POLYCARP (c. 155), bishop of Smyrna and one of the Apostolic Fathers, derives much of his importance from the fact that he links together the apostolic age and that of nascent Catholicism. The sources from which we derive our knowledge of the life and activity of Polycarp are: (I) a few notices in the writings of Irenaeus, (2) the Epistle of Polycarp to the Church at Philippi, (3) the Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp, (4) the Epistle of the Church at Smyrna to the Church at Philomelium, giving an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp. Since these authorities have all been more or less called in question and some of them entirely rejected by recent criticism, it is necessary to say a few words about each.
2. The Epistle of Polycarp.—Though Irenaeus states that Polycarp wrote many "letters to the neighbouring churches or to certain of the brethren" only one has been preserved, viz., the well-known letter to the Philippians. The epistle is largely involved in the Ignatian con troversy (see IGNATIUS) . The rehabilitation of the Ignatian letters in modern times has, however, practically destroyed the attack on the gpistles of Polycarp. The date of the epistle depends upon the date of the Ignatian letters and is now generally fixed between 112 and 118. The language in this letter is simple but powerful.
3. The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp.—This epistle has of course been subjected to the same criticism as has been directed against the other epistles of Ignatius (see IGNATIUS) ; the general criticism, may now be said to have been completely answered by the investiga tions of Zahn, Lightfoot and Harnack. Some modern scholars feel a
difficulty about the peremptory tone which Ignatius adopts towards Polycarp. There was some force in this argument when the Ignatian Epistles were dated about 140, as in that case Polycarp would have been an old and venerable man at the time. But now that the date is put back to about 112 the difficulty vanishes, since Polycarp was not much over forty when he received the letter.
4. The Letter of the Church at Smyrna to the Philomelians is a most important document, because we derive from it all our information with regard to Polycarp's martyrdom. Eusebius has preserved the greater part of this epistle (iv. i5), but we possess it entire with various concluding observations in several Greek mss., and also in a Latin translation. The epistle gives a minute description of the persecution in Smyrna, of the last days of Polycarp and of his trial and martyr dom ; and as it contains many instructive details and professes to have been written not long after the events to which it refers, it has always been regarded as one of the most precious remains of the 2nd century. Certain recent critics, however, have questioned the authenticity of the narrative. The more moderate school of modern critics—e.g., Light foot (Ignatius and Polycarp, 1589 seq.), Harnack (Gesch. d. altchrist. Lit. II. i. 341), and Kruger (Early Christian Lit., 1897)—is unanimous in regarding it as an authentic document, though it recognizes that here and there a few slight interpolations have been inserted. Besides these we have no other sources for the life of Polycarp.
Life.—Polycarp must have been born not later than the year 69, for on the day of his death (c. 155) he declared that he had served the Lord for eighty-six years (Martyrium, 9). Irenaeus tells us that in early life Polycarp "had been taught by apostles and lived in familiar intercourse with many that had seen Christ" (iii. 3, 4).