Early Christian writings · 22 chapters
Martyrdom of Polycarp
The church at Smyrna's account of Polycarp's arrest, trial and death, followed by reflections on commemoration and the transmission of the story.
Place in the traditions
An early Christian martyrdom narrative. The edition includes its concluding chronological and transmission material; the account should be distinguished from Polycarp's own letter.
Lightfoot's Apostolic Fathers: source collectionThe edition you are reading
J. B. Lightfoot's historic English translation, transcribed by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library from a 1956 reprint and identified there as public domain. Source chapter divisions are retained. The reader numbers successive source paragraphs within each chapter; these locators may differ from section numbers in other editions. Opening greetings appear separately and do not change chapter numbering. Editorial footnotes are omitted; the source remains available for comparison.
Lightfoot's text at CCELBookmarks, highlights, notes and offline saving work in this collection. Verse comparisons appear when more than one edition is available. The existing cross-reference and Strong's datasets cover the original 66-book collection.
Opening greeting
The church of God which sojourneth at Smyrna to the Church of God which sojourneth in Philomelium and to all the brotherhoods of the holy and universal Church sojourning in every place; mercy and peace and love from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied.