As Dr. Westcott does not advance any further arguments of his own in
regard to the Ignatian controversy, I may now return to Dr. Lightfoot,
and complete my reply to his objections; but I must do so with extreme
brevity, as I have already devoted too much space to this subject, and
must now come to a close. To the argument that it is impossible to
suppose that soldiers such as the "ten leopards" described in the
Epistles would allow a prisoner, condemned to wild beasts for professing
Christianity, deliberately to write long epistles at every stage of his
journey, promulgating the very doctrines for which he was condemned, as
well as to hold the freest intercourse with deputations from the various
Churches, Dr. Lightfoot advances arguments, derived from Zahn, regarding
the Roman procedure in cases that are said to be "known." These cases,
however, are neither analogous, nor have they the force which is
assumed. That Christians imprisoned for their religious belief should
receive their nourishment, while in prison, from friends, is anything
but extraordinary, and that bribes should secure access to them in many
cases, and some mitigation of suffering, is possible. The case of
Ignatius, however, is very different. If the meaning of [Greek: oi kai
euergetoumenoi cheirous ginontai] be that, although receiving bribes,
the "ten leopards" only became more cruel, the very reverse of the
leniency and mild treatment ascribed to the Roman procedure is described
by the writer himself as actually taking place, and certainly nothing
approaching a parallel to the correspondence of pseudo-Ignatius can be
pointed out in any known instance.
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