Martyrdom of Polycarp, Introduction

Η εκκλησια του θεου η παροικουσα Σμυρναν τη εκκλησια του θεου τη παροικουση εν Φιλομηλιω και πασαις ταις κατα παντα τοπον της αγιας και καθολικης εκκλησιας παροικιαις΄ ελεος και ειρηνη και αγαπη θεου πατρος και του κυριου ημων Ιησου Χριστου πληθυνθειη.

Εγραψαμεν υμιν, αδελφοι, τα κατα τους μαρτυρησαντας και τον μακαριον Πολυκαρπον, οστις ωσπερ επισφραγισας δια της μαρτυριας αυτου κατεπαυσε τον διωγμον.

In English
From the church of God in Smyrna to the church of God in Philomelium, and to the holy and universal Church in every community: May the mercy, peace and love of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ abound in you.

Brothers and sisters: we wrote you this letter to encourage you with the stories of those who were martyred; especially Polycarp, a man blessed by God, who put a stop to the persecution by his martyrdom. His death was like a seal of confirmation on the persecution itself.

Those are the opening sentences to one of the most fascinating and important letters of the Early Church, integral to the study of the historic period, as well as persecution and martyrdom in general. This of course is the Martyrdom of Polycarp, written by fellow believers very close to the Bishop of Smyrna, to tell of his great witness in the middle of the second century AD. This is an amazing work that has significant ramifications for disciples of Christ today.

I wanted to undertake the creation of a fresh English reading. This work has been greatly underappreciated for it's value to the Church and I wish to bring it back into the playing field. The exposure for the majority if people is limited to a couple of quotes. Likely those two are about Quintus and the famous "For 86 years I have been his servant" statement. This letter is rich with so much more.

I pray that you are as blessed by this text as I have been. Many people are so ensnared by this idea of "Sola Scriptura" where only the 66 books in what's called the "Bible" have the "Word of God" and "Why read anything else that's not Scripture?" Christians through the centuries have written letters and works to help, encourage, reprove, rebuke, and teach fellow believers as well as non-believers. What makes them any less inspired by God?

As I work through this text, I am asking myself, "Ok. Why is this not considered Scripture?" Let's see how this goes.