Seven churches

THE SEVEN CHURCHES
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65
Polycarp
Some think that the angel or pastor of this church at that time was Polycarp, the
disciple of John. Irenaeus , who knew him, says he was appointed bishop of
Smyrna by the apostles. Here he suffered martyrdom, and was buried: the large
amphitheatre, in which he was put to death, is still to be seen, and his sepulcher
is yet preserved in this place.
Esuebius talks about an epistle, sent by this church at Smyrna to the church at
Pontus, giving an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, According to the
Apostolic Constitutions, the first bishops of Smyrna were Aristo Strataeas and
Aristo the second, and Apelles, of whom mention is made in Rom 16:10; and who
is reckoned among the seventy disciples. Then in succession was Polycarp.
Rom 16:10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ . Salute them which are of
Aristobulus ' household . There Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was martyred, though
without the sanction of the Roman government. It seems that the Jews of Smyrna were
more antagonistic than were the Romans to the spread of Christianity, for it is said that
even on Saturday, their sacred day, they brought wood for the fire in which Polycarp was
burned. His grave is still shown in a cemetery there.
POLYCARP, martyred in A.D. 168, eighty-six years after his conversion, was
bishop, and probably "the angel of the Church in Smyrna" meant here. The
allusions to persecutions and faithfulness unto death accord with this view.
IGNATIUS [The Martyrdom of Ignatius 3], on his way to martyrdom in Rome,