# Polycarp of Smyrna

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Polycarp was a second-century bishop of Smyrna and martyr, counted among the Apostolic Fathers. His surviving letter to the Philippians preserves evidence of early Christian teaching and the circulation of Ignatius’s letters.[^1][^2][^3]

## Life and Apostolic Connections

Polycarp was a second-century bishop of Smyrna and martyr whose feast day is 29 Amshir.[^1] He is included among the Apostolic Fathers, a designation applied to early Christian writers regarded as disciples of the apostles.[^2]

Smyrna is identified with modern Izmir, Turkey. According to Irenaeus, Polycarp was closely associated with John, one of the twelve disciples, who consecrated him bishop; this tradition presents Polycarp as a link between the apostolic age and later second-century Christian writers.[^4]

## Relations with Other Churches

Ignatius of Antioch visited Polycarp in Smyrna while traveling as a prisoner to Rome and subsequently wrote to him from Troas.[^5] Polycarp’s letter to the Philippians records his forwarding letters of Ignatius at the Philippians’ request, providing evidence of their early collection and circulation.[^3]

The account of Polycarp’s life states that he traveled to Rome at the age of eighty to discuss the disagreement between Eastern and Western churches over the date of Easter. No agreement was reached, but Anicetus, bishop of Rome, invited him to celebrate the Eucharist in his church as a mark of esteem.[^6]

## Writings and Teaching

According to Irenaeus, Polycarp wrote to neighboring congregations and individual Christians. His surviving letter to the Philippians may combine two originally separate letters.[^7] The discussion of its composition notes that chapter 13 requests further news of Ignatius, whereas chapter 9 presupposes his martyrdom. On this interpretation, chapter 13 served as an earlier covering letter accompanying Ignatius’s letters, while chapters 1–12 and 14 belonged to a later communication.[^8]

Polycarp’s teaching firmly affirmed resurrection and judgment. In the passage quoted from his letter, he condemns those who deny them and urges believers to return to “the word which was delivered to us in the beginning.”[^9]

## Martyrdom and Its Dating

The life account describes Polycarp’s arrest after his return to Smyrna, his refusal to renounce Christianity, and his death by burning. It places his martyrdom on Holy Saturday, probably in 156 or shortly afterward.[^10] The accompanying discussion of his writings instead gives 23 February in an uncertain year, reports his age as eighty-six, and notes P. Brind’Amour’s argument for 167. The supplied accounts therefore differ in their dating of his death.[^11]

## The Martyrdom Account and Coptic Transmission

The *Martyrdom of Polycarp* was composed shortly after his death as a letter from the congregation of Smyrna to that of Philomelium.[^12] The published Coptic account is not a translation of the complete work: it derives from the account in Eusebius’s *Ecclesiastical History*, reworked especially at its beginning and end.[^13]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 515)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 463)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 703)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 752)
[^8]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 752)
[^9]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 70)
[^10]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
[^11]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)
[^12]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)
[^13]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)