Abstract:
The manner in which humans and the divine are brought into communion with each other,
a key aspect of many religious traditions, is frequently, if not always, material (or sacramental) in
character. Meals and food play an important role in this; such meals can include the consumption of
the deity (theophagy), as well as the consumption of the human being by the deity. This paper takes
its cue from the discussion of constructions of divine–human communion and explores this subject in
the letters of Ignatius of Antioch (early second century CE). It shows how in the literary heritage of
this bishop, the body as the physical site of martyrdom is of key importance, in particular due to
its consumption in the Roman arena. This martyrdom is the way in which Ignatius hopes to enter
into perfect communion with the divine. The body thus becomes, in its annihilation, the instrument
through which divine–human communion is established. As this all relates to a case of martyrdom,
Ignatius’ ideas about the body are also subversive in character: the punishment of his body is,
through his theological imagination, transformed into a means of achieving Ignatius’ goal in life:
attaining to God.
