Polycarp, born in the year 69, was one of the leaders of the church who carried on the tradition of the apostles through the troubled controversies around Gnosticism in the second century. According to Irenaeus, who had known him in his early youth, Polycarp was a pupil of John, “the disciple of the Lord,” and had been appointed a bishop by “apostles in Asia.”

We possess a letter from Polycarp to the Church in Philippi. It reveals his firm adhe…