of their
genuineness.

We turn, after noting the summary of the internal evidences attesting
the genuineness of these letters, to the headings omitted (2, 3) on the
Theological Polemics and the Ecclesiastical Conditions. That summary is
as follows (i. 407):--

'The external testimony to the Ignatian Epistles being so
strong, only the most decisive marks of spuriousness in the
Epistles themselves, as, for instance, proved anachronism,
would justify us in suspecting them as interpolated, or
rejecting them as spurious.--But so far is this from being
the case, that one after another the anachronisms urged
against these letters have vanished in the light of further
knowledge.--As regards the argument which Daille calls
"palmary"--the prevalence of episcopacy as a recognized
institution--we may say boldly that all the facts point the
other way. If the writer of these letters had represented
the churches of Asia Minor as under presbyterial government,
he would have contradicted all the evidence which, without
one dissentient voice, points to episcopacy as the
established form of Church government in these districts
from the close of the first century.--The circumstances of
the condemnation, captivity, and journey of Ignatius, which
have been a stumbling-block to some modern critics, did not
present any difficulty to those who lived near the time, and
therefore knew best what might be expected under the
circumstances; and they are sufficiently borne out by
example, more or less analogous, to establish their
credibility.--The objections to the style and language are
beside the purpose.--A like answer holds with regard to any
extravagances in sentiment, or opinion, or character.--While
the investigation of the contents of these Epistles has
yielded this negative result in dissipating the objections,
it has at the same time had a high positive value, as
revealing indications of a very early date, and therefore
presumably of genuineness, in the surrounding circumstances,
more especially in the types of false doctrine which it
combats, in the ecclesiastical status which it presents, and
in the manner in which it deals with the evangelical and
apostolic documents.--Moreover, we discover in the personal
environments of the assumed writer, and more especially