Letters of Ignatius 77

1I glorify Jesus Christ, the God who gave you such wisdom, because I have seen that you are established in unshakable faith, as though nailed to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in flesh and spirit, and firmly rooted in love in the blood of Christ. You are fully convinced concerning our Lord that he is truly descended from David according to the flesh, yet is the Son of God by divine will and power; that he was truly born of a virgin and baptized by John so that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him;

2that he was truly nailed up in the flesh for our sake under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (of which we are the fruit—that is, of his most blessed suffering); and that through his resurrection he might raise a banner for all ages, for his saints and faithful people, whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of his Church.