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Church Father / theologian
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Church Fathers

Polycarp of Smyrna

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]

Also known as: Polycarp · Saint Polycarp

Published 10/1/2026Updated 3 revisionsPage history

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

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 515)
    POLYCARP (feast day: 29 Amshir), second-century bishop of Smyrna who was martyred.
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 463)
    Since then it has been usual to group under the name of Patres apostolici certain early Christian writers who were regarded as disciples of the apostles, still belonging to the apostolic age. Cotelier included among them Barnabas, CLEMENT OF ROME, IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, POLYCARP OF SMYRNA, and HERMAS, and he edited their genuine or supposed writings together with Acts of the Martyrs relating to Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp.
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 703)
    Among other things, he quotes the following passage from the epistle of Polycarp to the church at Philippi, through which Ignatius had passed as a prisoner: "The letters of Ignatius, which he has sent us, and all the others in our possession, we are sending to you in accordance with your desire. They are enclosed with this letter" (Eusebius, III.36, 15; Polycarp, To the Philippians 13.2). Thus, shortly after they were written, the epistles of Ignatius began to be collected.
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
    Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) and defender of orthodox belief. According to Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-200), he was closely associated with Saint John, one of the twelve disciples, by whom he was consecrated bishop. He is therefore a vital link between the apostolic age and the generation of great Christian writers who flourished toward the end of the second century.
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
    When Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was on his way to Rome, where he was martyred by order of Emperor Trajan, he visited Polycarp in Smyrna and, in chains, greeted and encouraged this staunch pillar of the true faith. Also, on reaching Troas, Ignatius dispatched letters to Polycarp, which the latter preserved and, with his own additions, made into an important document on orthodoxy.
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
    At the age of eighty he traveled to Rome to participate in settling the dispute between Eastern and Western churches on the question of the date of Easter. Though no visible agreement could be reached on this topic, Bishop Anicetus of Rome requested that he celebrate the Orthodox Eucharist in his church as a mark of honor and esteem.
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 752)
    According to Irenaeus (in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 5.20.8), Polycarp wrote letters to neighboring congregations and to individual brethren. The letter to the Philippians has survived, and is probably composed of two different epistles sent to Philippi (1951, pp. 203-223).
  8. 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 752)
    Philippians 13.2 shows that Polycarp is as yet unaware of the martyrdom of Ignatius, who was also in Philippi on his prison journey (or perhaps he cannot be aware of it because it has not yet taken place). "Tell me also anything more reliable that you can discover about Ignatius himself and about those who are with him." However, according to Philippians 9, Ignatius, together with others and with the Apostles, is in the place that is appropriate for them with the Lord, with whom they too have suffered. Here the martyrdom is presupposed. Philippians 13 (probably without chapter 14) is the short
  9. 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 70)
    According to Polycarp of Smyrna, "Whoever perverts the saying of the Lord for his own desires, and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, such a one is the first-born of Satan. Let us, therefore, leave the foolishness and the false teaching of the crowd, and turn back to the word which was delivered to us in the beginning" ("[Second] Letter to the Philippians," in Jurgens, 1970-1979, Vol. 1, p. 29).
  10. 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 751)
    On his return to Smyrna, Polycarp was arrested by Roman authorities during a pagan festival. On trial he refused to recant his Christian faith, and consequently he was burned to death, while the gleeful mob shouted: "Let him be burned, he is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the destroyer of our gods." His martyrdom took place on Holy Saturday, the eve of Easter, probably in the year 156 or shortly afterward.
  11. 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)
    During a persecution of Christians in Smyrna, Polycarp died as a martyr on 23 February of uncertain year, at the age of 86. P. Brind’Amour (1980, pp. 456-62) argues for the year 167.
  12. 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)
    Shortly after Polycarp's death the Martyrium Policarpi was composed in Smyrna as a letter from the congregation in Smyrna to that of Philomelium.
  13. 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 753)
    The Coptic version has been published by I. Balestri and H. Hyvernat (1953), from the Vatican Library, Coptic Codex 58, fols. 79r-89v (Latin translation by Hyvernat in Balestri and Hyvernat, 1950, pp. 43-50; S.VIII reference to the previous edition by E. Amélineau). Here, however, we are dealing not with a translation of the whole text of the Martyrium but with one account from Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica, which has been worked over particularly at the beginning and at the end (see Dehandschutter, 1979).

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.