Faith and Love in Ignatius of Antioch

"Faith is the beginning of life, love is the end." "All things together are good, if you believe with love." "Faith and love are everything. Nothing is better than them." In his seven letters, Ignatius of Antioch puts the concepts of faith and love side by side in novel and gripping combinations. Olavi Tarvainen illuminates Ignatius's terse statements in this close study of his letters. In doing so, he sheds new light on an understudied theme in early Christianity. Yet he moves beyond the question of what these words collectively mean to ask how Ignatius employs them individually. By doing so, faith and love become a new lens through which to view the entire scope of Ignatius's theology in fresh and exciting ways.