, but claims that unlawful unions are good, and places the highest happiness in pleasure, as does the man who is falsely called a Nicolaitan, this person can neither be a lover of God nor a lover of Christ, but is a corrupter of his own flesh, and therefore void of the Holy Spirit and a stranger to Christ.

All such persons are only monuments and tombs of the dead, upon which are written only the names of dead men. Flee, therefore, the wicked devices and snares of the spirit which now works in the children of this world, lest at any time, being overcome, you grow weak in your love.

But be all joined together with an undivided heart and a willing mind, "being of one accord and of one judgment," always having the same opinion about the same things, both when you are at ease and in danger, both in sorrow and in joy.

I thank God, through Jesus Christ, that I have a good conscience in respect to you and that no one has the power to boast, either privately or publicly, that I have burdened anyone either in much or in little. And I wish for all among whom I have spoken, that they may not possess that for a testimony against them.

FOR EVEN THOUGH SOME WOULD HAVE DECEIVED ME ACCORDING TO THE FLESH: my spirit is not deceived; for I have received it from God. It knows both where it comes from and where it goes, and it detects the secrets of the heart. When I was among you, I cried out and spoke with a loud voice—the word is not mine, but God’s—Pay attention to the bishop, the presbytery, and the deacons. But if you suspect that I spoke this way because I had learned beforehand about the division caused by some among you, He is my witness, for whose sake I am in bonds, that I learned nothing of it from the mouth of any man. Instead, the Spirit made an announcement to me, saying the following: Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be followers of Paul, and of the rest of the apostles, just as they were of Christ.

I DID WHAT WAS MY DUTY: as a man dedicated to unity; adding also that where there is diversity of judgment, and wrath, and hatred, God does not dwell. To all who repent, God grants forgiveness, if they unanimously return to the unity of Christ and communion with the bishop. I trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, that He will free you from every bond of wickedness. I therefore urge you not to act out of strife, but according to the doctrine of Christ. For I have heard some say, if they do not find the Gospel in the archives, they will not believe it. To such people, I say that my archives are Jesus Christ, to disobey whom is clear destruction. My true archives are His cross, and death, and resurrection, and the faith that rests on these things, by which I desire, through your prayers, to be justified. He who disbelieves the Gospel disbelieves everything along with it. For the archives should not be placed above the Spirit. “It is hard to kick against the pricks;” it is hard to disbelieve Christ; it is hard to reject the preaching of the apostles.

THE PRIESTS AND THE MINISTERS OF THE WORD ARE INDEED GOOD: but the High Priest is better, to whom the holy of holies has been committed, and who alone has been entrusted with the secrets of God. The ministering powers of God are good. The Comforter is holy, and the Word is holy, the Son of the Father, by whom He made all things and oversees them all. This is the Way which leads to the Father, the Rock, the Defense, the Key, the Shepherd, the Sacrifice, the Door of knowledge, through which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the company of the prophets have entered, along with these pillars of the world, the apostles, and the spouse of Christ, for whom He poured out His own blood as her marriage portion, that He might redeem her.

All these things aim towards the unity of the one and only true God.

But the Gospel possesses something transcendent beyond the former dispensation, namely the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ, His passion, and the resurrection itself. For those things which the prophets announced, saying, “Until He comes for whom it is reserved, and He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles,” have been fulfilled in the Gospel, [our Lord saying,] “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” All then are good together: the law, the prophets, the apostles, the whole company of others that have believed through them—only if we love one another.

SINCE: according to your prayers and the compassion you feel in Christ Jesus, it has been reported to me that the Church in Antioch, Syria, has peace, it is fitting for you, as a Church of God, to choose a bishop to serve as God's ambassador for you to the brethren there, so that they may be allowed to gather together and glorify the name of God. Blessed is the one in Christ Jesus who is deemed worthy of such a ministry; and if you are zealous in this matter, you shall receive glory in Christ. If you are willing, it is not beyond your power to do this for the sake of God, just as the nearest Churches have also sent, in some cases, bishops, and in others, presbyters and deacons.

NOW: concerning Philo the deacon, a man from Cilicia with a high reputation, who still ministers to me in the word of God, along with Gaius and Agathopus, a chosen man who has followed me from Syria without regard for his life—these men also bear testimony on your behalf. And I myself give thanks to God for you, because you have received them, and the Lord will also receive you. But may those who dishonored them be forgiven through the grace of Jesus Christ, “who wishes not for the death of the sinner, but for his repentance.” The love of the brethren at Troas greets you; from there I also write to you through Burrhus, who was sent along with me by the Ephesians and Smyrnæans to show their respect; whom the Lord Jesus Christ will reward, in whom they hope, in flesh, and soul, and spirit, and faith, and love, and harmony. Farewell in the Lord Jesus Christ, our common hope, in the Holy Ghost.