Polycarp

Worth knowing

• Bishop of Smyrna, and the living hinge between the apostles and the second century: Irenaeus says he saw him as a boy, and that Polycarp had been taught by apostles.
• He was burned at Smyrna in old age. The account of his death is the earliest surviving record of a Christian martyrdom outside the New Testament.
• Irenaeus also preserves the moment Marcion asked him "Do you know me?" and got the answer, "I do know you, the first-born of Satan."

The book

PolycarpPolycarp to the PhilippiansChristologyEthics

Who else was alive

Polycarp against everyone else in the game.